News Headlines - 08 May 2020

▽Coronavirus NSW: Dossier lays out case against China bat virus program | Daily Telegraph

China deliberately suppressed or destroyed evidence of the coronavirus outbreak in an “assault on international transparency’’ that cost tens of thousands of lives, according to a dossier prepared by concerned Western governments on the COVID-19 contagion.
The 15-page research document, obtained by The Saturday Telegraph, lays the foundation for the case of negligence being mounted against China.
It states that to the “endangerment of other countries” the Chinese government covered-up news of the virus by silencing or “disappearing” doctors who spoke out, destroying evidence of it in laboratories and refusing to provide live samples to international scientists who were working on a vaccine.

▽Japan tightens rules on foreign stakes in 518 firms, citing national security - Reuters

Japan announced on Friday a list of its firms subject to tighter foreign ownership rules, including majors such as Toyota Motor Corp and Sony Corp, as the United States and Europe step up scrutiny of industries key to national security.
Japan identified 518 of its roughly 3,800 listed firms as having operations core to national security, making them targets for stringent regulations, a list released by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) showed.
The tighter rules covering foreign investment in a dozen sectors crucial to national security, such as oil, railways, utilities, arms, space, nuclear power, aviation, telecoms and cyber security, take effect from Friday.
Foreign investors buying a stake of 1% or more in Japanese firms in the 12 areas now face pre-screening in principle, compared with the previous threshold of 10%.

▽Six dead and 1,000 hospitalised in India factory gas leak : The Standard

The leak occurred in the middle of the night in a factory operated by LG Polymers, an Indian subsidiary of the South Korean company LG Chemicals, and located on the edge of the industrial and port city of Visakhapatnam, in the State of Andhra Pradesh... The gas escaped from two tanks with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes which had been left as is due to the slowdown in activity due to national confinement, according to local police.

▽Taiwan baseball fans allowed inside stadium but sit apart

There were fans in the stands for baseball in Taiwan on Friday, albeit spaced far apart as a safeguard against the spread of the coronavirus.
Up to 1,000 spectators are now allowed at ballparks in Taiwan, but they are still barred from bringing in food, and concession stands are still closed.

▽Tennis world unites to offer cash boost to players struggling during coronavirus lockdown

Organisers of the international tennis tour and the four Grand Slam tournaments have joined forces to raise 6 million euros for a fund to help lower ranked players survive the circuit shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The ATP and WTA - which run men’s and women’s tennis respectively - contributed cash to the Player Relief Programme along with the International Tennis Federation.
The Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open also boosted the fund which aims to help around 800 singles and doubles players in the lower echelons of the game.