News Headlines - 12 August 2019

▽Hong Kong airport grinds to halt; China likens protests to terrorism - Reuters

Hong Kong’s airport halted flights on Monday, blaming demonstrators for the disruption, while China said the anti-government protests that have swept the city over the past two months had begun to show “sprouts of terrorism”.
The airport authority said it was working with airlines to resume flights from 6 a.m. on Tuesday, but the developments raised the stakes sharply after a weekend of skirmishes during which both activists and police toughened their stances.
The precise trigger for the airport’s closure was not clear, since protesters occupying the arrivals hall for four days have been peaceful.

▽Versace, Givenchy and Coach say sorry over Chinese T-shirt anger

American fashion brand Coach, French label Givenchy and Italian luxury brand Versace have been boycotted by some Chinese social media stars for suggesting that places like Hong Kong and Macau are separate from China... This isn’t the first time luxury brands have been criticized by Chinese consumers. Italian fashion house Dolce and Gabbana canceled a fashion show in Shanghai in 2018 after posting a series of videos on Instagram showing a Chinese woman how to use chopsticks.

▽Concerns rise with Tokyo heat after rowers treated at Olympic test event | The Guardian

Three rowers, including a British competitor, were treated for apparent heat exhaustion and several others appeared to be unsteady on their feet during an Olympic test event in Tokyo at the weekend, underlining concern about the safety of athletes and spectators at next summer’s Games.
The British rower was stretchered to a medical station after he was unable to move following his race during Sunday’s world rowing junior championships at Sea Forest Waterway, the venue for the Tokyo 2020 rowing events.

▽Former Empress Michiko to have surgery for early-stage breast cancer

Former Empress Michiko has been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and will have surgery as early as September, the Imperial Household Agency said Friday.
A lump was found last month in her left breast's mammary gland during an echography exam, the agency said. An imaging scan later found that it could possibly be a malignant tumor.
The 84-year-old will have surgery after taking a rest this month in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, with her husband, former Emperor Akihito, 85, who abdicated at the end of April.

▽Brexit: BNP Paribas raises 'no-deal' probability to 50% - Reuters

BNP Paribas on Friday raised the probability of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union without a deal to 50% from 40%, pointing to a volatile political environment and tight timetable... “With Parliament in recess, the rhetoric is very much in one direction, with no effective counter-balance in the form of MPs actively trying to prevent a disorderly outcome,” the bank’s research team led by Paul Hollingsworth said in a note.