PINGTUNG, Taiwan: A Chinese ban on pineapple imports from Taiwan has sparked a flood of patriotic buying of the fruit and forced restaurants to come up with inventive new menu choices but it has also left many questioning Taipei’s overwhelming economic reliance on its giant neighbor. 

TOKYO: Japan’s government and automakers are lining up to offer support to a key chip manufacturer following a factory fire that could worsen a global semiconductor shortage plaguing car firms. The blaze at one of Renesas’s plants last week comes at the worst possible time for the auto sector, which is already battling supply problems in part because of increased demand for chips from manufacturers of laptops, tablets and gaming devices.

KUWAIT: The fatwa (religious edict) authority at the Ministry of Awqaf Islamic Affairs said the COVID-19 vaccine does not invalidate the fast and can be taken during the daytime in Ramadan, Al-Qabas Arabic daily reported yesterday. 

GENEVA: Innovations aimed at helping people overcome mobility, sight and other disabilities have exploded in recent years, and are becoming ever more integrated in regular consumer goods, the United Nations said yesterday. 

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Monday named a prominent advocate of breaking up Big Tech firms to a key regulatory post, in a move suggesting an aggressive posture on antitrust enforcement. 

HONG KONG: Chinese search engine Baidu debuted on Hong Kong’s stock exchange yesterday after raising $3.1 billion in its initial public offering, the latest mainland tech giant to flock to the financial hub. Shares rose a modest 0.8 percent to HK$254 from their listing price of HK$252 after the market opened. 

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden’s administration is considering spending $3 trillion on infrastructure in the United States, split into two bills that face narrow paths to approval in Congress, US media reported on Monday. 

KUWAIT: Kuwait yesterday reported 1,288 new coronavirus infections, taking total cases to 221,743, the health ministry said. 

KUWAIT: The number of people who have registered on the COVID-19 vaccination platform is approaching one million – both citizens and expats – since the start of the campaign until now, Al-Jarida Arabic daily reported yesterday, quoting informed health sources.