World

SINGAPORE: The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) expects to cut the emissions intensity of its equities investments by up to 50 per cent by financial year 2030, as it continues to work towards its goal of a climate-resilient reserves portfolio. Measures to achieve that include the roll-out of a “portfolio overlay” by next year that would gradually tilt the equities portfolio towards less carbon-intensive investments, it said in its second sustainability report released on Thursday (Jul 28). The MAS, which manages Singapore’s official foreign reserves, will also exclude from its portfolio companies which derive more than 10 per cent of their revenues from thermal coal mining and oil sands activities. These exclusions will be “gradually implemented”, according to MAS chief Ravi Menon,...

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi waves with other members of the delegation as they board a plane before leaving Taipei Songshan Airport, in Taipei, Taiwan August 3, 2022, in this screengrab taken from video. Beijing said Friday it will cancel military phone calls between area commanders, defense meetings and cooperation on anti-drug efforts with the U.S., and will no longer take part in talks on maritime safety and climate change. Earlier, China took personal action against Pelosi, announcing sanctions on the speaker and her immediate family in response to what the Chinese Foreign Ministry called her "egregious provocations." The U.S. delegation's unannounced visit to Taiwan has fueled a mounting crisis, raising fears of conflict in the region and stoking tensions betw...

NEW DELHI : The International Cricket Council (ICC) will make a presentation to the Los Angeles Olympics organisers later this month in its bid for the sport to return to the Games after a gap of 128 years, sources told Reuters. Cricket has been shortlisted for potential inclusion at the 2028 Los Angeles Games along with baseball-softball, flag football, lacrosse, breakdancing, karate, kickboxing, squash and motorsport. Teams would play Twenty20 cricket - the sport's shortest international format which has inspired the lucrative Indian Premier League and similar franchise-based competitions in other countries. The host city can include any sport but needs approval of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The governing body is likely to take a final decision at the IOC session in M...

SINGAPORE: Measures taken by the authorities so far have helped to ensure uninterrupted energy supply and stabilised wholesale electricity prices here, said Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng in Parliament on Tuesday (Aug 2). This means there is no need to bring the electricity market under state control within the short to medium term, he added in response to a parliamentary question. The measures include setting up standby fuel facilities which generation companies, or gencos, can draw from to generate electricity when their natural gas supplies are disrupted. Authorities also required gencos to bolster their own stockpile of fuel. Dr Tan noted that the world has been facing an energy crunch since last September, with global gas prices increasing significantly. Globa...

The foreign ministers of China and Russia on Friday walked out when it was their Japanese counterpart's turn to speak at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related meeting in Phnom Penh, diplomatic sources said. China's Wang Yi and Russia's Sergey Lavrov left their seats apparently in protest at Japan's criticism of Beijing's military exercises that began in response to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and its condemnation of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Wang, Lavrov and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi were participating in the foreign ministerial session of the 18-member East Asia Summit. Hayashi and Wang locked horns Thursday over Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, with Wang slamming her trip and Hayashi expressing deep concern over China's retali...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is scrambling to protect its assets as the descendants of the last sultan of the remote Philippine region of Sulu look to enforce a US$15 billion arbitration award in a dispute over a colonial-era land deal. In 1878, two European colonists signed a deal with the sultan for the use of his territory in present-day Malaysia – an agreement that independent Malaysia honoured until 2013, paying the monarch's descendants about US$1,000 a year. Now, 144 years later after the original deal, Malaysia is on the hook for the second largest arbitration award on record for stopping the payments after a bloody incursion by supporters of Sultan Mohammed Jamalul Alam's heirs in which more than 50 people were killed. "It is a fascinating and unusual case," said lawyer Paul Cohen, a...

The chaos engulfing many major airports in North America and Europe since summer began hasn't abated much, and news outlets and social media users continue to report on hordes of impatient travelers and mountains of misplaced suitcases. Source: Getty Images Canceled flights. Long lines. Staff walkouts. Missing luggage. Sound familiar? The chaos engulfing many major airports in North America and Europe since summer hasn't abated much, and news outlets and social media users continue to report on hordes of impatient travelers and mountains of misplaced suitcases. Just this week, German carrier Lufthansa canceled nearly all its flights in Frankfurt and Munich, stranding some 130,000 travelers due to a one-day walkout by its ground staff who were on strike for better pay. London's Heathrow Ai...

LONDON :Reece Topley recorded the best figures for an England bowler in one-day international cricket as the hosts roared back against India after their drubbing at the Oval to level the three-match series with a 100-run win in the second game on Thursday. Chasing 247 on a Lord's wicket that had eased up after the first innings, India never found their stride and folded for 146 in 38.5 overs. Topley (6-24) landed a double blow early in the chase by getting rid of opposition captain Rohit Sharma (0) and Shikhar Dhawan (9) before Virat Kohli (16), returning from a groin strain, edged behind off David Willey after a fluent start. "Terrific team performance to bounce back from the other day," said Topley, who was named player of the match. "Happy to play my part. Means a lot, makes it all w...

NEW DELHI :Twitter asked an Indian court on Tuesday to overturn some government orders to remove content from the social media platform, a source familiar with the matter said, in a legal challenge which alleges abuse of power by officials. The U.S. company's attempt to get a judicial review of the orders is part of a growing confrontation with New Delhi. Twitter has been asked by Indian authorities over the past year to act on content including accounts supportive of an independent Sikh state, posts alleged to have spread misinformation about protests by farmers and over tweets critical of the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Be it any company, in any sector, they should abide the laws of India," India's IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told Reuters partner ANI on Tuesday, ...

MANILA : The Asian Development Bank (B) on Thursday slashed its growth forecasts for developing Asia for this year and next, reflecting the economic fallout from Russia's war in Ukraine and aggressive tightening by global central banks to tame inflation. Also contributing to its weaker growth forecasts was a sharper-than-expected deceleration in China prompted by its lingering COVID-19 lockdowns, the B said in a supplement to its Asian Development Outlook report. Downgrading its 2022 forecast for a third time, the B said it now expects the bloc's combined economy, which includes China and India, to expand 4.6 per cent, slower than its 5.2 per cent projection in April. "Risks to developing Asia's economic outlook remain elevated and mainly associated with external factors," the B said, c...