Jan. 27 – Norway could block China’s attempts to gain permanent observer status on the increasingly relevant Arctic Council due to a souring of relations between the countries over the last few years, according to a report on Wednesday in Aftenposten – Norway’s largest newspaper.
“As long as the Chinese authorities refuse to speak to their Norwegian counterparts, it will be difficult for Norway to say yes to a (Chinese) candidacy to become a permanent observer on the Arctic Council,” an unidentified “highly-placed diplomatic source” told the paper. Continue reading
Jan. 20 – Despite harsh weather conditions, the Arctic is becoming a global hot spot, with non-Arctic countries like China, India and Brazil pursuing “observer” status on the Arctic Council – an intergovernmental body promoting cooperation and environmental protection among countries that have territories in the Arctic area.
Jan. 13 – India has launched the initial pilot run of the Aakash tablet PC, with some 100,000 units having been delivered this week. The PC, similar in look and functionality to an iPad, has been designed to specifically cater for Indian students and the Indian Ministry of Human Resource and Development is set to purchase 10 million of them to distribute to schoolchildren in attempts to improve literacy and educational standards across the country.
Jan. 12 – Microsoft has filed lawsuits against Chinese electronic retailer giants Gome and Buynow for allegedly selling PCs with unlicensed versions of Windows and Office software, Microsoft said in a statement on Monday.
Jan. 5 – China Telecom, the country’s largest fixed-line phone company in terms of customer numbers, is set to start its first overseas mobile phone service in the United Kingdom, Bloomberg reported.
Dec. 16 – The brand new Asia Briefing mobile application brings the latest emerging Asia business news from 2point6billion.com right to your fingertips.