World

SINGAPORE: Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) rose by 7.7 per cent in March, following a 9.4 per cent growth in February. Both electronics and non-electronics exports went up, and exports to the top 10 markets as a whole grew in March, mainly due to the US, Malaysia and the European Union, according to official data released by Enterprise Singapore (ESG) on Monday (Apr 18). However, exports to Hong Kong, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand fell. On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, NODX fell 2.3 per cent in March, following the previous month's 2.9 per cent decline. Non-electronic domestic exports fell while electronics rose. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the level of NODX reached S$17.2 million in March, lower than the S$17.6 billion recorded in the previous month...

SINGAPORE: Two Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) aircraft had to be diverted when a man illegally flew his drone into their flight path close to the time of their scheduled landing at Tengah Air Base in September 2020. The presence of the drone, which was detected by the air base's aeroscope, also led RSAF to close the affected runway for half an hour. Jason Ng Yok Sen, 43, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Apr 12) to three counts of air navigation offences. Another 14 charges will be considered when he returns for sentencing later this week. During the incident on Sep 8, 2020, Ng was operating his DJI Mavic 2 Zoom, which weighs about 900g, from Taman Jurong Park. The drone enthusiast flew his unmanned aircraft for a total of 22 minutes, covering a distance of about 930m around Corporati...

Co-chair of the multi-ministry task force Lawrence Wong said on Thursday that the Government is looking into the safe resumption of nightlife businesses like bars, pubs, karaoke establishments, discotheques and nightclubs. “These are activities with much higher risks of transmission and where there are generally more difficulties complying with the prevailing safe-management measures 1 to 5,” said the Health Ministry, referring to the five parameters - group sizes, mask-wearing, workplace requirements, safe distancing and capacity limits. While Teo Heng’s karaoke outlets are still not allowed to open for business, the overall easing of restrictions represents a light at the end of the tunnel for Ms Teo. “We were all very depressed and very confused, whether we could still provide good e...

NEW DELHI : Anger against Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's handling of a deepening economic crisis in the island nation of 22 million people spiralled into violence late on Thursday, as hundreds of protesters clashed with police for several hours. A severe shortage of foreign currency has left Rajapaksa's government unable to pay for essential imports, including fuel, leading to debilitating power cuts lasting up to 13 hours. Ordinary Sri Lankans are also dealing with shortages and soaring inflation, after the country steeply devalued its currency last month ahead of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan programme. HOW DID SRI LANKA GET HERE? Critics say the roots of the crisis, the worst in several decades, lie in economic mismanagement by successive gov...

A job seeker visits a Job News USA career fair in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 23, 2021. A new Kentucky law cuts the maximum duration of unemployment benefits by more than half, to 12 weeks, during periods of low unemployment. Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images Cuts will put financial stress on unemployed individuals who can't find work quickly, forcing some into low-paid jobs outside their career fields, and present questions of racial equity since Black and Latinx individuals are often unemployed at higher rates, according to labor advocates. The moves are also short-sighted given the serious flaws in state programs exposed by the pandemic, critics said. "As long as we don't have a strong set of federal standards, states can keep chopping it away," according to Amy Traub, a seni...

JAKARTA: GoTo surged as much as 23 per cent in its stock market debut on Monday (Apr 11) after Indonesia's largest tech company raised US$1.1 billion in a keenly watched IPO, fuelling expectations of more offerings from the sector in Southeast Asia's largest economy. The initial public offering (IPO) is the world's fifth-largest this year, Refinitiv data showed, and came despite IPOs being pulled due to the Russia-Ukraine war and rising interest rates. PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk was formed by last year's merger of ride-hailing-to-payments company Gojek and e-commerce leader Tokopedia, with its businesses straddling millions of small and mid-sized firms across the archipelago. "There was no perfect timing for this IPO, but our focus was on Indonesia, with a local investor audience," GoT...

:Shares on Wall Street took a breather on Friday after a tech-driven rally and U.S. Treasury yields rose to fresh heights as markets evaluated a world of elevated interest rates and the effects of Russia's war in Ukraine. The Nasdaq fell about 0.16per cent as technology and healthcare stocks pulled back, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 edged up about 0.5per cent, with energy and financial shares rising on oil price gains and bets on interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe was up 0.11per cent, adding a second consecutive week of gains for the first time in 2022. The pan-European STOXX 600 index also inched up 0.11per cent, but was down on the week. Share prices have been supported by global flash Purchasing Managers' Index (P...

BEIJING : China's manufacturing hub of Shenzhen is starting to get back on its feet after being hit by shutdowns in a recent COVID-19 outbreak, but many smaller firms worry about their near-term outlook, clouded by uncertain demand, Securities Times reported. Shenzhen's recent "war" on COVID-19 has hurt up to 93per cent of the local small and medium-sized companies surveyed by the state-controlled newspaper, with many suffering production disruptions due to shutdowns, interruptions in supply chains, and delays in order executions. Shenzhen allowed businesses and factories to restart operations on March 21 after authorities declared the latest outbreak had been brought under control. The city, which has grappled with multiple outbreaks so far this year, conducted three rounds of mass tes...

LONDON : Thousands of holidaymakers have seen their Easter getaways disrupted or cancelled because airlines and airports do not have enough staff to meet the recovery in demand as pandemic restrictions are eased in Europe. High rates of COVID-19 in Britain have caused staff absences for airlines and airports that were already struggling to recruit after workers deserted the industry during the pandemic. Low-cost carrier easyJet was one of the worst affected, saying it cancelled around 60 UK flights on Tuesday and expected to pull a similar number in the coming days. It cancelled more than 200 at the weekend and another 62 on Monday. Paul Charles, head of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said it could take at least two or three months to get through a nasty cocktail of staff shortages, ...

SINGAPORE: Measures put into place to enhance Singapore’s energy security will be extended to the end of June, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) announced on Thursday (Mar 30). These extensions are in light of the global energy crunch and the conflict in Ukraine, EMA said. “Global gas prices had increased significantly due to high demand and tight gas supply. The conflict in Ukraine has further exacerbated the risk of disruptions in gas and oil,” the agency said. As around 95 per cent of Singapore's electricity is generated from imported natural gas, consumers cannot be shielded from the global volatility and higher energy prices, it added. “EMA will monitor the situation and consider extending the measures further if necessary, depending on the global energy situation and its impact o...