Category Archives: Asia Pacific

Global report: Trump threat to cut trade ties over Covid-19 branded ‘lunacy’ by Chinese media

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President says he doesn’t want to speak to counterpart Xi; Brazil passes 200,000 infections; Baltic travel ‘bubble’ begins

An escalation of rhetoric between Donald Trump and China over the coronavirus pandemic has sparked concerns that a trade deal between the nations is in peril, as Chinese state media dismissed as “lunacy” a suggestion by the US president that he could “cut off relations” with Beijing.

The US president said he was very disappointed with China’s failure to contain Covid-19 in an interview with Fox Business news. Trump said the pandemic had cast a pall over his January trade deal with Beijing and that he had no interest in speaking to President Xi Jinping at the moment.

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Coronavirus live news: Europe could face deadly second wave of winter infections, WHO warns

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Spain hails large-scale antibody study; no Danish virus deaths for first time since March; China marks one month with no Covid-19 deaths

New York will join the nearby states of New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware in partially reopening beaches for the Memorial Day weekend, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday.

Reuters reports that Cuomo’s announcement comes one day after New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he was opening the beaches for the traditional May 23-25 start of summer.

Related: Coronavirus US live: House to vote on $3tn stimulus package opposed by Trump and Senate

There were 242 new coronavirus fatalities in Italy on Friday, down by 20 from Thursday, bringing the total death toll to 31,610.

New infections rose by 789, down by over 200 within the last 24 hours, according to the civil protection authority.

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The budget has given New Zealand an opportunity it can’t afford to squander | Brad Olsen

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By taking out a mortgage against the economy, the government is investing in jobs and our economic recovery

With the economic storm of the Covid-19 pandemic raging on, the government has opened the umbrella to shield New Zealand from an even worse economic fate and set the foundation for its recovery. Although the finance minister, Grant Robertson, has accepted that the government can’t save every job, Thursday’s announcements show he is doing everything he can to save as many as possible.

Overall, New Zealand’s 2020 budget was one of the most comprehensive economic packages seen around the world, walking the fine line between responding to the crisis and keeping up economic momentum, while setting down the conditions for recovery and rebuilding.

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New Zealand budget: housing shortfall puts vulnerable people at risk, say advocates

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Eight thousand new houses promised but 15,000 are on wait lists; experts worry mental health not a focus, one year after ‘Wellbeing’ budget

New Zealand’s most vulnerable people have been neglected by the government as it desperately attempts to kickstart the economy following a seven-week lockdown, advocates say.

The country of 5 million has been in strict lockdown for seven weeks and the International Monetary Fund is predicting the economy could contract by as much as 8%, while thousands have joined the dole queue during the pandemic.

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Global report: leaders urge free vaccines as France allows staycations

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French drugmaker criticised for giving US priority; Gordon Brown says Covid-19 solution is global

More than 140 world leaders and experts have called for future Covid-19 vaccines to be made available to everyone free of charge, amid growing tensions between drug companies and governments and a boycott of vaccine summits by the US.

Vaccines and treatments for the virus should not be patented, say the signatories to an open letter published in the run-up to next week’s meeting of the World Health Assembly, the policy-setting body of the UN’s World Health Organization. Instead, scientific breakthroughs must be shared across borders, they urge.

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Canada’s Calgary zoo to return two giant pandas after bamboo supply disruption

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Scarcity of flights due to coronavirus pandemic has caused problems with getting enough bamboo to feed them

The Calgary zoo will be returning two giant pandas on loan from China because a scarcity of flights due to Covid-19 has caused problems with getting enough bamboo to feed them.

Er Shun and Da Mao arrived in Calgary in 2018 after spending five years at the Toronto zoo and were to remain in the Alberta city until 2023.

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Coronavirus live news: global deaths near 300,000 as WHO says Covid-19 may never disappear

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Japan expected to ease state of emergency in many regions; Russia has second highest number of infections; Wuhan mass testing begins; follow the latest updates

Morning/evening/whatever-it-is-where-you-are everyone. This is Simon Burnton taking on the live blog for the next few hours. If you have seen any stories that deserve our attention, or if you have any tips, comments or suggestions for our coverage then please let me know by sending me a message either to @Simon_Burnton on Twitter or via email. Thanks!

That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan for today.

Today I leave you with something a little different – a Ghanaian pallbearer and his band of merry, morbid men, who have become the unofficial mascots of the pandemic in countries around the world:

Related: 'Why should you cry?' Ghana's dancing pallbearers find new fame during Covid-19

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China hacking poses ‘significant threat’ to US Covid-19 response, says FBI

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Beijing dismisses as slander US claims that any organisation researching vaccines should assume they are a target

Organisations conducting research into Covid-19 may be targeted by computer hackers linked to the Chinese government, according to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

Neither agency cited any specific examples, but warned on Wednesday that institutions and companies involved in vaccines, treatments and testing for the coronavirus should take additional security measures to protect data and be aware of the potential threat.

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‘Stay out of my moist breath zone’: Covid-19 anthem takes the drool out of school

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New Zealand school principal writes tune to help children returning to classes after lockdown

It is regularly cited as the most hated word in the English language and even Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has visibly struggled while using it. But now the word “moist” is being deployed for good – in a song written by a New Zealand school principal that aims to helps children observe social distancing guidelines.

Shirley Șerban of Lake Brunner school in the South Island penned the song Moist Breath Zone as a health and safety message for students returning to school after the Covid-19 lockdown.

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Covid-19 spreads to every African country – as it happened

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Coronavirus may never be eradicated, warns WHO as Spanish study reveals 5% of the population has antibodies

We’ve launched a new blog at the link below – head there for the latest:

Related: Coronavirus live news: Trump 'surprised' by Fauci's reopening warnings as WHO says Covid-19 may never go

Donald Trump has ratcheted up his “Obamagate” conspiracy theory to implicate Joe Biden and other former White House officials in what critics say is a desperate attempt to distract from the coronavirus pandemic.

Related: Trump deepens 'Obamagate' conspiracy theory with Biden unmasking move

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Coronavirus live news: Italy to reopen bars and restaurants; Spain to quarantine overseas travellers

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Trump walks out of press conference; White House staff ordered to wear masks; WHO urges ‘extreme vigilance’ as lockdowns end

Taiwan confirmed no new Covid-19 cases for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, keeping the country’s total at 440, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

At a daily press briefing, the health minister and head of the CECC, Chen Shih-chung, said it was also the 30th straight day that no domestically transmitted infections had been recorded in Taiwan, CNA reports.

The United Kingdom’s Covid-19 death toll topped 38,000 at the start of the month, including suspected cases, by far the worst official toll yet in Europe, according to official data published on Tuesday.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it recorded 34,978 Covid-19 related deaths as of 1 May in England and Wales.

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Coronavirus live news: Facebook reports rise in posts removed for hate speech

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Spain to quarantine overseas travellers; Trump walks out of press conference; White House staff ordered to wear masks

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that another 1,064 people have died and 18,106 new infections have been detected, taking the totals to 80,820 and 1,342,594, respectively.

Parts of Mexico that have been spared the worst of the epidemic could reopen as soon as 17 May – a date some health experts worry is too ambitious as the country still hasn’t carried out widespread testing or enforced strict quarantine.

Jorge Alcocer told reporters that roughly 300 of Mexico’s more than 2,400 municipalities would likely to be reopened, depending on assessments from the health authorities. The rest of the country is projected to reopen at the end of month – with school returning 1 June – according to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who will unveil plans on Wednesday for “returning to a new normalcy”.

They cannot know [which cities to open] because if a sample is not representative at the state level, would it be much less representative at the municipal level … It’s a national sample. Nothing more.

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Politics and Porgera: why Papua New Guinea cancelled the lease on one of its biggest mines

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The announcement not to renew the goldmine lease is fraught but part of an attempt to ‘take back PNG’

Late in April, in the middle of a global pandemic and slow-boiling domestic economic crisis, the government of Papua New Guinea made the surprising announcement not to extend the mining lease on a goldmine that contributes roughly 10% of the country’s total exports.

The announcement not to renew the special mining lease for the Porgera mine was a shock, not least to the mine’s operator, Barrick Gold, and their joint venture partner Zijin Mining.

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Sazae-san, the world’s longest-running cartoon, put on hold by coronavirus

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Re-runs of famous Japanese cartoon bring broadcast until further notice, in first interruption in 45 years

Production of the world’s longest-running cartoon has been interrupted by the coronavirus, forcing the broadcast of re-runs for the first time in decades.

Sazae-san, a mainstay of the Japanese weekend that first aired in 1969, revolves around a typical Tokyo family consisting of Mrs Sazae, who lives with her parents, husband, son, brother and sister.

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Carrie Lam blames Hong Kong education system for fuelling protests

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Pro-Beijing leader pledges to overhaul school system, after weekend of heavy-handed police action

Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing leader, Carrie Lam, has vowed to overhaul the city’s education system, saying its liberal studies curriculum helped to fuel last year’s violent pro-democracy protests.

Her intervention follows a weekend of heavy-handed police responses to scattered protests across the city, with journalists pepper-sprayed and searched, at least 18 people injured, a 12-year-old student journalist detained, and an estimated 200 people arrested.

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South Korea takes first cautious steps into a post-Covid world

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Some bars and restaurants are open – with distancing – and schools are starting back, but the country isn’t taking freedom for granted

On a recent evening in Seoul, colleagues and students sat around plastic tables outside restaurants, their chatter interrupted only by the filling of tiny glasses with soju spirit.

They had something to celebrate. Last week, South Korea, once the hardest-hit country outside China, took a cautious first step into a post-coronavirus world, less than four months since it reported its first case.

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China says it will update disease control measures in wake of coronavirus

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Senior health official says virus exposed ‘weak links’ in way country manages epidemics

China will reform its disease prevention and control system to address weaknesses exposed by the coronavirus outbreak, a senior health official has said.

China has been criticised domestically and abroad for being initially slow to react to the outbreak, which started in Wuhan. The virus has now infected almost 4 million people around the world, and almost 250,0000 people have died from the Covid-19 disease it causes.

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Brawl erupts between Hong Kong politicians in fight for chair – video

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The legislative council descended into chaos for more than an hour on Friday as opposing lawmakers threw placards and scrambling over each other to take control of a house committee. Politicians rushed to take the seat left empty after the house was unable to elect a new chairperson. The incumbent, Starry Lee, reached the seat first as pro-Beijing and pro-democracy members crowded in

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