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July 8th, 2021

Asia's new COVID waves

How politics has undone the pandemic success stories

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The Big Story

Asia's new COVID waves

Nikkei Recovery Index shows overconfidence can be deadly

The pandemic continues to teach a harsh lesson: optimism is often not just wrong, but fatal. 
Huawei is on a hiring blitz in Munich, where it is after chip engineers; Istanbul, where it is going after software developers; as well as in Canada, Finland, Sweden and Russia, where it is on the lookout for AI researchers. (Source photos by Reuters) 
Business Spotlight

Huawei enlists army of European talent for 'battle' with US

Chinese tech giant is ramping up global hiring and local chip investments

Singapore is home to at least 28 high-tech, indoor urban vegetable farms that a food resilience official said allow the city-state to "grow more with less."
Asia Insight

Singapore cultivates 'Silicon Valley of food' in a hungry Asia

Lab meat and indoor greens thrive as COVID highlights regional challenge

Didi has been told to remove its app from Chinese app stores.
China tech

China extends probes of US-listed tech groups after curbs on Didi

Shares in investor SoftBank hit by action against ride-hailing app days after IPO

A passenger holds a smartphone showing the logo of Didi's ride-hailing app in the Chinese city of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, on July 4. Just days after its IPO in the U.S., the company was ordered by Chinese authorities to remove its app from domestic app stores.
The Nikkei View

China must stop using unclear rules to hobble web companies

Lack of transparency in government interventions could have global market impact

Sweden's Ericsson is promising to help Malaysia "quickly close the digital divide" with its 5G technology.
5G networks

Malaysia picks Ericsson over Huawei to build 5G network

$2.6bn deal comes as country pushes to launch services this year

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has described the company's relationship with TSMC as one of "co-opetition" -- a blend of cooperation and competition. (Source photos by Shinya Sawai and Reuters) 
Semiconductors

Apple and Intel become first to adopt TSMC's latest chip tech

Taiwanese company remains vital partner for American tech giants

A solar system is installed on a roof in Sydney: much of the silicon used in solar panels is made in China, specifically in the Xinjiang region.
Energy

Xinjiang labor clouds solar sector as panel prices swell

Sanctions risk compounds shortage in one of world's top silicon-producing regions

Dabur's immunity-enhancing products are displayed at a drugstore in New Delhi. (Photo by Moyuru Baba)
Consumer

Dabur India banks on therapeutic products as COVID fears spread

Consumer goods company offers more items based on traditional Hindu remedies

President Xi Jinping speaks during a celebration marking the 100th founding anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing on Thursday. (Captured from CCTV YouTube account)
Politics

Xi vows to crush meddling forces and Taiwan independence attempts

President says CCP has achieved 1st centennial goal of eliminating absolute poverty

A massive screen shows Chinese President Xi Jinping during a show commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party at Beijing's National Stadium on June 28.
Politics

Xi's ambitions and concerns: 5 takeaways from centenary speech

Chinese president offers clues about 2022 national congress and beyond

Ebrahim Raisi waves after casting his vote at a polling station in Tehran on June 18: it was more like a Shiite divine nomination than a democratic election.
Opinion

Is Iran's Islamic Revolution running out of puff?

Signs of decay usually begin to emerge with the third generation

Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong, pictured on June 22: much of what makes the city great remains fundamentally ever-present.
Opinion

This is why I will never abandon Hong Kong

Our city is wounded, but it is not dead

Haruki Murakami, right, who serves as the DJ for the radio program "Murakami Radio," and musician Miu Sakamoto. (Photo courtesy of Tokyo FM)
Arts

Haruki Murakami on life as a radio DJ

Japanese author believes COVID has made his fiction even more relevant

Fabrics dyed using traditional techniques hang to dry at a dyehouse in Sichuan Province, China. (Courtesy of Liu Yan)
Life

Rediscovering 'tipsy cheek' and other forgotten Chinese colors

Hues of ancient times possessed a poetry sadly missing in today's Pantone world

Protesters show their opposition to the Penang South Reclamation project, a controversial Penang State government scheme to build new islands off the coast, in November 2019. (Courtesy of Penang Tolak Tambak)
Tea Leaves

One island is enough for Penang

Malaysian state's offshore reclamation plans risk environmental disaster