World

JAKARTA: With a suitcase full of clothes and gifts for her nieces and nephews back home, Lily Hapsari travelled from Jakarta by train to her hometown in Central Java province on Monday (Apr 25) to be with her parents for the Muslim holiday Idul Fitri, which is expected to fall on May 2. “I am so excited about going home,” the 27-year-old nurse told CNA, adding that she booked her train ride one month in advance, afraid that she would not be able to land a ticket because of surging demand. This would be the first time in two years Hapsari spends Idul Fitri, which marks the end of the Ramadan fasting month, with her family. For the 2020 holiday, the COVID-19 pandemic had just hit Indonesia while for 2021, health workers like her were bracing for a surge in COVID-19 cases because of the de...

Select’s editorial team works independently to review financial products and write articles we think our readers will find useful. We earn a commission from affiliate partners on many offers, but not all offers on Select are from affiliate partners. When it comes to managing finances, general advice says we should budget out for expenses and save the rest for a rainy day. This money mindset ensures we'll always have enough cash for the things we need as well as the things that matter to us most. But does this "playing it safe" approach we've been told about for so long really help us reach our financial goals? Sometimes rewiring our financial mindset to be less limiting can help us better achieve success, argues business coach Jason Drees. "We tend to focus on the past... setbacks, failur...

Shoppers walk in front of a Target store at the Lycoming Crossing shopping plaza in Muncy, Pennsylvania. Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Target – Shares plunged 24.9% after the retailer reported disappointing quarterly results, citing high fuel costs and inventory troubles. Target posted an adjusted quarterly profit of $2.19 per share, below the $3.07 Refinitiv consensus estimate. The big-box retailer reported lower-than-expected sales of discretionary products. Walmart – Walmart dropped 6.8%, falling for a second session after suffering its worst one-day loss since 1987 on Tuesday. Target's quarterly report echoed similar inflationary challenges Walmart reported in its disappointing first-quarter report Tuesday. Lowe's – The home improvement retailer's shar...

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden will host Southeast Asian leaders in Washington this week, seeking to show his administration remains focused on the Indo-Pacific and the long-term challenge of China despite the Ukraine crisis. A two-day summit with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) begins with a White House dinner on Thursday (May 12) before talks at the State Department on Friday. It will be the first time leaders of ASEAN, created in some of the darkest days of the Cold War, gather as a group at the White House. President Barack Obama was the last US leader to host them, at Sunnylands in California in 2016. Up to eight ASEAN leaders are expected. Myanmar's leader has been excluded over a coup last year and the Philippines is in transition after an election. ...

Jerome Powell, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, attends the National Association of Business Economicseconomic policy conference in Washington, D.C, United States on March 21, 2022. Yasin Ozturk | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images The Federal Reserve is tasked with slowing the U.S. economy enough to control inflation but not so much that it tips into recession. Financial markets expect the central bank on Wednesday to announce a half-percentage point increase in the Fed's benchmark interest rate. The fed funds rate controls the amount that banks charge each other for short-term borrowing but also serves as a signpost for many forms of consumer debt. Doubts are rising about whether it can pull it off, even among some former Fed officials. Wall Street saw another day of whipsaw trading Mon...

PANIPAK WONGPATTANAKIT (THAILAND) The world number one in women's taekwondo in the 49kg category, Panipak was Thailand's only gold medallist at last summer's Tokyo Olympics and is also a two-time world champion. Called "Tennis" by her parents, who gave their children nicknames to kindle an interest in sport, she instead excelled at the Korean martial art. A favourite among Thai sports fans, the 24-year-old was hospitalised for COVID-19 in early April but is still expected to lead the way for her country in Hanoi. HIDILYN DIAZ (PHILIPPINES) Weightlifter Diaz made history by winning the women's 55kg class in Tokyo, a first Games gold for the Philippines in the country's nearly 100 years of Olympic competition. Stranded for nearly 18 months in Malaysia during the pandemic, the 31-year-o...

SINGAPORE: A patient service associate at the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) used her niece's TraceTogether token to check into malls and a library while on a leave of absence. That was in April last year, when COVID-19 cases were reported in Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) where NNI is located. The cluster would eventually grow to 48 cases, with three deaths. Priscilla Tan Siew Sin, 34, had been traced as a contact of a doctor who contracted COVID-19. She did not test positive for the coronavirus. Tan was fined S$10,000 on Monday (Apr 25) after pleading guilty to one count of fraud by making a false representation. Two more charges were considered for sentencing. On Apr 28, 2021, the Ministry of Health announced that a nurse working in Ward 9D of TTSH had tested positive for COVI...

CFOs on the recent CNBC CFO Council call were of the view that even if the Fed won't talk about a 75-basis point hike right now — Chair Jerome Powell said at last week's FOMC meeting it was not under active consideration — this may prove to be more of a negative than positive in the battle against inflation. The Fed's focus on doing "a few 50s" — 50-basis point rate hikes — is not surprising given that the central bank stresses a data-dependent approach and wants to view the results of its actions into the late summer and early fall. But this leaves concern among CFOs that it will fall short of the mark as a response to the current inflationary environment. This Wednesday's April CPI, with headline inflation still expected in the 8% range, will be a focus for the debate over peaking infla...

HONG KONG: China has relinquished its rights to host the 2023 Asian Cup finals due to the COVID-19 situation in the country, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on Saturday. The event, which is played every four years and features 24 national teams from across the continent, was due to be held in 10 cities from Jun 16 to Jul 16 next year. "Following extensive discussions with the Chinese Football Association (CFA), the Asian Football Confederation has been officially informed by the CFA that it would not be able to host the AFC Asian Cup 2023," the confederation said in a statement. "The AFC acknowledges the exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the relinquishment by China PR of its hosting rights." The AFC said a decision about the hostin...

Hannah Williams has millions of people talking about money. A few weeks ago, as the weather was getting warmer around Washington, D.C., she and her fiance, James Daniels, took the streets with an iPhone and a mic to ask what some might consider an inappropriate question: How much money do you make? Surprisingly to Williams, people opened up pretty quickly: An IT worker named Chris said he makes $70,000; a lifeguard shared she makes $15 an hour; Max, a contractor, earns $96,000; and a research scientist bringing in $52,000 a year says she loves what she does and that "passion matters more, but money is also really important, and people need to be able to make a living wage no matter what they do." It's one of about a dozen videos in the new Salary Transparent Street video series, led by Wil...