World

PHNOM PENH: A summit between US President Joe Biden and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) due to be held later this month has been postponed and organisers will seek a new date, Cambodia's foreign minister told Reuters on Wednesday (Mar 9). "It has been postponed to a later date because some ASEAN leaders cannot attend the meeting on the proposed dates," Minister Prak Sokhonn said in a text message. Cambodia is the current chair of ASEAN. The United States had announced the summit would be held on Mar 28 and Mar 29. But Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen suggested this week that the meeting should be delayed after some ASEAN countries had asked for it to be held two days earlier. Indonesia, which is the coordinator of the summit, did not immediately confirm th...

Najib also recently visited a residential flat in Taman Cendana, Pasir Gudang. Videos on social media showed him being greeted by lines of residents gathered on the ground floor and along the corridors of upper floors, waving navy blue BN flags and chanting “Bossku”. It is still early days for the 2022 Johor state election campaigning period, but BN is already bullish on its chances to be victorious. During the 2018 general election, BN suffered an embarrassing defeat, losing power at federal level and also the Johor state government after six decades of dominance. Johor had been a key stronghold for BN. The southern state is the birthplace and bastion for UMNO and the 2022 state election is now seen as an opportunity for redemption. One of BN’s main contenders in the polls is Perikata...

SINGAPORE: The euro was under pressure on Wednesday (Mar 2) as intensifying Russian bombardment of Ukraine's cities and surging oil prices raised investors' concerns about a hit to Europe's economy and growth. The common currency briefly fell below support to touch a 21-month low of US$1.1090 overnight, before recovering a slightly to last trade at US$1.1114. "The risk is a sustained move below US$1.1106 if market participants downgrade the Eurozone economic outlook," said Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Kim Mundy. Sterling, which fell 0.7 per cent overnight, was also squeezed at US$1.3305. Russian forces were attempting to encircle and subdue Ukrainian cities with intensifying bombardments on Wednesday, seven days into an invasion that has sparked massive international sanction...

A summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) due to be held later this month has been postponed and organizers will seek a new date, Cambodia’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. “It has been postponed to a later date because some ASEAN leaders cannot attend the meeting on the proposed dates,” Minister Prak Sokhonn said in a text message. Cambodia is the current chair of ASEAN. The United States had announced the summit would be held on March 28 and 29. But Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen suggested this week that the meeting should be delayed after some ASEAN countries had asked for it to be held two days earlier. Indonesia, which is the coordinator of the summit, did not immediately confirm the postponement after an offi...

To be biracial in a world of binary thinking is not easy. To be binational is even more challenging. Olympic gold medalist Eileen Gu, affectionately known in China as the “snow princess,” has ignited an international firestorm of hot takes on nationality and what it means to belong to a country. “I’m American when I’m in the U.S. and I’m Chinese when I’m in China,” Gu told reporters at the Games on Feb. 8. San Francisco-born and raised, Gu is the child of a Chinese mother and an American father of undisclosed identity. She is biracial, and appears to have dual nationality, which U.S. law recognizes but Chinese law does not. Then again, China is not a country where the rule of law consistently trumps other considerations. For instance, Huawei heiress Meng Wanzhou was found to be in poss...

SINGAPORE: A domestic helper has been jailed for stealing luxury handbags and rings worth more than S$30,000 from her employer. She sold the items for cash as she needed money for her son's operation in the Philippines and to repay rolling debts she incurred from borrowing money from friends in Singapore. When she was nabbed, the 28-year-old Filipina went to stay at a hostel pending her court case. She stole again, this time from her room-mate, a fellow foreigner. Meneses Princess Joy Domingo was sentenced on Monday (Feb 14) to a year and two weeks' jail. Domingo, who has been remanded since December, pleaded guilty to one count each of theft and theft by servant, with a third charge taken into consideration. The court heard that Domingo began working for a 41-year-old South Korean wom...

The logo of Sanofi is seen at the company's research and production centre in Vitry-sur-Seine, France, August 6, 2019. French drugmaker Sanofi and its British partner GlaxoSmithKline are seeking regulatory approval for their Covid-19 vaccine to be used as a booster, as well as a standalone two-dose shot, after several setbacks. The companies said on Wednesday they intended to submit data to regulators from a late-stage trial of the vaccine, and another testing it as a booster, with full results for both studies expected to be published "later this year." Sanofi is hoping for a comeback after falling behind in the race for Covid-19 shots, while GSK, the world's biggest vaccine maker by sales, has not developed its own candidate and is instead supplying its adjuvant technology to develope...

BEIJING : China's state planner has told some iron ore traders to release excessive inventory and reduce stocks to reasonable levels, following a joint investigation with the market regulator in Qingdao, one of the country's biggest iron ore ports. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Thursday that it and the State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) have learned of changes of iron ore inventory in Qingdao Port and retrieved a list of companies with rapid growth in their stockpiles. The authorities held a symposium and requested some iron ore trading firms to provide their recent inventory information, when they bought and sold the products, and other details including quantity and price. They also urged the traders to help verify if there ...

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped more than 10 basis points to around 1.73%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond fell 7 basis points to roughly 2.15%. Yields move inversely to prices and 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%. Treasury yields slumped on Friday as investors continued to buy safe-haven assets amid Russia-Ukraine conflict. The decline in yields came even after a strong jobs report. Nonfarm payrolls for January grew by 678,000 and the unemployment rate was 3.8%, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. That compared to estimates of 440,000 for payrolls and 3.9% for the jobless rate. Meanwhile, wages barely rose for the month, up just 1 cent an hour or 0.03%, compared to estimates for a 0.5% gain. The year-over-year increase was 5...

SINGAPORE: Underage and proxy gambling will be an offence, while more people will be prohibited from gambling under tighter safeguards proposed in a Bill introduced in Parliament on Monday (Feb 14). The Gambling Control Bill proposes to increase penalties for unlawful gambling both physically and online, and impose stiffer penalties for repeat offenders who facilitate or operate unlawful gambling services. The wide-ranging draft law will also define and exempt social gambling, and introduce licensing for key gambling products as well as class licensing regimes for lower-risk gambling products like online games with gambling elements. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a press release on Monday that the Bill will help gambling regulations keep pace with the evolving landscape, as...