Asia

Kazakhstan to ban foreign investment in farmland and pastures

Editorial Bureau February 25, 2021

ALMATY (KAZAKHSTAN) – The Kazakhstan government is mulling banning foreigners from owning or renting farmland in the country, said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Thursday. This has brought to an end prolonged disputes that once triggered anti-government protests. The former Soviet

UK

Hong Kongers lap up homes in Britain to give them on lease

Editorial Bureau February 25, 2021

HONG KONG – Property agents in Britain said that Hong Kongers are buying more houses and apartment in the country in order to give them on lease for income. This trend coincides with what many expect to be a wave of emigration from the city after China passed a draconian national security law last year. […]

USA

US, E3 allies respond to Iran provocations with studied calm

Editorial Bureau February 25, 2021

WASHINGTON/PARIS (US/FRANCE) – A week after the US offered to hold talks with Iran about reviving the nuclear deal struck in 2015, Tehran has curbed UN monitoring, threatened to enhance uranium enrichment and its alleged proxies have twice targeted Iraqi bases with US troops. On the other hand, the US and its allies – Britain, […]

Asia

Xi tomtoms ‘victory’ in drive to end rural poverty in China

Editorial Bureau February 25, 2021

BEIJING (CHINA) – President Xi Jinping of China celebrated “complete victory” in the bid to do away with rural poverty during a ceremony in Beijing on Thursday. It was held to commemorate a signature initiative of his eight-year tenure. State media credit Xi’s government with uplifting as many as 100 million people from abject poverty, […]

Tech

ByteDance’s head of China news unit promoted as global TikTok R&D chief

Editorial Bureau February 25, 2021

BEIJING (CHINA) – ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, is planning to transfer the head of its Chinese news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, Zhu Wenjia, to Singapore to be in charge of global research and development for its short video app TikTok. It would be the first senior R&D position for TikTok. Sources said Zhu will […]

Finance

Standard Chartered reinstates dividend, reaffirms profit goals

Editorial Bureau February 25, 2021

HONG KONG – Standard Chartered PLC reinstated its dividend on Thursday and reaffirmed its long-term profit targets. This comes as a show of confidence about its ability to recover from the pandemic pummelling although its annual profit more than halved. The bank said that overall income in 2021 is likely to be similar to last […]

Asia

Students, doctors in Myanmar plan more agitations against junta

Editorial Bureau February 25, 2021

YANGON (MYANMAR) – In the wake of the US expressing concern over the deportation of 1,100 Myanmar nationals from Malaysia to their strife-torn homeland, students and doctors in the nation are planning to hold fresh protests on Thursday. The military came to power this month after alleging fraud in a November 8 poll in which […]

Daily Roundup

Wednesday 24th February, Daily Roundup

Editorial Bureau February 24, 2021

Here’s a quick summary of what has happened around the world over the last 24 hours, brought to you exclusively by British Herald. Local News British finance minister Rishi Sunak is gearing up to extend the stamp duty holiday by three months until the end of June. He is taking this attempt to strengthen activity […]

Europe

Weary Portuguese nurses stress on pay over applause, amid COVID fight

Editorial Bureau February 24, 2021

LISBON (PORTUGAL) – At midnight nurse Ines Lopes and her colleagues are prepping up for the night shift taking care of patients in a COVID-19 intensive care unit in the heart of Lisbon. The chaos amid COVID has fuelled frustration among health professionals, who are struggling to make ends meet because of low salaries and […]

World

World Bank says women head towards equal legal rights despite COVID-19 risks

Editorial Bureau February 24, 2021

Women secured legal rights in nearly 30 countries last year in spite of facing disruption due to COVID-19. However, governments must take more steps to relax the disproportionate burden imposed on women during the pandemic, the World Bank said on Tuesday. Nations should give priority to gender equality in economic recovery efforts, the bank said. […]