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☆ Top economists urge bolder action on ‘crisis of extreme inequality’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Reducing inequality by 2030 was one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals adopted by most governments in 2015. But five years later, global inequality — measured as the difference in average incomes between countries — saw the largest annual rise in three decades, driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the World Bank. The goal to reduce inequality “remains largely ignored,” Monday’s letter said. We ask you to seize this opportunity to back stronger goals.”A spokesperson for the World Bank welcomed the ideas proposed in the letter. At a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York Tuesday, due to be attended by representatives from governments, a group that includes Oxfam and UNAIDS will launch a “call to action” on global inequality.

Persons: London CNN —, António Guterres, Ajay Banga, Ban, Helen Clark, Joseph Stiglitz, Jayati Ghosh, Thomas Piketty, ” Guterres, —, ”, “, Vasco Cotovio Organizations: London CNN, United Nations, World Bank, UN, New Zealand, Sustainable, CNN, Oxfam, UNAIDS Locations: Russia, Ukraine, New York

SEOUL, July 17 (Reuters) - A year after South Korea vowed to step up readiness for extreme weather driven by climate change, experts say not enough work has been done even as greater volumes of sudden and torrential rains are expected in coming decades. South Korea is mountainous and urban development has left many regions vulnerable to landslides, while readiness to respond to extreme weather has not been up to speed. [1/3]Rescue workers look for victims during a search and rescue operation near an underpass that has been submerged by a flooded river caused by torrential rain in Cheongju, South Korea, July 16, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Hong-jiA 2020 study by the Korea Meteorological Administration found that property damage costs and casualties from extreme weather have tripled compared to the yearly average of the previous decade. "In advanced countries, they allocate 70% for prevention and 30% for recovery, prioritising recovery over prevention."

Persons: Jeong Chang, Jeong, Yoon Suk, Yoon, Kim Hong, Sejong, Jung, Lee Su, Lee, 1,267.1100, Hyun Young Yi, Hyunsu Yim, Jack Kim, Tom Hogue Organizations: Induk University, REUTERS, Korea Meteorological Administration, Korea Environment Institute, University of Seoul, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, Korea, Cheongju, Seoul, Busan, Gangnam, South Korea, North Gyeongsang, Gyeongsang

☆ Humans have pumped so much groundwater from the Earth that it's actually caused the planet's axis to shift, a new study found
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Carla Delgado | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The reason is that we're moving all that water mass from under the continents to the oceans. How groundwater depletion affects Earth's rotational poleThe Earth's rotational pole normally changes and wanders by about several meters each year. To put it simply, groundwater depletion contributes to sea level rise because water is being transferred from the continents to the oceans. The recent study found that groundwater depletion caused a 6.24-millimeter rise in global sea level from 1993 to 2010. This is significant because each millimeter rise in sea level is said to make the shoreline retreat an average of 1.5 meters.

Persons: Weon Seo Organizations: Service, Northern, Research, Department of Earth Science, Seoul National University Locations: Northern Hemisphere

☆ For North Koreans in China, Seeking Freedom Is More Perilous Than Ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | More About Choe Sang-Hun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The North Korean software engineer was desperate. He had been sent to northeastern China in 2019 to earn money for the North Korean regime. A young woman who had been smuggled by human traffickers from North Korea into China in 2018 contacted the owner of the same website early this year. He has often been condemned by Pyongyang and was once imprisoned in China for helping hundreds of North Koreans reach South Korea or the United States. But now, the job of aiding North Korean defectors in China has become “all but impossible,” Mr. Chun said.

Persons: “, ”, Chun Ki, Mr, Chun Organizations: North Locations: Korean, China, North Korea, South Korea, cybersex, Seoul, Pyongyang, United States

REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File PhotoSEOUL, June 29 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday picked a conservative scholar and an outspoken critic of North Korea's human rights record as the country's new unification minister handling relations with Pyongyang in a cabinet reshuffle. Kim, 63, served as a presidential secretary for unification and a human rights envoy under the conservative Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations. North Korea has long rejected criticism of its rights conditions as part of a plot to overthrow its rulers. Kim is the right person to pursue a "principle-based" and consistent North Korea policy, said Yoon's chief of staff, Kim Dae-ki. The unification ministry's role ranges from cross-border dialogue and exchanges to studying human rights abuses in North Korea and helping defectors resettle in the South.

Persons: Kim Hong, Yoon Suk, Kim Yung, Yoon, Kim, Lee Myung, Kim Jong, Kim Dae, Jang Mi, Soo, hyang Choi, Hyunsu Yim, Jack Kim, Ed Davies, Gerry Doyle Organizations: South, REUTERS, Sungshin Women's University, North, Thomson Locations: Korean, South Korean, Paju, South Korea, SEOUL, Pyongyang, North Korea, North Korean, Korea, United States

☆ Humans pump so much groundwater that Earth’s axis has shifted, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Humans’ unquenchable thirst for groundwater has sucked so much liquid from subsurface reserves that it’s affecting Earth’s tilt, according to a new study. That shift is even observable on Earth’s surface, as it contributes to global sea level rise, researchers reported in the study published June 15 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Seo and his colleagues had questions about long-term changes to the axis — specifically, how groundwater contributed to that phenomenon. Revealing groundwater extraction’s impactShifts in Earth’s axis are measured indirectly through radio telescope observations of immobile objects in space — quasars — using them as fixed points of reference. The redistribution of groundwater tilted Earth’s rotational axis east by more than 31 inches (78.7 centimeters) in just under two decades, according to the models.

Persons: ”, Ki, Weon Seo, Surendra Adhikari, Adhikari, Seo, ” Adhikari, “, ” Seo Organizations: CNN, Research, Seoul National University, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Locations: South Korea, North America, India

☆ Russia pulls back from brink of crisis after deal reached to end Wagner insurrection
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Putin poses for a picture with his wife, Lyudmila, and daughters, Yekaterina and Maria. Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images Putin rides a horse during a vacation in Southern Siberia in August 2009. Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images Putin judges an arm wrestling match while visiting the Seliger youth educational forum in Russia's Tver region in August 2011. Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/AFP via Getty Images Putin plays with his dogs Yume, left, and Buffy at his home in Novo-Ogaryovo, Russia, in March 2013. Chris McGrath/Getty Images Putin and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ” Prigozhin, ” Wagner, ”, Dmitry Peskov, “, Prigozhin, ” Peskov, Putin, Putin Putin, Joseph Stalin, –, “ Putin, Evelyn Farkas, ’, Vladimir Putin, Maria Putina, Archivio GBB, ZUMA Press Wire Putin, Laski, Maria, Vladimir, Anatoly Sobchak, Lyudmila, Yekaterina, Boris Yeltsin, Yeltsin, Fidel Castro, Reuters Putin, George W, Bush, Stephen Jaffe, Camp David, Brooks Kraft, Alexey Druzhinin, Alexey Nikolsky, Mikhail Metzel, Ivan Sekretarev, AP Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Dmitry Astakhov, Buffy, Angela Merkel, Jochen Lübke, Thomas Bach, Medvedev, Vladimir Konstantinov, Alexei Chalyi, Sergei Aksyonov, Sergei Ilnitsky, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Alexander Lukashenko, Merkel, Francois Hollande, Petro Poroshenko, Mykola Lazarenko, Barack Obama, Ban, Chip Somodevilla, Turkey Andrei Karlov, Karlov, Donald Trump, Chris McGrath, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, LUDOVIC MARIN, Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Eliot Blondet, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Biden, Sergey Lavrov, Denis Balibouse, Macron, Sergey Ponomarev, Mikhail Gorbachev, —, Alexander Nemenov, Alexey Danichev, Xi Jinping, Pavel Byrkin, Pavel Bednyakov, Peter Zwack, Beth Sanner, ” Sanner, “ He’s, … Putin, Moscow’s, Priogozhin Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Communist, McCain, Putin, Getty, Russian, ZUMA Press, KGB, ZUMA Press Wire, Getty Images, Reuters, US, White House, Camp, Brooks, Brooks Kraft LLC, RIA Novosti, AP, AFP, International Olympic, Crimean, Ukrainian, United Nations, UN, Assembly, Russian Foreign Ministry, Sputnik, World, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Macron, SPUTNIK, New York Times, Central Clinical Hospital, AP Putin, Belarus, State Russian Museum, Russia’s Southern Military District, US Army, National Intelligence for Mission, State Department, European Union Locations: Moscow, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Kremlin, Russia’s Belgorod, Putin Russian, Russian, Rostov, St . Petersburg, Leningrad, Germany, AFP, Kazan, Cuba, Soviet Union, Southern Siberia, Russia's Tver, Novo, Ogaryovo, Hanover, Sevastopol, Crimea, Belarusian, Minsk, France, Turkey, Helsinki, Finland, Buenos Aires, Ukrainian, Paris, Geneva, Switzerland, Taganrog, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, –, Canada, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, Soviet, Kazakhstan

☆ Why Modi’s Radio Show Is Vital to His Popularity in India
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Mujib Mashal | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The first is his deep understanding of India’s grass roots, developed over decades as a foot soldier and evangelist of the Hindu right. All the while, the program associates Mr. Modi with every positive happening, big or small, and every solution, tangible or spiritual. On occasion, he talks about international events where India commands the spotlight, but he most often addresses issues of basic government services, down to the tiniest details. Mr. Modi puts himself at the center of conversation over the delivery of some of life’s most rudimentary amenities, like piped water or toilets. “As a responsible citizen and as a member of society, we will have to cultivate the habit of conserving every drop of water,” Mr. Modi said in one episode, before giving the example of a coastal village that has a “200-year-old underground water tank,” recharged with rainfall.

Persons: Modi, ”, Joyojeet Pal, ‘, “ Mann Ki Baat, India’s, Mr Organizations: University of Michigan Locations: India

☆ South Korean leader criticises China envoy over "inappropriate" remarks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SEOUL, June 13 (Reuters) - South Korea's president stepped up criticism of China's ambassador on Tuesday, saying the envoy had been disrespectful in suggesting South Korea had made the wrong choice by siding with the United States against China. South Korea's foreign ministry summoned Xing on Friday to issue a protest and express "strong regret" over comments that the ministry said were "provocative" and a possible interference in internal affairs. South Korea has been a staunch U.S. ally for decades and is host to nearly some 28,000 U.S. troops but it has developed extensive economic ties with China in recent years. Its foreign ministry called in South Korea's ambassador on Saturday to express its "serious concern and dissatisfaction" over Seoul's "improper reaction" to Xing's comment. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said challenges in relations with South Korea were "not caused by China".

Persons: Xing Haiming, Xing, Yoon Suk Yeol, Yoon, Kim Seok, Park Jin, Xing's, Park, Hyonhee Shin, hyang Choi, Ed Davies, Robert Birsel Organizations: South, Foreign, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, South Korea, United States, China, U.S, South, North Korea, Korea, South Korea's, Vienna

☆ The Arctic may be sea ice-free in summer by the 2030s, new study warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Rachel Ramirez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

A new study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications found Arctic sea ice could disappear completely during the month of September as early as the 2030s. The researchers analyzed changes from 1979 to 2019, comparing different satellite data and climate models to assess how Arctic sea ice was changing. They found that declining sea ice was largely the result of human-caused, planet-heating pollution, and previous models had underestimated Arctic sea ice melting trends. Arctic sea ice close the coast of Svalbard, Norway, April 5, 2023. There has already been a rapid loss of sea ice in the region, with September sea ice shrinking at a rate of 12.6% per decade, according to NASA.

Persons: –, ” Seung, Min, Lisi Niesner, ” Min, Mika Rantanen, ”, Rantanen, “ Organizations: CNN, Nature Communications, Pohang University of Science, Technology, UN, NASA, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Finnish Meteorological Institute Locations: South Korea, Svalbard, Norway

☆ These may be the world’s best warships. And they’re not American
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

A challenger for China’s world-beating Type 055sThe Pentagon estimates China’s navy to have around 340 warships at present, while the US has fewer than 300. Take China’s Type 055, in many eyes the world’s premier destroyer. The three Sejongs, which cost about $925 million each, are the pride of the South Korean fleet. All these Japanese and South Korean vessels are designed to incorporate US technology, weapons, spy radars and the Aegis command and control system. But then if the US, Japanese and South Korean ships use similar technology and can operate together, why does the law prevent the US from building some of its ships in Japanese and South Korean shipyards?

Persons: South Korea CNN —, China’s, Lloyd Austin, Li Shangfu, ”, Blake Herzinger, Carl Schuster, –, Schuster, Herzinger, it’s, Arleigh Burke, ., Kim, Sejong, ” Kim, Alessio Patalano, Arleigh Burkes, ” Patalano, Japan’s, ” Schuster, It’s, Travis Callaghan, “, Nick Childs, There’s, Childs, ” Herzinger Organizations: South Korea CNN, United, US Navy, US, CNN, Beijing doesn’t, United States Studies Center, Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, South Korea’s Sejong, South Korean, South Korean Navy, country’s Defense Media Agency, South, Korea Association of Military Studies, King’s College, Arleigh, Aegis, Maritime Administration, US Coast Guard, Shipbuilding, USNI News, Navy Locations: Seoul, South Korea, China, South, Taiwan, Singapore, Austin, Washington, Beijing, Japan, Australia, Hawaii, Xianyang, South Korea’s, London, Asia, Washington’s, United States, America

☆ A Pakistani Artist Reimagines Her Relationship With Shame and Bodies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Aamina Inayat Khan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Misha Japanwala looked around her studio in the week leading up to her gallery show and wondered whether there were “too many nipples.”She was talking, of course, about the nipples she plaster cast from the bodies of 70 anonymized Pakistani people. They are part of Ms. Japanwala’s new collection, “Beghairati Ki Nishaani: Traces of Shamelessness,” showing at Hannah Traore Gallery in Manhattan from May 4 through July 30. Ms. Japanwala, a visual artist, who lives in Jersey City, N.J., spent several months last year in Karachi, Pakistan, where she grew up, making body castings of local women and L.G.B.T.Q. Her work aims to be a historical record of a population governed by the laws of shame. Attending an Aurat (Women’s) March, a rally for women’s rights, has led to threats of murder and rape.

☆ Myanmar's neighbours, some ASEAN members hold secretive talks on crisis - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Devjyot Ghoshal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BANGKOK, April 26 (Reuters) - Government and think-tank representatives from Myanmar and its neighbours, including India and China, held talks in New Delhi on Tuesday as part of a secretive effort to de-escalate a bloody crisis in the army-run Southeast Asian nation, two sources said. One of the sources said participants were interested in bringing into the process Myanmar's shadow National Unity Government (NUG), an organisation affiliated with the resistance and declared "terrorists" by the junta. "The neighbouring countries' perspective needs to be taken into account," said the source, "For them, the foremost priority is the de-escalation of the violence." ASEAN has barred the junta from attending until they implement the plan, which has infuriated the generals. "This effort will not supplant ASEAN," the second source said of the ongoing talks, "This will only complement."

☆ South Korea, US, Japan to hold missile defence drills to counter North Korea
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, April 17 (Reuters) - South Korea, the United States and Japan will stage joint naval missile defence exercises on Monday as they push for greater security cooperation to better counter North Korea's evolving missile threats, Seoul's navy said. Monday's drills will be held in international waters between Korea and Japan, bringing together South Korea's 7,600-ton Aegis destroyer Yulgok Yi I, U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold, and Japan's Atago destroyer, also equipped with Aegis radar systems. The three countries would focus on mastering response procedures from detection to tracking to information sharing by creating a virtual target under the scenario of a North Korean ballistic missile provocation, the South Korean navy said. South Korean and U.S. air forces are separately set to begin their drills on Monday for a 12-day run. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has pledged to move the ties beyond the past and visited Tokyo in March for the first time in 12 years as the country's leader.

☆ Factbox: Iraq War: quotes from the conflict and its aftermath
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

BAGHDAD, March 15 (Reuters) - Here are some notable quotes from before, during and after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein. - U.S. President George W. Bush referring to Iraq, Iran and North Korea in his State of the Union Address. - Saddam Hussein in message to U.N. General Assembly. - Saddam Hussein on first day of invasion. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein," - Bush.

☆ Analysis: How North Korea could use a Pacific 'firing range' to perfect its missiles
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Josh Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) on Monday, after firing a massive Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Saturday. So far North Korea has fired three variants of the Hwasong-12 intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean. "As soon as it is out of range, or if it crosses below the horizon, North Korea will be blind." Schiller said he is not aware of any tracking vessels that North Korea positions along the flight path, and for now it doesn't have data relay satellites. If those two conditions are met, then North Korea will have fully demonstrated its deterrence capability against the United States, he said.

☆ South Korea's new 'stealthy' fighter jet just hit a supersonic milestone
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Maya Carlin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

South Korea's KF-21 Boramae "Fighting Hawk" made its first supersonic flight in January. Roughly 65% of the KF-21's parts are domestically produced, a major feat for South Korea. Positioned near the PRC and the Hermit Kingdom, South Korea considers aerial-defense capabilities to be paramount to its security. ReutersDespite its advanced electronics capabilities, Seoul refers to its KF-21 fighter as a 4.5-generation fighter. The Boramae's recent test flight makes Seoul the eighth nation to produce a supersonic fighter.

[1/5] Eldery people who use the free subway service to deliver parcels gather in Seoul, South Korea, February 8, 2023. "But honestly, I wouldn't be doing it if subway rides weren't free because there wouldn't be much left over for me." Free rides have been a perk enjoyed nationally by those 65 and older for four decades and are credited with keeping senior citizens active. In the greater Seoul area, where almost 3.7 million people are 65 or older, more than 233 million free rides were taken last year. Sixty percent of Koreans support raising the minimum age for senior citizen benefits including free subway rides to 70, according to a Gallup poll released last week.

[1/3] South Korea's 1st Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Bang Ki-sun speaks during an interview in Seoul, South Korea, February 9, 2023. The Ministry of Economy and Finance/Handout via REUTERSSEOUL, Feb 9 (Reuters) - South Korea's plans to loosen restrictions in its currency market will raise the won's status globally and boost business opportunities for local financial firms, a vice finance minister told Reuters on Thursday. South Korea's economy contracted in the December quarter but Bang said the most recent information indicated it would return to growth in the January-March period, without providing specific data. House prices in South Korea fell 1.98% in December from a month earlier, the fastest drop since data releases began in late 2003 and a seventh consecutive month of decline. The comment contrasted with a long practice of South Korean authorities expressing their concerns about the adverse effect on price competitiveness of their export goods abroad.

SEOUL, Feb 9 (Reuters) - South Korea's plans to loosen restrictions in its currency market will raise the won's global status and, as a result, boost business opportunities for local financial firms, a vice finance minister told Reuters on Thursday. Vice Minister Bang Ki-sun said the government was working on follow-up measures with the aim of implementing the plans in July next year, while dismissing concerns about the won facing a loss of stability. The new measures call for more than doubling the trading hours on the won until past midnight local time and allowing qualified global financial firms to directly trade the currency through two onshore spot brokerage houses. South Korea's economy suffered a contraction in the December quarter and Bang said the most recent information indicated it would return to growth in the January-March period, without providing specific data. Reporting by Choonsik Yoo and Yena Park; Additional reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

Forty-seven pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong have been accused of a conspiracy to commit subversion in a landmark political case. Benny Tai, 58, was a professor of law at the University of Hong Kong. Pro-democracy primary Pro-democracy candidates held a primary vote ahead of the upcoming Legislative Council election. The 47 defendants helped organize or participated in this event. New election rules announced China announced new rules for Hong Kong elections, limiting candidates to only those deemed loyal to Beijing.

Hong Kong CNN —China will fully reopen borders with its special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao next week, in what is expected to be a major boost for the economies of the two cities. From Monday, travelers entering mainland China from Hong Kong or Macao will no longer need to provide proof of negative Covid tests, as long as they have not traveled abroad in the previous week, the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said in a Friday statement. Hong Kong is a major international financial center, and, before the pandemic, Macao was the world’s casino capital. Over the past three years, limited cross-border travel to mainland China has been listed as the top concern for businesses across the city, according to industry groups. Businesses began seeing some relief last month, when residents of Hong Kong and mainland China were permitted to resume two-way, quarantine-free travel.

☆ The Doomsday Clock is now set at 90 seconds to midnight — the closest we've ever been to the apocalypse
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Doomsday Clock is now 10 seconds closer to midnight. Scientists moved the clock's second hand to 90 seconds to midnight on January 24. "90 seconds to midnight is the closest the Clock has ever been set to midnight, and it's a decision our experts do not take lightly," Bronson added. In 2018, the Doomsday Clock was set at two minutes to midnight after President Donald Trump's continuous rhetoric about boosting the US' stash of nuclear weapons. And in 2020, the clock was moved to 100 seconds to midnight — which at the time was the closest to the apocalypse it had been in history.

Shortness of breath, loss of taste and smell, and other lingering Covid symptoms tend to ease over time and may be gone within a year, according to new research. The study did not include patients who developed long Covid from omicron or its subvariants, but doctors in the U.S. say they do see new patients with long Covid symptoms following an omicron infection. Most common long Covid symptomsThree years into the pandemic, it remains unclear exactly how many people have long Covid. The findings are consistent with what long Covid experts in the U.S. have found. While the study found that many long Covid symptoms abate within a year, it remains clear that some patients continue to suffer long afterward.

☆ Hong Kong eyeing Jan 8 to resume cross-border travel with mainland China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Xie Yu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Hong Kong is working to resume quarantine-free travel with mainland China by as early as Jan. 8, Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki said in a Facebook post on Sunday. The return of mainland visitors would be a major boost to Hong Kong's battered economy. China had kept its borders all but shut for three years and Hong Kong itself had maintained some of the world's strictest curbs until the second half of last year. The Jan. 8 date mentioned by Chan was the clearest indication yet that the Hong Kong government is aiming to restore quarantine-free, cross-border travel after a three-year hiatus due to COVID. Chief Executive John Lee said earlier the border with mainland China would reopen by mid-January.

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