A small Chinese study detailed in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal showed neutralising antibodies against some Omicron sub-variants were largely undetectable after two doses of a Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, with a booster shot only partly restoring them. The study comes as China, which has approved only locally developed COVID shots including the Sinopharm vaccine, strives […]
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China’s Tencent Holdings announced to its staff on Monday the official formation of an “extended reality” (XR) unit, three people familiar with the matter said, formally placing its bets on the metaverse concept of virtual worlds. The unit is tasked with building up the extended reality business for Tencent including both software and hardware, the […]
South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd said on Monday it planned to build a hydrogen plant in South Korea to produce 50,000 tonnes of hydrogen annually by the second quarter of 2024, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions. The new plant is expected to employ technology, which converts methane to hydrogen by creating a chemical […]
Internet and gaming giant NetEase delayed the rollout of its video game Diablo Immortal in China three days ahead of its official launch, a move that comes just after the game’s official account on Weibo was banned from making new posts. China-based NetEase, which was set to release the game on Thursday, did not provide […]
Bitcoin on Sunday rose around 7.6 percent to $20,404 from its previous close, signaling a recovery from a sharp drop on Saturday. Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, is now up 16.7 percent from this year’s low of $17,592.78 on June 18, when it tumbled on investor worries about growing troubles in the crypto […]
Apple Inc workers in Maryland voted on Saturday to join a union, becoming the first retail employees of the tech giant to unionize in the United States. More than 100 workers in Towson near Baltimore “have overwhelmingly voted to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers,” the union said on its website. The […]
Lithuanian authorities said a ban on the transit through their territory to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad of goods that are subject to EU sanctions was to take effect from Saturday. News of the ban came on Friday, through a video posted by the region’s governor Anton Alikhanov. The EU sanctions list notably includes coal, […]
Total sales by China’s e-commerce giant JD.com rose 10.3 percent over the 18 days to Sunday during the first major shopping festival since a recent COVID-19 outbreak, the firm said, sharply down from the 2021 event’s growth of 27.7 percent. This year’s figure was the slowest for the retailer, showing how consumer appetite in the […]
Facebook owner Meta Platforms is launching a digital clothing store where users can purchase designer outfits for their avatars, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Friday. Virtual outfits designed by fashion brands Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne will be available for purchase to start, said Zuckerberg, speaking in a live video stream with Instagram’s head […]
Republican senators on Friday asked TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew about reports the social media site had allowed Russian state-approved media content but barred other videos. “Recent reports indicate TikTok… has allowed Russian state media to flood the platform with dangerous pro-war propaganda. No company should find itself in the position of amplifying the […]