World

SINGAPORE: Singapore's core inflation in February eased to 2.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis, down from the 2.4 per cent in January, official data released on Wednesday (Mar 23) showed. This was reflected in lower inflation for services, food and electricity and gas, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in a joint media release. February's consumer price index (CPI), or overall inflation, came in at 4.3 per cent year-on-year, up from 4 per cent in January. Core inflation excludes accommodation and private transport costs. These items are excluded as they tend to be significantly influenced by supply-side administrative policies and are volatile. "Global inflation is expected to stay high for some time before easing in the latter hal...

A Vietnamese woman who lives in Miyagi Prefecture sent a message to the “letters from readers” section of the Kahoku Shimpo expressing a grievance. The letter explained that when she informed the Japanese-language school where she had been studying that she had to cancel her enrollment because of financial hardship stemming from the pandemic, she was about to pay a cancellation fee of ¥3 million, after being pressured by the school to do so. The school said that it asks for such a fee to discourage students from quitting the school and switching to a work visa, but experts say the approach takes advantage of students’ weak position and is a violation of their human rights. In November 2020, the woman, who is in her 30s, obtained a student visa, came to Japan and entered the Japanese-lang...

In this article WFC A shopper bags fruit inside a supermarket in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on Feb. 7, 2022. Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images Here are three ways you can try to combat inflation — and two things not to do. 1. Plan ahead To save on gas, be strategic about the use of your car. If you have to run errands, do them in one trip and at a time when there is not a lot of traffic, suggests Misty Lynch, a certified financial planner with Walpole, Massachusetts-based Sound View Financial Advisors. When grocery shopping, be armed with a meal plan for the week that's already in place. "It does help people save money if they know what they are going to eat and stick with it," Lynch said. Pierce likes apps such as Flipp to look up grocery store ads. She creates a meal plan for the week th...

SINGAPORE: A former Shell employee was jailed on Thursday (Mar 31) for 29 years for his role in a S$128 million marine fuel heist at the company's refinery in Singapore. Juandi Pungot, 45, pleaded guilty last month to 36 charges of criminal breach of trust, laundering his proceeds from criminal conduct and giving bribes. Another 49 charges were considered for sentencing. He was one of three masterminds in the long-running heist that involved illegally loading bunkers with stolen marine fuel from Pulau Bukom refinery, Shell's largest petrochemical production and export centre in Asia Pacific. Juandi reaped at least S$5.6 million in criminal proceeds, the bulk of which he spent on designer watches, vehicles, local and overseas properties and investments, foreign exchange trading and gambl...

OTTAWA/FRANKFURT :BASF SE secured land for a planned battery materials facility in Canada, and the country's industry minister said on Friday it would be the "first pillar" of the country's drive to ensure the future of the electric vehicle manufacturing sector. The German company said the facility in Becancour, Quebec, will produce and recycle cathode active materials (CAM), starting in 2025, to serve electromobility markets in Canada, the United States and Mexico, according to a statement. It did not disclose financial terms. Cathodes are the most complex and costly chemical component of an electric vehicle battery. Reuters first reported in May of last year that Canada's government was in early talks with BASF about it tapping a federal clean tech fund to set up production here. Cana...

SHANGHAI: China Eastern Airlines faces deepening losses and closer regulatory scrutiny following the crash of a Boeing 737-800 jet on Monday (Mar 21) with 132 people on board. Rescuers on Tuesday scoured heavily forested slopes for survivors and data recorders from flight MU5735, which crashed a day earlier in the mountains of the southern region of Guangxi. The plane crash, China's first in 12 years, comes as its airline sector is struggling to find its footing amid the coronavirus pandemic, with air passenger traffic far below 2019 levels due to repeated outbreaks and a steep fall in international travel due to China's strict quarantine rules. China Eastern has been among the biggest casualties: The state carrier forecast in January a 2021 loss of 11 billion yuan to 13.5 billion yuan ...

Raising the drawbridge has been a response to war and pestilence throughout human history, and the tumultuous winter of 2022 has similarly led trading nations to turn inward — though talk that the era of globalization may be winding down seems premature. The damage to international commerce stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the still unvanquished COVID-19 pandemic has made governments and companies more aware they need more resilient supply chains — even if that costs them more. And as reliance on the mechanisms that drive the world economy gets called into question amid a scramble for resources, prominent voices — including asset management giant Blackrock’s head Larry Fink — have warned of an end to globalization. The World Trade Organization, meanwhile, senses at least a...

Japan has broken with years of precedent in its tough response to the Ukraine invasion, and the conflict could reshape Tokyo’s defense strategy as it confronts China’s regional ambitions, analysts say. When Russia last pushed into Ukraine in 2014, Japan’s response was seen as lukewarm, but this time around it has marched in lockstep with Western allies on unprecedented sanctions and tough rhetoric, even sending nonlethal military aid. And the crisis is already impacting debates on security spending and capacity in a country whose Constitution limits its military to defense. “Japan has been accused before of paying its way out, in a way, just giving money but not being directly involved in any crisis,” said Valerie Niquet, an Asia expert at France’s Foundation for Strategic Research thin...

Last week, Japan’s National Tourism Organization unveiled a glossy website aimed at international visitors looking to experience the country’s famous hospitality. An introductory video presents sweeping views of lush green islands dotting a cerulean bay, sleek hotel rooms boasting breathtaking views and a mouthwatering close-up of elegantly prepared seafood. Good luck experiencing any of it in person. In a normal year, this would be peak season for tourism to Japan. But as the cherry blossoms burst into bloom along Kyoto’s ancient, temple-lined alleys and boat tours ply the waters of Tokyo’s flower-lined rivers, Japanese tourists largely have the spectacular display to themselves. The country sealed its borders to most foreign travelers early in the pandemic and has only recently begun ...

BENGALURU - Thailand's central bank will not raise interest rates from a record low for more than a year in a bid to support an economy still struggling to recover from the pandemic despite a jump in inflation, a Reuters poll found. While inflation in the tourism-dependent economy hit a 13-year high in February, driven mainly by higher energy prices, policymakers expect price pressures to be temporary. But Russia's invasion of Ukraine has triggered a spike in global energy and food prices that will make it harder for the Bank of Thailand (BOT) to contain inflation, as found by other central banks who until recently said high inflation was transitory. Still, the BOT was expected to keep its policy accommodative to revive growth which has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels due to a subd...