FreeSunTimes

United States’ technology giant Apple has agreed to pay up to half a billion dollars to settle litigation claiming that it slowed down old models of iPhones to compel users to upgrade. Based on reports, Apple is required by the US District court to pay consumers an amount of $25 per affected device, totaling to […]

The high court of Turkey has ruled that the government’s two-year-old ban on Wikipedia is unconstitutional. Following a 10-6 vote in favor of the multilingual online encyclopedia, the constitutional court ordered that the ban shall immediately be lifted adding that it has violated the right to freedom of expression. The Turkish government blocked access to […]

The demand for mobile games has surged as millions of people in China are quarantined and stuck indoors amid fears of the spreading coronavirus that has now claimed more than 3,000 lives. Application analysts reported that the global mobile game downloads jumped to 39% for the month of February. The mainland accounted for a huge […]

Walt Disney Co. announced on Tuesday that chief executive Bob Iger has stepped down from the top job after more than 15 years in the service. Bob Chapek, a 27-year veteran of Disney, has been elected as the new CEO by the company’s board. While Iger will assume the role of executive chairman and will direct the […]

Philippine authorities said some 314 Chinese tourists in Kalibo, Aklan have been forcibly repatriated to novel coronavirus (nCov)-stricken Wuhan, China as of January 26. They are among the 500 passengers who left Wuhan and were bound for Boracay before the total lockdown was imposed by the Chinese government. Despite originally scheduled to return to China […]

A 61-year-old former postman in Japan might be sentenced to three years imprisonment or be fined of about 500,000 yen ($4,600) after reportedly keeping 24,000 letters at his home. The Japanese authorities found the undelivered mails in the man’s house in the Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo. The unnamed man admitted the wrongdoings for the reason […]

The Allied Pilots Association (APA), a labor union representing American Airlines pilots, filed a lawsuit against the carrier to immediately halt US to China operations. CBS network reported that APA sued American Airlines in Dallas County on January 30 as it seeks for a temporary restraining order to stop China flights amid the coronavirus. In a […]

Hong Kong’s flagship airline Cathay Pacific Airways was fined with $970,000 for a data breach that exposed personal information of millions of passengers. Authorities said that the carrier failed to protect the details of 9.4 million people as their names, passport details, dates of birth, phone numbers, addresses and travel history were leaked in the company’s […]

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and LG Innotek have separately announced the temporary closure of their manufacturing plants in South Korea after workers tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019). In a company statement, Samsung said that it’s Gumi factory will be closed until Sunday evening as they take all necessary measures, including disinfection, after […]

The Central Bank of the Philippines, or “Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas” (BSP) in Filipino translation, warned the public against fake designs of banknotes that were recently posted on social media. BSP released an advisory on January 23 saying that the postings were made by an existing Facebook account with the user name “Bangko Sentral ng […]

The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) said the global demand for their products has greatly increased following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus that originated from Wuhan, China. MARGMA President Denis Low confirmed that they have received an urgent request from China to deliver adequate supplies of medical gloves which will be primarily used in […]

A number of businesses in China are encouraging their employees to maximize the longer holidays by staying at home or if necessary, just work in their respective abodes. BBC reported that the Chinese government has earlier announced the extension of the Lunar New Year holiday by 3 days to next Sunday. All these initiatives by […]

The Philippines has recorded its deepest fall in shares as growing concerns over coronavirus hit Asian and global markets. Based on reports, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index plunged 4.3 % on Wednesday trading, tumbling the most since January 2016. The Bankers’ Association of the Philippines also said that the peso succumbed to the dollar, finishing […]

The Bank of England’s security was breached as an audio of its press conference got hacked and was accessed by high-speed traders, minutes before the scheduled broadcast, in their attempt to make a profit advantage. Reports claim that having advance access to the audio feed of BOE Governor Mark Carney could have given hedge funds […]

Japanese automaker Toyota is forced to recall more than three million vehicles worldwide over fuel pump flaws that could cause the engines to fail. It has recently recalled 1.2 million line-ups of its namesake as well as Lexus models in the United States. The vehicles include cars, minivans, SUVs and trucks which have fuel pumps […]

Thousands of people and experts around the world are criticizing China for withholding vital details and tough measures to control the outbreak of the 2019-novel coronavirus. Chinese scientists failed to share the virus itself to the World Health Organization despite being able to publicize the genome sequence of the virus. Global experts said that if China […]

The continued closure of factories in China due to the coronavirus threatens the supply of medicines worldwide as the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients were disrupted. China is the world’s largest maker of drug ingredients and particularly supplies those used for treating diabetes, blood pressure, headaches and fevers. With this, the Government of India has limited the […]

Apple has been given the green light to open its first Indian store by 2021 after it received a special approval from the Government of India. The tech giant’s CEO, Tim Cook, personally made this announcement during the annual shareholders’ meeting, noting that Indian officials allowed the company to expand in their country even without […]

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced a dramatic increase in the damage of the coronavirus to the global airline industry. It said the losses in sales could reach up to $113 billion if Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread. This amount is way too high from what IATA previously expected in lost […]

Several companies in Singapore have imposed hiring and salary freeze as they grapple with financial constraints amid coronavirus outbreak.   On Wednesday, the country’s largest developer CapitaLand announced that it will suspend giving wages to employees at the managerial level and above. While its board members and senior management will take up to 15% pay […]

More than a million products were barred by online retail giant Amazon for charging much higher prices and making false claims that they can help cure the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The company spokesperson firmly said that “There is no place for Price Gouging on Amazon” after it deleted face masks, respirators and other health […]

The Government of India added Singapore to its travel ban list to control the deadly coronavirus outbreak. On Saturday, India released a travel advisory asking citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Singapore. Analysts say that the new advisory will restrain tourist inflow into Singapore considering that India is among its top sources of international visitors. […]

A Former Microsoft Engineer named Volodymyr Kvashuk has been convicted of fraud that could put him in federal prison for up to 20 years. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said that the conviction covers 18 federal felonies which include five (5) counts of wire fraud, six (6) counts of money laundering, two (2) counts […]

The Chinese government on January 23 ordered to put Wuhan City on lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (nCov). Wuhan City, which has an 11 million population, is at the center of the SARS-like virus that killed more than a dozen of Chinese citizens and has infected hundreds of people not only […]

As the new strain of coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, the Philippine Airlines (PAL) announced that its passengers with booked tickets to some destinations in China can change their schedules without charge. The flag carrier said that those who have scheduled flights to Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Jinjiang, Shanghai, Macau and Xiamen, from January 24 […]

Japan’s largest drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Company announced that it is currently developing a drug that could treat the coronavirus infection. Takeda is working on a kind of “plasma-derived therapy” that has been proven to cure severe acute viral respiratory infections and might as well be effective for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The researchers said […]

The fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, commonly known as Jho Low, was recently spotted in the coronavirus-center Chinese city according to Malaysian authorities. “Previously, we did receive intelligence that he was active in Wuhan,” said Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador. Low is wanted for his huge role in a massive graft scandal, siphoning […]

China’s telecommunication giant Huawei will only get a “limited role” in the United Kingdom’s future 5G network following the recommendation of British government officials. The lawmakers proposed the exclusion of Huawei from the sensitive and data-heavy “core” part of the fifth generation and it will also be blocked from government systems. This was decided in […]

Swiss food giant Nestle S.A. has vowed to plant at least three million trees in Mexico and Brazil by next year as part of its reforestation initiative to help combat climate change. This serves as the first phase of the company’s plan to boost agricultural and environmental actions for the attainment of carbon neutrality by 2050. […]

Share prices in Asia got an unexpected boost following the commitment of the Bank of Japan and the U.S. Federal Reserve to help protect markets from the damaging impact of the coronavirus. The Asian markets reversed early losses as investors put their hopes on a harmonized global monetary policy response. BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, in a rare […]

Athletes of different sports across the globe mourn the tragic death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant. He and his daughter Gianna were among the nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, on Sunday. Kobe was 41 while Gianna was 13. Media reports said that basketball courts in Denver and San Antonio were […]

Three automobile companies are among the businesses that were reportedly hit following the Chinese government’s decision to shut down Wuhan City which is the epicenter of the deadly novel coronavirus (nCov). Wuhan is considered as China’s “motor city” for it houses large manufacturing plants including those of the global carmakers Renault (RNLSY), Honda (HMC) and Peugeot owner PSA Group (PUGOY). As […]

From only 31 cases on February 18, South Korea has confirmed a sudden increase in its coronavirus cases that reached 833 as of Monday afternoon. The government over the weekend declared that the virus alert has been raised to its highest level and intensified quarantine measures to contain the virus spread. Aside from human infection, South […]

Yasunori Kagoike, the former head of a Japanese institution named Moritomo Gakuen, and his wife, Junko, were found guilty of defrauding the central and local governments. The couple had been indicted for receiving public subsidies worth ¥56.4 million from the national government for the construction of an elementary school in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture between 2016 […]

The world’s biggest gambling hub, Macau, has suffered a massive blow from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as the casino industry recorded its worst monthly downturn. For the month of February, Macau casinos’ revenue dropped by 88%, compared with the same period last year, due to a 15-day forced shutdown in efforts to contain the […]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have recently confirmed that the initial alert about the virus outbreak came from Canada’s “BluDot.” It is an AI-powered health monitoring platform that uses a sophisticated disease surveillance program to polish news in 65 languages, said Fox Business News. Health officials explained that […]

After only six weeks of immunization development, biotech firm Moderna Inc. has shipped the first batch of its experimental coronavirus vaccine to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the United States. The vaccine, called mRNA-1273, is said to be the first vaccine that will be used by American researchers in a […]

Equinor, a Norwegian multinational energy company, announced that it has abandoned its plan to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight for reasons that it is “not commercially competitive.” The oil and gas giant was given a green light to start its exploratory drills, at a depth of 2.5 kilometers in South Australia’s coastline, […]

World’s largest social media site Facebook sued a marketing company named oneAudience, that it accused of “improperly” accessing users’ personal information without their authorization. Facebook filed a federal lawsuit against the New Jersey-based firm which allegedly hired developers to install malicious software development kit, or SDK, in their apps to exploit the “login with Facebook” […]

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) said that the Philippine sovereign rights were violated by China as it illicitly claimed jurisdiction over the Spratly Islands. In 2016, the tribunal officially declared that the Philippines has exclusive sovereign rights over the controversial West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), clearly invalidating China’s “nine-dash” demarcation line. Documents released by the world […]

Nine Japanese nationals who are wanted for telecommunications fraud were deported Monday by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) of the Philippines. The suspects, according to the Business World, were identified as Irie Dai, Ishii Kyogo, Hamaoka Kantaro, Maeyama Takuto, Tanaka Kazuya, Yoshida Takeshi, Murata Seiichi, Kouki Shouji, and Imizumi Ryo. Media reports said that the […]

As thousands of fans worldwide mourn the loss of NBA legend Kobe Bryant; Lakers jerseys, Nike shoes and similar gears of the late superstar were sold out in online and physical stores. Nike confirmed that it completely cleared out of Bryant’s merchandise and sneakers. It denied previous reports that it pulled out Kobe’s gears to […]

Taipei-based Acer Inc. and Asustek Computer Inc. once again made it to the list of the world’s top 10 computer manufacturers in terms of shipments.The results were released by Gartner, a global market information advisory firm, which noted that the Taiwanese PC makers maintained high rankings despite a slight decline in their shares in 2019. […]

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have already developed contingency plans to be able to provide funding to the global fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19). IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said that the institutions are willing to lend capital should any state government requests for assistance. “We have various financial instruments that could […]

Giant automakers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla are trying to boost their revenues by ramping up their online presence amid the coronavirus outbreak. Most Chinese plants and factories were shut down to contain the outbreak, hardly hitting the sales of automobile industries. While people in the mainland choose to stay indoors and stay away from […]

The central bank of Indonesia has cut its interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.75% to prevent the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak that hammers the country’s travel, tourism and trade industries. Although Indonesia has not reported any confirmed case of the deadly virus, officials are worried about the fallout from the epidemic. The closure […]

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) stole the limelight in the technology sector this week as it unveiled its first half-humanoid robot that is intended to travel space in December. Claimed to have the ability to operate as a companion, the robot was named Vyom Mitra which translates from two Sanskrit words— Vyom means Sky or […]

Japanese automobile maker Honda announced that it will close its production plant in Laguna, Philippines by March to meet customers’ needs through “efficient allocation and distribution of resources.” “As such, after consideration of optimization efforts in the production operations in Asia and Oceania region, Honda decided to close the manufacturing operations of HCPI (Honda Cars Philippines […]

Following the unexpected announcement that Bob Iger handed off his position as CEO, The Walt Disney Company’s shares fell by 2.1% on Wednesday’s premarket trading. Reuters reported that this was due to growing concerns whether newly elected top executive Bob Chapek’s experiences are sufficient to handle the media-entertainment powerhouse. “Bob Chapek has less (content experience), […]

World’s largest coffee chain Starbucks closed more than 2,000 branches in China and became the first major American company to warn of sales hit due to the deadly coronavirus. Reports claimed that the figures represent half of Starbucks’ total stores in China, its biggest market outside the United States. It was in 1999 when Starbucks […]