USA

South Korea takes in 164 asylum seekers from nearly 6,000 applicants
17Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, USA, World

South Korea takes in 164 asylum seekers from nearly 6,000 applicants

SEOUL: South Korea has accepted just 164 asylum seekers this year from nearly 6,000 who applied despite COVID-19 travel curbs, government data showed. Immigration is a contentious issue in South Korea, where many pride themselves on ethnic homogeneity, even as its population of 51 million rapidly ages and the labour force shrivels. The figure of 5,896 applicants for refugee status between January and August was down about 36 per cent from the corresponding period last year, data from the justice ministry showed last week. Russians topped the list of applicants at nearly 18 per cent, followed by people from Egypt, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and India. Only about 4 per cent of the 4,019 who completed the screening process were accepted or granted residency for humanitarian reasons, althoug...
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Pakistan to seek $2.7 billion loan from China for CPEC construction project
15Nov mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China, USA

Pakistan to seek $2.7 billion loan from China for CPEC construction project

At a time when financial institutions of China are reluctant in investing in the China-Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC), Pakistan has decided to seek USD 2.7 billion loan from China for the construction of package-I of the Mainline-1 project of CPEC.As per reports, the sixth meeting of the financing committee on ML-1 project, which includes dualisation and upgrading of the 1,872 km railway track from Peshawar to Karachi, decided that Pakistan would initially request China to sanction only USD 2.73 billion in loan out of the total estimated Chinese financing of about USD 6.1 billion.The Ministry of Economic Affairs has been directed to formally send the Letter of Intent to China next week as Beijing is expected to finalise its next year's financing plans by the end of the current month."In...
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Japan should brace for ‘leaderless era’ as U.S. turns inward, Suga adviser says
14Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, USA, World

Japan should brace for ‘leaderless era’ as U.S. turns inward, Suga adviser says

A prominent economic adviser to the prime minister says Tokyo should prepare for a “leaderless era” as U.S. global leadership gradually withers, and expand other strategic ties while bolstering its security alliance with Washington. The prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, wasted little time in congratulating U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on last week’s election win over incumbent Donald Trump, despite the latter’s refusal to concede, saying he wanted to strengthen the alliance and ensure peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. But concerns about America’s inward turn have simmered in Japan for years, intensifying in the face of China’s growing military and economic assertiveness and persisting during the Trump presidency despite comparatively warm ties between the outgoing U.S. lea...
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Pompeo, Esper driving US’s anti-China message in India visit
11Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, USA, World

Pompeo, Esper driving US’s anti-China message in India visit

NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper are in India to drive the Trump administration’s anti-China message exactly a week ahead of America’s presidential election. With President Donald Trump in a tight race for a second term against former Vice President Joe Biden, Pompeo and Esper are seeking to play on Indian suspicions about China to shore up a regional front against increasing Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. In talks on Tuesday (Oct 27) with their Indian counterparts, Pompeo and Esper are to sign an agreement expanding military satellite information sharing and highlight strategic cooperation between Washington and New Delhi with an eye toward countering China. Just hours before the meetings began, the Trump administratio...
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South Korea Oct factory activity grows at fastest pace in more than 2 yrs
11Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, Market, USA, World

South Korea Oct factory activity grows at fastest pace in more than 2 yrs

SEOUL: South Korea's factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than two years in October, a private-sector survey showed on Monday (Nov 2), as global demand picked up from its coronavirus slump. The IHS Markit purchasing managers' index (PMI) jumped to 51.2, from 49.8 in September, the first expansion in 10 months and the highest reading since September 2018. The 50-mark threshold separates growth from contraction. That reflected the rise in major sub-indexes, with factory production and new orders logging their sharpest growth since April 2013. New export orders returned to growth for the first time in nine months, albeit at a subdued level. "October data marks a clear improvement in South Korea's manufacturing sector ... outright expansions in both output and new orde...
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Commentary: The world has big expectations for a Joe Biden presidency
11Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, Market, USA, World

Commentary: The world has big expectations for a Joe Biden presidency

Countries around the world hope to see huge efforts devoted to restoring US leadership and repairing alliances, say the Financial Times’ Katrina Manson, Aime Williams and Michael Peel. LONDON: Joe Biden has promised to put an end to Donald Trump’s isolationist, disruptive approach to global relations. But a Biden administration bid to restore American leadership will require time and political capital at a time when the superpower’s global role stands in doubt at home and abroad. While diplomats are not likely to hear the phrase “America First” for a while, Mr Biden will face challenges including countering China, re-entering the nuclear deal with Iran, resetting relations with Europe and dealing with the fallout of Brexit on the relationship with the UK. CHINA: LITTLE LET-UP IN PR...
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WhiteBoard, a must-read for youths to relate Bangabandhu’s policies to today’s development
9Nov mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
Market, USA

WhiteBoard, a must-read for youths to relate Bangabandhu’s policies to today’s development

Ask this generation what images they relate to on hearing about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the answer you are most likely to receive is his fiery speech, the gift of the red and green flag, and the unrelenting love for his countrymen. What you are least likely to hear is his policies and plans that shaped up the country’s course of development. To give access to that chapter, WhiteBoard, a newly launched policy magazine, dived deep into his policies and plans in its first issue, creating a space for the experts who either worked with Bangabandhu on formulating policies or possess ample knowledge of that matter.The publication gives a perspective that while youths observe today’s development and progress, they hardly recall that the seed of those developments was sown by Bangaban...
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In emails, Sacklers fret over wealth, opioid business
6Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, USA, World

In emails, Sacklers fret over wealth, opioid business

NEW YORK: Soon after a Purdue Pharma LP affiliate pleaded guilty to misbranding its addictive opioid painkiller OxyContin in 2007, the company's Sackler family owners fretted about possible threats to their wealth. On May 17, 2007, Jonathan Sackler, who has since passed away, emailed relatives and a financial advisor, triggering an anxious discussion, according to settlement documents US prosecutors disclosed on Wednesday. He told them an investment banker had once told him that his family "is already rich, the one thing you don’t want to do is to become poor.” David Sackler responded the same day: " hat do you think is going on in all of these courtrooms right now? We’re rich? For how long? Until which suits get through to the family?" Between 2008 and 2019, Purdue transferred more...
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Trump’s stock market: A wild four years
4Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, USA, World

Trump’s stock market: A wild four years

The Trump rally, a trade war, and then a crippling pandemic: The four years since President Donald Trump's 2016 election victory have been a period like no other for the U.S. stock market. REUTERS: The Trump rally, a trade war, and then a crippling pandemic: The four years since President Donald Trump's 2016 election victory have been a period like no other for the U.S. stock market. Hours after Trump's unexpected win on Nov. 8, 2016, expectations of massive tax cuts and financial deregulation kicked off a stock rally that saw the S&P 500 surge 5per cent in a month. Wall Street continued its path higher through a trade war and impeachment, going on to new record highs following a deep slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic that continues to cripple the global economy. Graphic: Tru...
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Jakarta governor to take protesters’ demand to repeal labour law to President Widodo
1Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
USA, World

Jakarta governor to take protesters’ demand to repeal labour law to President Widodo

JAKARTA: The governor of Indonesia's capital on Friday (Oct 9) said he would inform President Joko Widodo of protesters' demand for a polarising new labour law to be repealed, as a growing number of regional leaders oppose the new legislation. Thousands took to the streets of cities across Indonesia in the past three days, part of protests and national strikes against a law they say undermines labour rights and weakens environmental protections. Clashes erupted in some cities, including in Jakarta where protesters burnt public transport facilities and damaged police posts. "Yesterday I also met with the protesters and we had brief discussion with them, I'd told them that we had listened to your voices and I will convey the message," Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan told Reuters. He d...
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