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The Epoch Times is handed out by members of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that is banned in China. HONG KONG: A Hong Kong newspaper linked to a spiritual group banned in China said Tuesday it would "never back down" after a gang of sledgehammer-wielding men ransacked its printing presses. The assault on the Epoch Times was captured on CCTV and comes as China oversees a sweeping crackdown against critics in Hong Kong following huge and often violent democracy protests in 2019. Footage released by the paper showed four masked men storming into the printing plant in the early hours of Monday morning and smashing up equipment. They also threw concrete rubble into machinery as terrified staff members looked on. The Epoch Times said the assault knocked out their presses, but vowed to print again soon. "This incident was to suppress Hong Kong's freedom of speech and intended to silence media which tells the truth," Epoch Times spokeswoman Cheryl Ng said in a statement. "We ... » Learn More about Epoch Times defiant after Hong Kong printing press ransacked

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Swedish authorities on Tuesday (April 13) accused Russia's military intelligence service of hacking the Swedish Sports Confederation to try to discredit its athletes, but said there was no prospect of a prosecution. The suspected breaches occurred between December 2017 and May 2018, when hackers are believed to have gained access to Swedish athletes' personal details, including medical records. Among those whose details were leaked was Swedish women's footballer Olivia Schough, Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported. Sweden's security service Sapo said it believed the hackers were linked to the Russian military intelligence service GRU's 85th centre, also known as APT28 or Fancy Bear. "The suspected data breach... is an example of when sports are used to strengthen the image of one's own country while at the same time discrediting other countries and their athletes," Daniel Stenling, head of counter-intelligence at Sapo, said in a statement. In a separate ... » Learn More about Doping: Sweden blames Russia for 2018 hacking of sports body

NEW DELHI: India is to fast-track emergency approvals for COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorised by Western countries and Japan, paving the way for possible imports of Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and Moderna shots. The move, which will drop the need for companies to do small, local safety trials for their vaccines before seeking emergency approval, came following the world's biggest surge in cases in the country this month. READ: India overtakes Brazil as world's second worst-hit country by COVID-19 Vaccines authorised by the World Health Organization (WHO) or authorities in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and Japan "may be granted emergency use approval in India, mandating the requirement of post-approval parallel bridging clinical trial", the health ministry said in a statement. "The first 100 beneficiaries of such foreign vaccines shall be assessed for seven days for safety outcomes before they are rolled out," it said. India, the ... » Learn More about India, overwhelmed by COVID-19 surge, fast-tracks approval for foreign vaccines

Compiled by MARTIN CARVALHO, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN A SECONDARY school in China’s Henan province caused a stir online after holding an event that saw students destroying their own smartphones with a hammer, Sin Chew Daily reported. Footage of the incident showed students taking turns to go on stage during assembly. They placed their devices on a table, then grabbed a hammer and proceeded to slam it down on the devices in front of the entire school. When contacted, the school’s principal said the event was a request from parents who were frustrated that their children were spending too much time on their screens rather than studying. The principal also said the parents had all signed a permission form and that the school had also obtained agreements from the students involved. The event raised a debate in Chinese cyberspace, with some users agreeing that “desperate times call for desperate measures” and that destroying one’s smartphone was a way of removing ... » Learn More about Students smash smartphones with hammers in school

Compiled by MARTIN CARVALHO, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN pic ), 30, has warned social media users that she will not hesitate to start legal proceedings against those who make jibes at her ‘’appearance, body figure and womanly assets’’, Kosmo! reported. The actress – who stars in the drama called Aku Yang Kau Gelar Isteri – said she was shocked after seeing some of the comments directed at her. She added that she had not imagined that social media users would resort to posting such hurtful comments. “I wonder why they are so hasty in writing such nasty comments. “They have to remember that there are laws in our country, ” she said. She urged social media users to respect others and to spread positivity. Nadia, whose real name is Nadia Najwa Mohamed Rashidi, posted a screenshot of several comments on her Instagram account on Sunday with a user questioning her body figure. State local government, housing and health committee chairman Dr Izani Husin said the R-naught ... » Learn More about Nadia Brian warns netizens to stop body shaming

Compiled by MARTIN CARVALHO, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN THERE is an ongoing debate in the community over two different dates to be officially recognised as the start of the Tamil New Year, Makkal Osai reported. The report noted that two major conferences held in the Klang Valley recently had held opposing views on the matter. One of them said April 14 should be the correct date while the other recognised Jan 14 as the rightful one. The Thangamagal Award was given to Selvarani Utthirakumar, assistant headmistress at SJK (T) Sungkai. She had previously won international awards for her achievements, the daily said. The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item. ... » Learn More about Debate goes on over date to mark start of Tamil New Year

BEIJING: In a move that sent shockwaves across the country, Chinese stock bourses on Tuesday night announced to suspend a planned dual listing by fintech giant Ant Group, which had been widely expected to become the world’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) ever, as part of what experts call a broad push to tighten regulations in the financial sector, particularly online lending, and protect investors’ interests. The swift change also put the spotlight on a debate between regulators and the public over a balance between financial innovation and risk control. Just 36 hours ahead of a scheduled debut in Hong Kong on Thursday, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) surprised the market with an announcement that it would suspend Ant Group’s listing in the STAR Market. Roughly an hour later, the fintech giant’s Hong Kong IPO was also announced to be shelved. While many were still digesting the news and speculating about the reason behind it, a commentary by the official Economic Daily ... » Learn More about Ant Group cancels IPO; public wary

The massive container ship that blocked the Suez Canal last month has been provisionally impounded amid a dispute over how much compensation its Japanese owner must pay, local media quoted Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie as saying Tuesday. A court in Ismailia, Egypt has accepted a request by the authority to seize Ever Given, which is owned by Japanese ship-leasing company Shoei Kisen Kaisha, as the compensation payment of around $900 million has been delayed, the local media quoted him as saying. The Panama-flagged ship, which is operated by Taiwan's Evergreen Marine, became wedged in the vital waterway on March 23, causing significant disruption to global traffic by blocking more than 400 ships, before being finally dislodged six days later. Shoei Kisen Kaisha has sought a sharp discount in the compensation payment and negotiation over the amount is still continuing, Rabie reportedly told the local media, quoted by Kyodo News. The 200,000-tonne MV Ever Given got ... » Learn More about Nowhere to go: Ever Given impounded over compensation dispute