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A holiday marked by family reunions and gazing at the full moon, this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival fell on September 10, 2022. The event is China's second biggest annual festival after the Lunar New Year, and features public activities ranging from traditional performances to calligraphy exhibitions. Amid continued co…
Hongkongers paid tribute to Britain's Queen Elizabeth on September 9, 2022, after news broke of the monarch's death overnight, local time. Britain controlled Hong Kong from 1841 to 1997. A hospital, a stadium and several other facilities in the city were named after Queen Elizabeth and have remained so, despite the …
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Queen Elizabeth died on September 8, 2022, at the age of 96 after Buckingham Palace said her doctors were “concerned” for her health and recommended that she remain under medical supervision. The queen – Britain’s longest-serving monarch – had been dogged by health problems that had left her struggling to walk and s…
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Transgender performance shows in Pattaya, Thailand resumed on September 1, 2022, after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic. As performers welcomed their return on stage, show organisers said most of the current bookings were from locals and individuals, which means fewer showtimes. Thailand relies heavily on tou…
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Canadian police closed a massive manhunt on September 7, 2022, after arresting a second suspect in the mass stabbings that killed 10 people in the Saskatchewan province. But Myles Sanderson died hours later, after complaining of “medical distress” while in police custody, said Rhonda Blackmore, Assistant Commissione…
American television writer Heidi Ferrer came down with Covid-19 in 2020 and never fully recovered. Long Covid left her in debilitating pain and suffering from severe neurological tremors that made it impossible for her to sleep and walk. She took her own life in May 2021 at age 50. Nearly 150 million people worldwid…
A tower crane collapsed on a container, which struck a group of workers at a public housing construction site in Hong Kong on September 7, 2022. Three men were killed and six were rushed to hospital. The case has been classified as an industrial accident and officers are investigating what caused the crane to collapse.
Health authorities in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, which has been under a Covid-19 lockdown since September 1, 2022, have said that ensuring people’s safety must take priority in case of emergencies. The clarification came following a deadly September 5 earthquake that left at least 66 people dead in Si…
China has accused the US of using Trojan virus cyberattacks to steal high-value data from servers belonging to a state-funded university in the northwestern province of Shaanxi. China’s foreign ministry urged Washington to “stop stealing [from] and attacking other countries”, as the allegations based on an investiga…
At the start of a new academic year in Hong Kong, secondary school students in Tin Hau expressed their excitement about the first day in class after many months of no face-to-face courses. Pupils at a primary school in Tsing Yi district grappled with strict health protection measures set out by the Education Bureau,…
After struggling to hire enough staff, some restaurants in New York have started using robots to serve their customers. The feline-themed mechanical waiters are made in China and not exactly cheap, but the US$16,000 BellaBot can reliably deliver food orders from the kitchen to the table. WowRobee, the company that h…
The International Monetary Fund has preliminarily agreed to a US$2.9 billion conditional bailout for Sri Lanka. The proposed four-year programme would boost government revenue, encourage fiscal consolidation, introduce new pricing for fuel and electricity, hike social spending, bolster central bank autonomy and rebu…
Authorities in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou have extended the opening hours of local amusement parks to promote nighttime tourism in China’s key economic hub. The move is part of recovery efforts to help boost the local economy that has taken a hit from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Singapore lifted its indoor mask requirement for most spaces on August 29, 2022, easing one of the country’s few remaining pandemic restrictions as it forges ahead with a policy of living with Covid-19. The move will make Singapore one of the first countries in Asia to ease indoor mask-wearing. Officials also announ…
Men were hooked up to an electronic device that induces pain similar to what women feel during menstruation during the annual Calgary Stampede rodeo and exhibition in the Canadian province of Alberta in July 2022. Organised by Vancouver-based company Somedays, the simulations were meant to tackle social stigmas and …
Hundreds of people who work in Thailand's horse-racing industry have been barely scraping by since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Races were suspended as authorities moved to curb the spread of the coronavirus. But horse owners and jockeys still had to care for their animals, feeding and exercising them every d…
A medical team from Linzhi county, Tibet in southwestern China rode on horses to reach a pasture in Jina village to carry out Covid-19 tests on herdsmen. The medical team was organised by the local government to offer help in remote areas as part of efforts to contain Tibet’s first major outbreak of the disease. Pre…
Australian authorities have seized 1.6 tonnes of methamphetamine hidden in marble tiles shipped from the Middle East to Sydney. Police described it as the largest-ever seizure of the illicit drug in Australia. Police estimate the meth's street value at A$1.6 billion (US$1.1 billion), reflecting the higher prices tha…
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that a million people died from Covid-19 in 2022. Speaking at a press conference on August 25, 2022, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it a “tragic milestone” amid all the tools available to prevent deaths. He urged governments to vaccinate more people, w…
Hong Kong’s iconic Peak Tram is expected to be back in service on August 27, 2022, following more than a year of renovation work. One of the world’s oldest funicular railways, the sixth-generation Peak Tram’s twin carriages were made in Switzerland and will be able to carry 210 passengers, up from 120 in the previou…
Millions of children in the Philippines returned to school as the academic year started on August 22, 2022. For many, it's their first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began over two years ago. The Philippines is one of the last countries in the world to resume full-time, in-person lessons, sparking warnings that th…
Thailand’s health minister on August 17, 2022, discouraged tourists from visiting the country with the intention of smoking weed. Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country to legalise cannabis for medical use in 2018 and four years later, the entire plant was decriminalised, leading to widespread recreationa…
Videos of pandemic medical workers giving live seafood PCR tests have gone viral on Chinese social media.
About 2.3 million more people in the Philippines have been pushed into poverty between 2018 and 2021, largely due to the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the country’s statistics agency. Recently inaugurated President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr aims to slash the poverty rate to nine per cent…
Chinese health officials have opened a 2,000-bed hospital in the Tibetan capital Lhasa as Tibet grapples with its first major Covid-19 outbreak. The Tibet autonomous region in southwestern China had reported only a single case since the pandemic began in 2020, making this its first major outbreak. As of August 15, 2…
Visitors at an Ikea store in the eastern Chinese city of Shanghai made a dash for the exits during a flash Covid shutdown on August 12, 2022. Health officials moved to shut down the store after a six-year-old asymptomatic Covid-19 patient was reported to have visited the shop. Strict anti-Covid rules would require t…
Relatives attended a mass funeral in Giza, Egypt on August 14, 2022, for some of the 41 victims killed in an electrical fire and stampede at the Abu Sifin Coptic Christian church earlier the same day. Electrical fires are not rare in Egypt. In late 2020, a fire at a hospital treating Covid-19 patients killed at leas…
Acupuncture is part of the ancient practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). For centuries, it's not only used to treat humans, but also animals. Some pet owners in Beijing send their furry friends to get acupuncture. They believe acupuncture is less invasive and has fewer side effects than Western medicine su…
Japan is battling its second-worst Covid-19 wave since the start of the pandemic. Infections have spiked since July 2022, after weeks of declining numbers. The country reported 178,356 cases on August 14, 2022. Japan has opened up to international visitors, including quarantine-free travel for some nationals. The co…
North Koreans flocked to Munsu Water Park in Pyongyang to escape the summer heat, one day after leader Kim Jong-un declared victory over Covid-19, state media reported on August 11, 2022. The video, provided by Pyongyang’s official news agency KCNA, could not be independently verified. Kim’s declaration came despite…
Forest City, a US$100-billion property development by a China-linked company in southern Malaysia, was built to house up to 700,000 people once completed in 2035. But the huge residential and commercial project resembles a ghost town today, with an estimated 2,000 residents living on the site. The clampdown on capit…
Visually impaired baristas handle the coffee machine skilfully at this cafe in Shanghai. The coffee house is a branch of Hinichijou, a cafe chain that has become popular because it employs people with disabilities. At the company’s newest outlet, that opened in the eastern Chinese city in July, 2022, baristas who ar…
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared victory in the country’s fight against Covid-19, lifting maximum anti-epidemic measures imposed in May, according to state media on August 11, 2022. His sister Kim Yo-jong revealed that Kim himself was “seriously ill with a high fever”. The reclusive state has never released …
The nights are abuzz once again in parts of China, where diners and partygoers are venturing out despite the nation’s determination to stick to a zero-Covid policy. A report by Chinese data company iiMedia Research has projected that the nation’s nighttime economy will grow to about 40 trillion yuan (US$6 trillion) …
Around 80,000 tourists have been left stranded in a resort city popularly known as China's Hawaii after a Covid-19 flare-up led authorities to impose strict travel restrictions. Tourism hotspot Sanya is a city of more than a million people on the southern island of Hainan, where 483 Covid cases were reported on Augu…
The “death map” tells the story of decades of sickness in the small northwest New Mexico communities of Murray Acres and Broadview Acres. Turquoise arrows point to homes where residents had thyroid disease, dark blue arrows mark cases of breast cancer, and yellow arrows mean cancer claimed a life.
Hong Kong will ease Covid-19 entry rules for international arrivals from August 12, 2022. The city will require uninfected travellers to stay in a hotel for three days then stay at home, or in a hotel, for the following four days. Current rules require travellers to spend a week in quarantine at a designated hotel o…
The Mexican Navy carried out a high-speed chase off the coast of Michoacan state on August 3, 2022, in an attempt to catch a fleeing speedboat. According to a press release from the Mexican government, authorities seized 1,600kg (3,527lbs) of drugs believed to be cocaine and 432 litres (114 gallons) of fuel. A Navy …
Thailand’s cannabis market is expected to bloom to US$3 billion over the next five years, and already the industry is taking root on weed-infused items offered by restaurants and cafes as well as health products like toothpaste and soap. The latest example is cannabis bubble tea brewed up by a shop in Chonburi provi…
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With borders shut and travel restrictions in place during the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a surge in interest in hiking among Hong Kong residents seeking new activities. But the trend has also led to an increase in the number of accidents and hikers going missing. A group of volunteers has come together to for…
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One of Shanghai’s oldest neighbourhoods faces demolition as the city’s authorities press ahead with redevelopment plans. Laoximen or “Old West Gate”, named for its position in Shanghai’s 16th century defensive walls, was once the city’s cultural centre. Thousands of residents, a mix of old Shanghai families and migr…
Peruvian Zoila Lecarnaque Saavedra served eight years in a Hong Kong prison after she was found guilty of smuggling drugs into Hong Kong from Peru in 2013. Saavedra claims she was hired by a woman who offered her US$2,000 to travel to the city to pick up a shipment of tax-free electronics that would be sold for prof…
North Korean state-run media aired footage of a mask-free event honouring Korean war veterans on July 26, 2022, mere days after Pyongyang declared that its fast-spreading “fever” outbreak was nearly over. For much of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the reclusive nation has claimed that Covid-19 cases did not exist wit…
Men who have sex with men should limit their sexual partners and take additional precautions to curb the spread of monkeypox, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, on July 27, 2022. There are currently more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox worldwide, with Europe report…
