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SYDNEY, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Authorities in the Solomon Islands said no tsunami warning would be issued after two powerful earthquakes struck on Tuesday, damaging Australia’s embassy, the airport and shopping malls and triggering power cuts in the capital, Honiara.

The first quake hit offshore at a depth of 15 km (9 miles), about 16 km southwest of the area of Malango, said the United States Geological Survey which initially put its magnitude at 7.3 before revising it down to magnitude 7.0.

Full coverage: REUTERS

South Korea Debates Scrapping Cold War-era Ban On North’s Propoganda

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SEOUL, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Debate is brewing in South Korea over efforts to scrap a decades-old ban on North Korean media, as changing attitudes fuel renewed calls to review a national security law dating from the Cold War.

South Korea’s National Security Act blocks access to the North’s government websites and media, barring efforts at “praising, inciting or propagating” its activities.

The neighbours are still technically at war since an armistice put an end to fighting in the 1950-1953 Korean War, rather than a peace treaty.

Full coverage: REUTERS

Children At School Among 162 Dead In Indonesia Quake

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CIANJUR, Indonesia, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Children killed when their schools collapsed accounted for many of the 162 dead in an earthquake that devastated a town on Indonesia’s main island of Java, an official said on Tuesday, as rescuers raced to reach people trapped in rubble.

Hundreds of people were injured in the Monday quake and officials warned the death toll was likely to rise.

The shallow 5.6-magnitude quake struck in mountains in Indonesia’s most populous province of West Java, causing significant damage to the town of Cianjur and burying at least one village under a landslide.

Full coverage: REUTERS

Analysis: China’s Great Reopening May Come Too Late For Many Businesses

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SHANGHAI, Nov 22 (Reuters) – The culinary tourism business of Brian Bergey and his wife Ruixi Hu has persevered in China through three years of harsh COVID-19 restrictions.

But just as excitement is mounting in global financial markets that the world’s second-largest economy may finally come out of isolation next year, the two are packing their bags.

“I remain fairly pessimistic about the quote-unquote reopening of China,” said Bergey. Their Lost Plate company, which has been hosting food tours in several Chinese cities since 2015, will instead veer to Southeast Asia.

Full coverage: REUTERS

Morning Bid: COVID Blues

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A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Anshuman Daga:

A nationwide spike in COVID-19 cases in China is again the main talking point for weary global markets on Tuesday as Beijing shut parks and museums and more cities resumed mass testing.

Analysts are pushing back growth expectations for the world’s second-largest economy, just as China had started to make adjustments to its zero-COVID policy, a move that gave investors some relief.

Full coverage: REUTERS