Jokowi battles Indonesian Coal Producers

Thousands of permits for mining, coal and forestry were revoked as Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo battles coal producers over their failure to prioritize the domestic market, which sparked a ban on coal export. 2,078 permits for mining, mineral and coal businesses were revoked for the failure to provide work plans, misused the permits or transferred…

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[ The Irrawaddy ] Myanmar Military’s Joint Venture Brewery to be Dissolved After Product Boycott

Source: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-militarys-joint-venture-brewery-to-be-dissolved-after-product-boycott.html Myanmar Brewery Co, which once manufactured the best-selling beer brands in Myanmar, is to be dissolved. The company is a joint venture between Japanese beverage giant Kirin and the military-owned conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings Public Co. Ltd (MEHL). On November 19, MEHL made an application to the Yangon Region Western District Court to…

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Erdogan Becoming a Liability for Turkey

Last month Turkey made it into the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog headquartered in Paris. Turkey now joins its close ally Pakistan in FATF’s crosshairs. Surprisingly Turkey becomes the largest economy to be included in this list. The FATF listing for Ankara comes on the…

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[ Taiwan News ] 32 countries to remove China from preferential tariff treatment on Dec. 1

China Customs says 32 countries will no longer provide preferential tariff treatment to the world’s largest exporter from Dec. 1, and an economic expert says labor-intensive businesses will bear the brunt of the development. According to a statement recently issued by the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), 32 countries will remove China from…

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[ TIME ] China, Isolated From the World, Is Now the Last Major Country Still Pursuing a ‘Zero COVID’ Strategy

Now, with the rise of the delta variant and the proliferation of vaccines, only one is still holding fast to that goal of eliminating Covid-19: China. With New Zealand preparing to shift away from the zero-tolerance strategy, China’s isolation is complete, raising the stakes on how long it can stick to a playbook that requires closed borders,…

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[ AsiaOne / Straits Times ] Singapore inks deal for Merck antiviral pill to treat Covid-19 and its variants

The Republic has inked a supply and purchase agreement for an antiviral pill to treat Covid-19 that is said to be effective against all known variants of the virus, including the Delta variant. The drug was developed by pharmaceutical firm Merck in the United States and Canada, together with Miami-based Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. Merck is known as…

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