World

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden's visit to Japan this month is expected to coincide with the formal launch of a new US economic strategy for the Indo-Pacific, even as China seeks "very aggressively" to fill a void since Washington quit a regional trade pact, Tokyo's ambassador to the United States said on Monday (May 9). Koji Tomita told a virtual event hosted by Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies that Japan and the United States had been working on the details of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which, he said, needed to strike a balance between inclusivity and high standards. Asian countries are keen to boost ties with the United States, but have been frustrated by its delay in detailing plans for economic engagement with the region since former Pres...

TOKYO: President Joe Biden launched his plan for US economic engagement in Asia on Monday (May 23), leaving it to the 13 founding countries to work out how to enforce their agreements and whether China could ever join. Biden chose on his first trip in office to Asia to formally unveil the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), although critics said it offered scant benefit to countries in the region even before it was announced. The White House says the deal offers no tariff relief to the countries that join, including India, Malaysia and the Philippines, but provides a way to sort through issues ranging from climate change to supply chain resilience and digital trade. Washington has lacked an economic pillar to its Indo-Pacific engagement since former President Donald T...

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Ariel Skelley | Digitalvision | Getty Images How would it feel to give your children an enormous leg up on saving for retirement while also helping them form healthy money habits? The answer could be opening a Roth individual retirement account for them. To start, a Roth IRA is a special retirement account that allows participants to receive tax-free income in retirement. There are no age restrictions; therefore, a child can have a Roth IRA account and get a great head start on both their retirement savings and wealth-building goals. It is important to know that a child must have some earned income to contribute to a Roth IRA, but anyone can also contribute on behalf of an eligible child. The IRS will consider earnings from a part-time afterschool job or summer working experience as elig...

China’s biggest tech firm, Huawei Technologies, has risen to global prominence as a leader in 5G, the much ballyhooed, next-generation wireless technology. It has also become a major target for the US, which has been trying to convince its allies to ban Huawei equipment from their national networks on spying concerns. In May 2022, Canada became the latest country to sign on to the American effort. Underlying the wrangling is the question of which country will take the lead in the nascent, "everything-connected" era, and who gets left behind. WHY DOES THE US HAVE AN ISSUE WITH HUAWEI? US government officials say Huawei is dangerous in part because it could use its growing share of the telecom equipment market to spy for the Chinese government. Already in 2012, a report by the US House I...

A new bipartisan proposal takes aim at Google and would force it to break up its digital advertising business if passed. The Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act was introduced Thursday by a group of key senators on the Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust: the ranking member and chair, Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., as well as Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. Advertising is a huge part of parent company Alphabet's business. In Q1, Alphabet reported $68.01 billion in revenue, $54.66 billion of which was generated by advertising — up from $44.68 billion the year prior. The bill would ban companies that process more than $20 billion annually in digital ad transactions from participating in more than one part of the digital ad ...

WASHINGTON/LONDON : European stocks slid to a one-month low and commodity prices dropped on Monday on renewed concerns about rising interest rates and China's sputtering economy, while Wall Street shares rose, reversing losses after Twitter agreed to be bought by billionaire Elon Musk. Fears over China's COVID-19 outbreaks spooked investors already worried that higher U.S. interest rates could dent economic growth. U.S. shares were lower throughout most of the session, extending last week's sharp declines. The CBOE Volatility index known as Wall Street's fear gauge, hit the lowest level since mid-March. Twitter Inc shares rose on news that Elon Musk, the world's richest person, clinked a deal to pay $44 billion cash for the social media platform populated by millions of users and global ...

NEW YORK :Oil prices rose modestly on Wednesday due to ongoing concerns about tight worldwide supply, underscored by another drawdown in U.S. distillate and gasoline inventories. The market rebounded late in the session after losing ground for most of the day, in part due to strength in the dollar and as China grapples with fresh coronavirus outbreaks that are sapping demand. However, Russia's move to cut off gas shipments to two European nations added to overall worries about tight energy supply. Brent crude futures settled up 33 cents to $105.32 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled up 32 cents to $102.02 a barrel. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said crude stocks rose by just 692,000 barrels last week, short of expectations, while distillate inventorie...

WASHINGTON: Investigators looking into the crash of a China Eastern Airlines jet are examining the actions of the crew on the flight deck, with no evidence found of a technical malfunction, two people briefed on the matter said. In mainland China's deadliest aviation disaster for 28 years, the Boeing 737-800 crashed in the mountains of southern Guangxi on Mar 21, after a sudden plunge from cruising altitude, killing all 123 passengers and nine crew. The pilots did not respond to repeated calls from air traffic controllers and nearby planes during the rapid descent, authorities have said. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal said flight data from one of the black boxes indicated that someone in the cockpit intentionally crashed the plane, citing people familiar with the preliminary assess...

TOKYO: President Joe Biden arrived in Japan on Sunday (May 22) to launch a plan for greater US economic engagement with the Indo-Pacific, facing criticism even before the programme is announced that it will offer scant benefit to countries in the region. On the second leg of his first Asia trip as president, Biden is to meet with leaders of Japan, India and Australia, the "Quad," another cornerstone of his strategy to push back against China's expanding influence. Biden met with Japanese business leaders, including the president of Toyota Motor Corp, at the ambassador's residence in Tokyo shortly after arriving, said a person familiar with the matter. On Monday, he is to call on Emperor Naruhito before talks with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. He and Kishida are expected to discuss Japan...