Macho Men Quest:China promotes education drive to make boys more ‘manly’

A notice from China’s education ministry has suggested young Chinese men had become too “feminine”. For a while China’s government has signalled concern that the country’s most popular male role…

Myanmar coup: Military blocks Facebook in the name of ‘stability’

Myanmar’s military rulers have blocked access to Facebook, days after they overthrew the democratic government. Officials said the social media platform – for many in Myanmar the only access to…

Mix and Match: Covid trial in UK examines mixing different vaccines

The EU has reversed its decision to trigger an emergency provision in the Brexit deal to control Covid vaccine exports from the EU. The move could have seen checks at…

Covid Chaos: Australian Open Players in isolation after hotel coronavirus case

Between 500 and 600 Australian Open players, officials and support staff will go into isolation after a worker at one of the event’s quarantine hotels tested positive for coronavirus. Thursday’s…

Covid Chaos: Australian MPs clash over Covid ‘Conspiracies’

Two Australian MPs have clashed in a parliamentary corridor, with Labor’s Tanya Plibersek accusing the government’s Craig Kelly of spreading misinformation about Covid-19. Ms Plibersek said Mr Kelly had “crazy…

Covid Chaos: Exxon realises first loss in decades as pandemic drives demand down

Oil giant Exxon Mobil suffered its first annual loss in decades last year as the pandemic prompted energy use to plunge. The firm lost $22.4bn (£16.4bn) as energy prices dropped…

The Fish Wars: EU bans UK shellfish imports

The EU has told British fishermen they are indefinitely banned from selling live mussels, oysters, clams, cockles and scallops to its member states. As the UK is now a separate…

Recall:Tesla recalls US vehicles over failing touchscreens

Tesla is to recall large numbers of Model S and Model X cars in the US over failing touchscreens regulators warned could increase the risk of crashes. The National Highway…

Hands in the Tip Jar: Amazon settles claims that it pocketed delivery drivers’ tips

Amazon has agreed to settle allegations it cheated some drivers out of tips from customers for more than two years. Under a deal with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)…

Windfall: Google’s parent company, Alphabet sees record growth

Google parent Alphabet saw record revenues for the second straight quarter despite the pandemic as advertisers unleashed spending during the holidays. Cutbacks by travel and entertainment advertisers were more than…