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SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Ride-hailing giant Uber has resumed its ride-sharing service in the United States, a top executive announced Tuesday, offering customers in Miami a feature that was stopped last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The UberX Share option — formerly called Uber Pool — allows people to share rides with strangers at a reduced cost, and builds in precautions against the spread of the coronavirus. “609 days later, shared […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Strict new Covid-19 restrictions come into force in Beijing on Wednesday for visitors to the Chinese capital, requiring negative tests and dramatically cutting domestic flights as the city raises the drawbridge against the coronavirus ahead of the Winter Olympics. With less than 100 days to go to the games in February, China is bracing for a challenge to its zero-Covid strategy when thousands of international athletes descend on Beijing after months […]
by Dene-Hern CHEN / Jing Xuan TENG in Beijing BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Sporting neon hair and flawless skin, Bangkok Naughty Boo is one of a new generation of influencers in Asia promising to stay forever young, on-trend, and scandal-free — because they are computer generated. Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, these stars are hugely popular with teenagers in the region and will yield increasing power as interest grows in the “metaverse”, industry […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Tuesday imposed an entry ban on Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, his vice-president wife and his government, after elections that were internationally dismissed as illegitimate. Before the November 7 vote, Nicaraguan authorities detained nearly 40 opposition figures, including seven would-be presidential challengers, assuring victory for long-time ruler Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo. “The repressive and abusive acts of the Ortega government and those who support it […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong customs officers seized nearly 900 kilograms of live lobsters on a speedboat on Monday night, as authorities step up a crackdown on the smuggling of Australian rock lobsters into mainland China. With relations between the two countries strained, China has restricted imports of several Australian products. Among them are lobsters, a sought-after delicacy in mainland China. Imports of Australian rock lobsters to Hong Kong — which has no […]
by Michel COMTE OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Police said Tuesday at least one person has died in torrential rains that trapped motorists in mudslides, forced thousands to evacuate their homes and cut off Vancouver from the rest of Canada. Search and rescue teams recovered the body of a woman from a mudslide near Lillooet, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Vancouver, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. Staff Sergeant Janelle Shoihet added that investigators have […]
by Mandel Ngan with Sebastian Smith in Washington NORTH WOODSTOCK, United States (AFP) — Joe Biden flew Tuesday to a creaky bridge in New Hampshire to tout his rare victory in passing a bipartisan infrastructure package, hoping the $1 trillion measure will also put his own presidency back on the road. Biden’s trip to the antiquated NH 175 bridge over the Pemigewasset River in North Woodstock kicked off a blitz by the White House to […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York City will allow crowds into Times Square on New Year’s Eve to ring in 2022, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday, after the pandemic muted last year’s celebrations. Hundreds of thousands of revelers will be able to attend the traditional ball drop at midnight providing they can prove they are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, de Blasio told reporters. Attendees who are unable to get vaccinated because […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Joe Biden that US support for Taiwanese independence would be “like playing with fire”, state media said Tuesday, as the two held a long-awaited video call. “Taiwanese authorities have repeatedly tried to ‘rely on the US for independence’,” Xi was quoted as saying by state media agency Xinhua, adding: “Some people in the US intend to ‘use Taiwan to control China’. This trend is very dangerous […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday that he has “concerns” over human rights abuses and also warned against “unliteral” moves to change the status of Taiwan, the White House said. “President Biden raised concerns about the PRC’s (Chinese communist party) practices in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, as well as human rights more broadly,” the White House said in a readout after the virtual Biden-Xi […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s junta has charged ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi with electoral fraud during 2020 polls that her party won in a landslide, state media reported on Tuesday. Suu Kyi was accused of “election fraud and lawless actions”, state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar reported, without giving details on when court proceedings would begin. Fifteen other officials — including former president Win Myint and the chairman of the election commission […]
by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — New Delhi authorities announced Saturday a one-week closure of schools and said they would consider a “pollution lockdown” to protect citizens from toxic smog. “Schools will be shut so that children don’t have to breathe polluted air,” Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal told reporters. Delhi is ranked one of the world’s most polluted cities, with a hazardous melange of factory and vehicle emissions, and smoke from agricultural […]
