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April 16th, 2020

ABSENT

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a vacuum in global leadership

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The Big Story

How coronavirus exposed the collapse of global leadership

The pandemic called for coordinated action. No one answered

Instead of crafting a global plan, the U.S. and China -- the two world powers best suited to lead a coronavirus response -- have sniped at one another from the sidelines. 
East Asia's 2019 baseball champions, from left to right: South Korean Doosan Bears, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Japan, and Taiwan's Lamigo (now Rakuten) Monkeys (Source photos from AP/Kyodo)
Nissan's plant in the U.S. state of Mississippi.
Automobiles

Goodbye Ghosn: Coronavirus forces Nissan to ditch brash doctrine

Carmaker puts 20,000 workers on temporary leave as it battles capacity glut

Nissan, like other big automakers, is scrambling to raise cash as sales dry up due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Automobiles

Nissan seeks $4.6bn credit line to raise liquidity amid pandemic

Troubled carmaker looks to creditors, including Mizuho, for cash

SoftBank Group, led by CEO Masayoshi Son, expects a 1.35 trillion yen operating loss for the year ended March, swinging from a 2.07 trillion yen profit in the previous fiscal year. (Photo by Ken Kobayshi)
SoftBank

SoftBank Vision Fund's gains wiped out with $16.7bn loss

$100bn investment vehicle turns net negative after WeWork and other woes

Business process outsourcing (BPO) employs more than 1.3 million Filipinos and generates around $25 billion in revenues a year.
Coronavirus

Coronavirus a threat to vital Philippine call centers

Virus could spur automation, hitting key Manila job creator

Hong Kong's Great Causeway shopping district is seeing high-end tenants pull out as tourism to the city collapses.
Business trends

Luxury brands bid adieu to Hong Kong amid coronavirus and unrest

Louis Vuitton, Prada and Valentino close flagship stores as tourists vanish

The Four Seasons Tokyo at Otemachi, scheduled to open three weeks before the now-postponed 2020 Olympics, is sticking to its launch schedule despite the coronavirus's toll on the tourism industry.
Travel & Leisure

Asian hotels press ahead with expansions despite pandemic

France's Accor adding 94 hotels in China alone this year

Linkbal held a workplace party in groups of four people to facilitate conversation. (Photo courtesy of Linkbal)
Coronavirus

Coronavirus drives Japan workmates to drink and bond online

Companies pay for virtual 'nomikai' to beat isolation and boost staff morale

India wants to challenge China as a provider of humanitarian assistance in Africa just as it fights its own battle against the coronavirus outbreak at home. (© Nikkei montage/Reuters/AFP/Jiji)
Asia Insight

Into Africa: India vies with China for post-pandemic clout

Countries compete to deliver aid to strategic continent

South Korea and Singapore are both gearing up for elections amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Coronavirus

How Singapore and South Korea aim to avoid election infections

Quarantine voting, obligatory masks and other measures planned

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin speaks to the media on March 11, amid the coronavirus crisis.
Malaysia in transition

Malaysia warms to Muhyiddin and his cold coronavirus cash

$60bn stimulus measures help turn #NotMyPM hashtag into #MyPM8

Women carry relief supplies provided by local authorities amid the coronavirus outbreak in Dhaka on April 2.
Economy

Bangladesh seeks IMF lifeline after record stimulus package

Cash infusion may not be enough to cushion blow from COVID-19 crisis

Hospitals are increasingly at risk of coronavirus outbreaks within their premises. (Photo by Takaki Kashiwabara)
Health Care

Japan greenlights online doctor visits as outbreak hits hospitals

Stopgap measure for first-time consultations hamstrung by lagging telemedicine

Japan hopes to address a potential ventilator shortage by removing regulatory barriers
Coronavirus

Japan shortens ventilator screening to days to lure newcomers

Government counts on automakers and other manufacturers to help boost production

French economist Jacques Attali says vaccine research is necessary for the global economy to recover.
Interview

Technology to reign supreme after the coronavirus: Jacques Attali

Leading French economist says more resources will need to be directed to health

An Indian Hindu woman drinks cow urine during an event organized by a Hindu religious group to promote consumption of cow urine as a cure for the new coronavirus in New Delhi on Mar. 14.
Opinion

India's media must promote science, not superstition, in COVID-19 fight

Drinking cow urine and practising yoga have been tipped as coronavirus cures

Train passengers wear masks at Senen Train Station in Jakarta on Mar. 20: governments must think about how to maintain order as well as save lives.
Opinion

Coronavirus challenges Southeast Asia's fragile democracies

Governments turn to military to prevent social unrest after economic crunch

All shops at the entrance of the Asakusa Kannon Temple are closed on Mar. 28; this is not action that is legally demanded.
Opinion

Japan's state of emergency has dark history

Governments used them for medical and military ends, but lost powers after the war

Travelers in protective suits are seen on April 10 at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport after the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan.
The Nikkei View

China's coronavirus fight is far from over

Lack of transparency raises questions over early outbreak response

Volunteers with the hand sanitizer program go door to door to find residents willing to lend their support. (Rachel Cheung)
Life

Hong Kong's army of volunteers disinfects the city, house by house

Build & Wish Voluntary Team puts up hand sanitizer dispensers in tenement buildings

A Samsung production line in South Korea in 1985. Founder BC Lee's gamble on a semiconductor line in 1983 proved to be a farsighted move. 
Life

'Samsung Rising': How a dried-fish shop became the face of Korea Inc.

New book shows productive clash between East and West but falls short on insider detail

Migrant workers try to board a crowded bus as they return to their villages, during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spreading of COVID-19, in Ghaziabad, on March 29
Tea Leaves

Social distancing -- an Indian nightmare

Isolation is a bad joke in the teeming subcontinent, but a sense of humor helps