BANGKOK: Beijing said yesterday it is “ready to work” with Southeast Asian nations on a code of conduct in the flash point South China Sea, where it is accused of building up military installations and bullying fellow claimants. China claims most of the resource-rich waterway, a major global shipping route
NEW DELHI: India’s capital New Delhi was enveloped in heavy, toxic smog yesterday — the worst levels in recent years — with flights diverted or delayed as politicians blamed each other for failing to tackle the crisis. Every winter, the megacity of 20 million people is blanketed by a poisonous
SEPANG: An Indonesian motorbike rider competing in a tournament to promote young talent died Saturday after an accident at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, officials said, triggering tributes from the racing community. Afridza Munandar, 20, was involved in the incident on turn 10 in the first lap of the race
TOKYO: World Cup-winning Springbok skipper Siya Kolisi carries the weight of the ‘Rainbow Nation’ on his shoulders as the first black captain of the South Africa rugby union team, a long-time bastion of the country’s white Afrikaner community. Coach Rassie Erasmus appointed Kolisi when he took over from the sacked
PARIS: Novak Djokovic beat Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday to set up a Paris Masters final against Canadian youngster Denis Shapovalov, as Rafael Nadal withdrew from the tournament with an abdominal injury. Top seed Djokovic saw off Dimitrov 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the last four before Nadal, his rival for the
AUSTIN: Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of clinching his sixth drivers’ world championship with a stylish American triumph were rocked on Saturday when his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas grabbed a surprise pole position at the United States Grand Prix. Bottas, the only man who can delay Hamilton’s celebrations, kept alive his own
WASHINGTON: In the new world of streaming television, advertising is not going away, but is evolving to become more like marketing on the internet — targeted to specific groups or individuals. While some subscription streaming services including Netflix, Apple+ and Disney+ have pledged to be ad-free, others including those from
LOS ANGELES: With two young daughters, Mery Montenegro is preparing to add Disney+ to her list of streaming subscriptions, which already includes Netflix, Hulu and Amazon — and, when combined with her cable TV bill, costs her almost $1,500 per year. Her eldest Victoria, 6, asks every day when the
LONDON: With a crucial election, Brexit and potential trade deals looming, the future of the beating heart of Britain’s financial sector will be shaped in the coming months. The spectre of a “Singapore-on-Thames” — a highly deregulated British financial sector like the city-state — is the dream of some pro-Brexit
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Aramco announced yesterday its long-awaited stock market debut in what could be the world’s biggest IPO, underpinning Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitions to overhaul the kingdom’s oil-reliant economy. After years of delay, Aramco said it plans to sell an unspecified number of shares on the