Business

Netflix series criticized online in China over Taiwan flag

BEIJING — Chinese nationalism on the internet has a new target: The popular Thai drama “Girl from Nowhere" distributed by Netflix.

Business

Asian shares drop, tracking Wall Street decline led by tech

TOKYO — Asian shares fell Wednesday, tracking a decline on Wall Street that was led by big technology stocks. Investors are awaiting the release of minutes from the latest Federal Reserve policy setting meeting.

Asia Pacific

Hong Kong police say top officer did nothing immoral

HONG KONG — Hong Kong police said Tuesday there is no evidence the director of its National Security Department, who was caught up in a raid on an unlicensed massage business, was engaging in any immoral or illegal behavior.

Asia Pacific

Lam defends freezing of publisher’s assets as safety measure

HONG KONG — Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday defended the freezing of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai's assets as a necessary move under the city's new national security law to protect the safety of all Chinese people.

Europe

Hong Kong’s new bishop wants differing views respected

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s incoming Roman Catholic bishop Stephen Chow called for respect for different views as he prepares to lead a diocese that has been polarized by the city’s deteriorating political situation.

Business

Asia shares rise despite ongoing pandemic, inflation worries

TOKYO — Asian shares rose Tuesday, partly on bargain-hunting from the recent global market falls amid continuing pessimism about the conronavirus pandemic.

Business

Asian stocks mixed after Taiwan, Singapore anti-virus curbs

BEIJING — Asian stock markets were mixed Monday after Taiwan and Singapore tightened anti-coronavirus restrictions and Wall Street turned in its biggest weekly decline in three months.

Asia Pacific

‘Well, that’s it.’ 96-year-old DJ bids farewell in Hong Kong

HONG KONG — After more than seven decades in radio, a 96-year-old Hong Kong DJ bid farewell to his listeners Saturday with “Time to Say Goodbye,” sung by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli.

Business

Stocks close higher with help from tech, still down for week

Stocks closed higher for the second day in a row but still ended with a weekly loss after three sizable drops earlier in the week. The S&P 500 added 1.5% Friday, but still lost 1.4% for the week.

Business

Stocks open higher on Wall Street as Big Tech regains ground

Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street following three days of losses and the biggest one-day drop in the S&P 500 since February. Big Tech companies like Apple and Microsoft, which had posted some of the bigger losses this week, were rising in the early going Thursday.

Asia Pacific

Alibaba records first quarterly operating loss since IPO

HONG KONG — Alibaba had its first quarterly operating loss since it went public in 2014 after Beijing slapped a record $2.8 billion fine on the nation's largest e-commerce company for abusing its market position.

Business

China says Xiaomi removal from U.S. blacklist “beneficial”

HONG KONG — China’s commerce ministry on Thursday welcomed the removal of Xiaomi Corp. from a U.S. government blacklist, a day after the U.S. reversed a ban on U.S. investments in the smartphone maker that was imposed under former President Donald Trump...

Business

Asian stocks mixed after Wall St falls on inflation fears

BEIJING — Asian stock markets retreated Wednesday as investors looked ahead to U.S. data they worry will show inflation is picking up.

Business

Hong Kong won’t mandate vaccine for foreign domestic workers

HONG KONG — Hong Kong officials dropped a plan to mandate foreign domestic workers be vaccinated against the coronavirus, after hearing international criticism the move would be discriminatory...

Business

Asian shares slide after tech sell-off on Wall Street

BANGKOK — Shares dropped Tuesday in Asia after selling of several Big Tech companies pulled U.S. benchmarks lower.

Beijing

Asian stocks mixed amid concern over coronavirus hotspots

BEIJING — Asian stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street closed little-changed amid as optimism about a possible global economic recovery was tempered by concern over rising...

Shopping

JD.com racks up $38B in sales in annual online shopping fest

HONG KONG — JD.com's annual “618” online shopping extravaganza racked up a total of 269.2 billion yuan ($38 billion) worth of transactions, as consumers splurged during China's first major...

Beijing

China’s top lawmakers take up draft Hong Kong security law

BEIJING — China's top legislative body has taken up a draft national security law for Hong Kong that has been strongly criticized as undermining the semi-autonomous territory's legal and...

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Disneyland reopens, consumers using less cash

The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments Thursday related to the national and global response, the work place...

Beijing

Europe hit by local infection spikes; China’s outbreak wanes

ATHENS, Greece — Europe grappled Thursday with local spikes in coronavirus infections as the continent’s lockdown restrictions eased, after hundreds of cases were found at one meatpacking...

Financial markets

Asian shares slip as global rally eases off the accelerator

BANGKOK — Shares fell Thursday in Asia after another day of wobbly trading on Wall Street as markets eased off the accelerator following their big rally.

Financial markets

Asia stocks lower after Wall Street gains on recovery hopes

BEIJING — Major Asian stock markets declined Wednesday after Wall Street gained on hopes for a global economic recovery and Japan's exports sank.

International News

Hong Kong leader urges people not to ‘demonize’ security law

HONG KONG — Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Tuesday that she hopes opponents of a new national security law being imposed by China do not “demonize and stigmatize” the legislation because...

Beijing

Hong Kong delegate hoping for stability with security law

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s sole delegate to China’s top legislative body said Monday that many Hong Kong residents support a new national security law being imposed by Beijing in the hopes that...

Legislature

Hong Kong protest marks anniversary of violent police clash

HONG KONG — Thousands of people across Hong Kong sang protest songs and marched on Friday to mark the one-year anniversary of a clash with police outside the semi-autonomous Chinese city's...

Beijing

Twitter removes China-linked accounts spreading false news

LONDON — Twitter has removed a vast network of accounts that it says is linked to the Chinese government and were pushing false information favorable to the country's communist rulers....

Beijing

Zoom caught in China censorship crossfire as meetings foiled

HONG KONG — Video app company Zoom said Thursday it regretted that some meetings involving U.S.-based Chinese dissidents were disrupted, as meanwhile a prominent Hong Kong activist said his...

Hong Kong

China auto sales up 14.5% in May, recovering after pandemic

HONG KONG — China’s auto sales surged 14.5% in May, a second straight month of growth as the global industry’s biggest market gradually recovers from the coronavirus pandemic....

Beijing

AP PHOTOS: 1 year on, tumult of Hong Kong protests echoes

HONG KONG — A year has passed since the beginning of anti-government protests in Hong Kong that brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets of the semi-autonomous Chinese...

Financial Markets

Asian shares slide after Wall Street retreat

TOKYO — Asian shares were mostly lower Thursday, with Tokyo dropping more than 1% as the Japanese yen gained after the Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates low through 2022....

George Floyd

Were they worth it?: Key protest movements over the decades

LONDON — The protests that left much of the world in a haze of tear gas last year were slowed by a pandemic – until the death of George Floyd sparked a global uprising against police...

Financial markets

Asian shares edge higher after Wall St rally fizzles

BANGKOK — Shares were trading slightly higher in Asia on Wednesday after a weekslong rally on Wall Street hit the brakes.

General News

Hundreds march in Hong Kong as leader urges stability

HONG KONG — Hundreds of people marched in Hong Kong's streets on Tuesday to mark a year since the start of anti-government protests, as the leader of the semi-autonomous city called for peace...

Hong Kong

Hong Kong OKs $5 billion bailout for Cathay Pacific Airways

HONG KONG — Financially battered Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific Airways has become the latest airline to get government support to survive the coronavirus pandemic.

Financial markets

Asian shares mixed after Nasdaq record as Wall St rallies on

TOKYO — Shares were mixed in Asia on Tuesday after the Nasdaq composite touched a fresh record as enthusiasm about reopening the economy pushed Wall Street still higher....

Police

The Latest: Seattle police use of pepper spray criticized

TOP OF THE HOUR:

Financial markets

Wall Street’s rally zooms higher after surprise gain in jobs

Stocks are rushing higher Friday after a much better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market gave Wall Street’s recent rally another shot of adrenaline.

Financial markets

Asian shares higher after jobless data snaps Wall St rally

Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Friday after U.S. unemployment data gave the S&P 500 its first loss in five days.

Legislature

Worrying over future, Hong Kong defies ban to mark Tiananmen

HONG KONG — Thousands of people in Hong Kong defied a police ban Thursday evening, breaking through barricades to hold a candlelight vigil on the 31st anniversary of China's crushing of a...

Legislature

On Tiananmen anniversary, Hong Kong bans insults to anthem

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s legislature approved a contentious bill Thursday that makes it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem.

Legislature

Hong Kong leader accuses foreign critics of double standards

BEIJING — Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam accused foreign critics on Wednesday of displaying “blatant double standards” over moves by Beijing to strengthen control over the semi-autonomous...

Financial markets

Asian shares rise as Wall Street gains for 3rd straight day

TOKYO — Asian shares rose Wednesday after Wall Street extended its gains for the third straight day, driven by optimism over economies reopening from shutdowns to stem the coronavirus...

International News

Pompeo hits China over Tiananmen as US faces civil unrest

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday marked this week's anniversary of China's deadly 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square — a day after federal...

Beijing

Hong Kong leader criticizes ‘double standards’ over protests

HONG KONG — Hong Kong's leader on Tuesday criticized the “double standards” of foreign governments regarding national security, pointing to the current unrest in the United States as an...

Financial markets

Asian shares mostly higher following Wall Street gains

TOKYO — Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Tuesday, lifted by moves to reopen many regional economies from shutdowns aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic.