Employers in Northern Ireland operating in sectors where staff cannot work from home are being given an opportunity to participate in a workplace asymptomatic testing programme designed to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Wendy Sherman, No 2 at US State Department: tough negotiator, smooth diplomat
Last week, just days after the Biden administration placed China atop its list of global threats, the US Senate confirmed Wendy Sherman, a long-time diplomat who has negotiated with US adversaries like Iran and North Korea, as the No 2 official in the State Department. Sherman, 71, is not generally recognised as a China specialist, and her path to confirmation as deputy secretary of state had to pass through widespread Republican opposition – she was approved in a 56-42 vote – in part because…
Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing will attend Asean summit, reports say, as fears mount over refugee crisis
A spokesman for Myanmar’s military has confirmed that junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing will attend a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders at the weekend, Nikkei Asia reported on Wednesday.Spokesman Zaw Min Tun said the military commander would attend the Jakarta meeting on Saturday of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the report said. Zaw Min Tun did not answer calls seeking confirmation of the report.The involvement in Jakarta of Min Aung Hlaing, who led the February…
Origin Energy signs green hydrogen project expansion deal
Australian listed public energy company Origin Energy has signed a deal with the Townsville port for the potential expansion of its green hydrogen project in Queensland, with export targeted to commence from the mid-2020s.
As ‘AAPI’ grows as label in US, Pacific Islanders point out uniqueness of their cultures and concerns
Asians living in America are under assault. Rarely a day passes without a report about someone of Chinese, Filipino, Thai or Indonesian descent being attacked or even killed. Legislation meant to address the onslaught is moving through Congress. And US President Joe Biden has set up a task force, warning that “we have to act” to stem the tide of violence.Chinese, Japanese and other East Asians, seen as part of these communities, have suffered discrimination and violence in the United States…
Mahathir warns king Covid-19 emergency order is turning Malays against him
Malaysia’s former leader Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday urged the country’s king to revoke a Covid-19 state of emergency, saying the royal order – made in January on the advice of the government – was uncharacteristically turning the country’s Malays against its royal families. The emergency powers granted to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the suspension of parliament had transformed the country into a “dictatorship”, the 95-year-old said. He was speaking to reporters after delivering a…
China-Australia relations: what’s happened over the past year, and what’s the outlook?
Relations between China and Australia have become fraught over the past year after Canberra pushed for an international probe into the origin of the coronavirus without diplomatic consultations beforehand, and Beijing eventually responded with a number of trade blocks on wine, barley, cotton, copper, coal, sugar and lobsters. We look at the issues in this series.China and Australia, two of the Asia-Pacific’s biggest trading partners, have been locked in political conflict for the past year…
Isis supporters want Indonesian who claimed to be ‘26th prophet’ beheaded for insulting Islam’s Prophet Mohammed
Islamic State sympathisers have called for the beheading of an Indonesian man who claimed to be the “26th prophet”.A man identifying himself as Jozeph Paul Zhang made the claim alongside other remarks offensive to Muslims in a YouTube video that went viral over the weekend. Some experts have warned that Zhang’s ethnicity – he is thought to be ethnic Chinese – would fan “hatred” and could lead to attacks against Indonesian Chinese and non-Muslims in the country. Prophet Mohammed, the founder of…
Industry tightens up on pension scams as losses hit £10bn
Pension schemes face tougher due diligence requirements on transfer requests as new figures show the amount lost to pension scams and fraud has hit £10 billion five years after the introduction of the pension freedoms.
Pakistan Islamists take police hostage as anti-France protests continue
Police in Pakistan said a hardline Islamist group had taken at least six security personnel hostage at its headquarters in Lahore on Sunday after a week of violent clashes following the arrest of the group’s leader.The Tehrik-i-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) group had given the government an April 20 deadline to expel the French ambassador over the publication of cartoons in France depicting the Prophet Mohammad. The authorities responded by arresting its leader, prompting supporters to hold protests…