Hong Kong’s Lam Praises HSBC After CEO ‘Grilled,’ Slams U.K. Bloomberg 1/28/2021 Denise Wee, Haslinda Amin and Kari Lindberg
(Bloomberg) Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam endorsed a stronger presence for HSBC Holdings Plc while hitting out at the U.K. for both disparaging the bank and failing to contain the coronavirus as Prime Minister Boris Johnson opens the door for millions of the territory’s residents to move.
In an interview Thursday with Bloomberg Television, Lam said she would “love” to see HSBC expand in Hong Kong, where it has come under increased criticism over freezing the accounts of activists and supporting the financial hub’s sweeping national security law. Lam also said China probably wouldn’t take action against lenders that comply with U.S. sanctions, which the law forbids.
DAVOS 2021: COVID-19 crisis won t end until developing nations get vaccine Oscar Williams-Grut ISMAILIA EGYPT, Jan. 24, 2021 A medical worker receives a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Abu Khalifa Emergency Hospital in the northeastern province of Ismailia, Egypt, on Jan. 24, 2021. Egypt started on Sunday vaccinating medical staff with Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine at the hospital in Ismailia, according to a vaccination program by the Egyptian Health Ministry. (Photo by Adel Eissa/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Adel Eissa via Getty Images)
Life is unlikely to return to normal until the COVID-19 pandemic is stamped out globally, a senior Singaporean politician has said.
Biden Taps Veteran Team to Clean Up After Trump’s China Fights
Bloomberg 1/20/2021
The veteran officials President-elect Joe Biden has chosen to manage the U.S.’s fractured relationship with China are familiar throughout Asia. But they’ll find the region’s landscape dramatically changed after four years of “America First” upheaval.
Ties between Washington and Beijing have sunk to their lowest point since the height of the Cold War, while the U.S.’s alliances across Asia have been strained by President Donald Trump’s combative trade policies and demands for more troop funding. Biden’s national security team, led by long-time aides such as Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, are expected to leave much of Trump’s China policies in place for a period of time as they grapple with domestic crises and work with allies to build a more multilateral strategy to counter Beijing.
Human-caused climate change and Covid-19
Rayhan Ahmed Topader:
Coronavirus may only be the beginning of global pandemics a future scenario in which climate change may also play a role.We have entered a pandemic era,” said a recent study in the journal Cell. Written by Dr.Anthony Fauci and medical historian Dr. David Morens, both of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the study paints a picture of a future where pandemics become more numerous.But climate change’s possible role is complicated: We know that the virus survives longer in cold temperatures than hot, so that could mean that a warmer planet would slow the spread of the disease, said meteorologist Jeff Masters, who writes for Yale Climate Connections. On the other hand, he said heat waves cause people to spend more time indoors in air-conditioned spaces, where the spread of the disease increases.