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China summons Japanese ambassador over Abe’s Taiwan comments

The Former Japanese prime minister had warned of the serious consequences of Beijing taking the ‘wrong path’ over the self-ruled island. China’s foreign ministry summoned Japan’s ambassador in Beijing for an “emergency meeting” on Wednesday evening after former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said neither his country nor the United States could stand by if China attacked Taiwan. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying called Abe’s remarks “erroneous” and a violation of basic norms of relations between China and Japan in the meeting with ambassador Hideo Tarumi, according to a statement from China’s foreign ministry. Abe’s comments “openly challenged China’s sovereignty and gave brazen support to Taiwan independence forces”, it cited Hua as saying. Speaking during a virtual address with the Institute for National Policy Research, a think-tank in Taiwan, Abe on Wednesday warned of the serious security and economic consequences of any Chinese military action against Taiwan and

Japan’s factory output grows at fastest pace since 2018

Manufactory output improves amid an easing of critical supply bottlenecks. Japan’s factory activity grew in November at the fastest pace in nearly four years, as manufacturers’ output and order books improved with an easing of critical supply bottlenecks. Businesses, however, said cost pressures remained an issue as materials shortages and delivery delays caused input prices to surge the most in 13 years. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in November rose to 54.5 on a seasonally adjusted basis, marking its fastest pace of expansion since January 2018. The figure, which compared with the prior month’s 53.2 and a 54.2 flash reading, also marked the 10th straight month of expansion in manufacturing activity. “The Japanese manufacturing sector continued to see an improvement in operating conditions midway through the fourth quarter,” said Usamah Bhatti, an economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey. Bhatti said manufacturers reported a sus

Australia announces inquiry into tech giants

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says big tech firms have a responsibility to ensure their platforms are safe. Australia will conduct a wide-ranging parliamentary inquiry into the behavior of the world’s largest technology companies and the need for new legislation, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday. Australia has led global efforts to rein in the powers of the likes of Alphabet and Facebook, installing legislation that has been heralded as a model for others to copy. Raising the possibility of additional regulation, Morrison said on Wednesday that the new inquiry will have a wide scope, including asking the committee lawmakers to investigate the algorithms used by social media platforms, how the companies verify identification and age, and the extent to which restrictions on these are being enforced. “Big tech has big questions to answer,” Morrison told reporters. “Big tech created these platforms, they have a responsibility to ensure they’re safe.” New laws The announcemen

These Are the World’s Most Expensive Cities to Live in Right Now

Israel’s Tel Aviv has leapfrogged Hong Kong and Singapore to become the world’s most expensive city to live in, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The Israeli city climbed from fifth place last year to top the Worldwide Cost of Living 2021 report for the first time, pushing Paris down to the joint second place with Singapore. Zurich and Hong Kong rounded out the top five. The soaring shekel and price increases for goods including groceries and transport were the main factors in Tel Aviv taking the top spot, according to the EIU. It said prices for goods and services studied across cities had risen 3.5% year-on-year in local currency terms, compared with 1.9% last year. The inflation rate was the fastest recorded for the past five years. Cost increases were the biggest for transport as higher oil prices boosted the price of unleaded petrol by 21%. Other key findings in the study include: Rome saw the biggest drop in the ranking from 32nd to 48th place Tehran leaped fro

A video appears to show the British F-35 fighter jet crashing into the Mediterranean during take-off mishap

A new video reportedly shows the moment an F-35 British fighter jet crashed into the sea. The plane fails to accelerate up the ramp and take off, immediately falling off of the ramp. The pilot activates his parachute, and according to the UK Ministry of Defence, was rescued afterward. A new video posted to Twitter purports to show the F-35 British fighter jet crashing into the water during takeoff as its pilot ejects, according to the BBC. The jet, which was docked on the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on November 17, 2021, around 10 a.m. GMT, and it was one the first time the UK has lost one of its 24 F-35 warplanes, according to the report. The video, posted by Twitter user @sebh1981, shows a recording of what appears to be security footage of the crash. The user claimed to Insider to have sourced the video from a Royal Navy WhatsApp group, and stated that the original footage is from the ship's visual surveillance system. Inside

Global risk of omicron variant is 'very high;' Biden urges vaccinations, masks; judge blocks vaccine mandate: Latest COVID-19 updates

The omicron variant first discovered in South Africa last week is likely to quickly spread around the globe and could result in "severe consequences," the World Health Organization warned Monday. "There could be future surges of COVID-19, which could have severe consequences depending on a number of factors including where surges may take place," the WHO said in a technical brief. "The overall global risk related to the (omicron variant) is assessed as very high." The WHO said there is currently no information to suggest symptoms connected with omicron differ from those associated with other variants. No deaths linked to the omicron variant have been reported, the WHO added. However, it said preliminary evidence raises the possibility the variant has mutations that could help it both evade an immune-system response and make it more transmissible. President Joe Biden addressed the latest threat Monday, once again urging Americans to get vaccinated, obtain

New York Times columnist says he has 'high tolerance' for inflation in 'white-hot economy'

The media continues to downplay mass inflation in today’s economy , including New York Times columnist David Brooks, who encouraged a "white-hot economy" and said he has a "high tolerance" for inflation. "I want a white-hot economy," he said. "I want a white-hot economy that will raise wages at the bottom, which is happening, that will bring people back into the labor force, which is happening, which is spreading the wealth around the country and not concentrating in a few cities." Brooks' push for a hyperactive economy is due to his recognition of society "coming apart" in recent years, he said, in areas like income inequality and labor. But the consequence of these pressures is what’s causing inflation to surface. "Since we can’t really fine-tune an economy, we’re probably overheating and we’re getting inflation," he said. Post-pandemic inflation, he said, is less of a threat than Jimmy Carter’s inflation of th

New Covid-19 variant Omicron cases, travel updates from around the world

Taiwan tightens border controls on six African countries due to new Omicron variant Taiwan has announced tighter border controls due to the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, the island’s Central Epidemic Command Centre (CECC) announced Friday. South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe have been added to its list of "high-risk countries" beginning Monday, November 29, the government said. Passengers who have traveled to or transited through these six countries in the past 14 days will have to undergo 14 days quarantine at a government quarantine facility and Covid-19 testing. Flight crew members of Taiwanese airlines returning from or who have transited through high-risk countries will also be required to undergo quarantine in a designated hotel or a company dormitory for 14 days. Taiwan's CECC classifies the new variant as "highly transmissible” and states the new measures aim to “reduce the risk of the variant entering the community." Hon