World

NEW YORK: Facebook owner Meta Platforms is struggling to stop counterfeiters from pushing fake luxury goods from Gucci to Chanel across its social media apps, according to research and interviews, as the company barrels into e-commerce. Its platforms have emerged as hot spots for counterfeit offenders who exploit their range of social and private messaging tools to reach users, according to interviews with academics, industry groups and counterfeit investigators, who likened brands' attempts at policing services like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp as a game of "whack-a-mole". "Facebook and Instagram are the key marketplaces where counterfeit goods get sold to members of the public. It used to be eBay 10 years ago, and Amazon five years ago," said Benedict Hamilton, a managing director ...

HONG KONG: Guada, a mother of two young children and pregnant with twins, cries herself to sleep at night, worried that Hong Kong's severe COVID-19 rules will separate her from her kids or force her to give birth alone. Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 in Hong Kong, including infants and children, are put into isolation facilities with no family contact allowed, as authorities enforce their "dynamic zero" COVID-19 policy. As coronavirus cases hit record daily highs, the government plans to roll out compulsory mass testing for the city's 7.4 million people in March, exacerbating separation fears among many local and expatriate families. "Imagine the stress I'm having right now ... scared of having to give birth alone, scared of them taking my daughters away, taking my babies away, ...

NEW DELHI : State-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has filed draft papers with the market regulator to sell 5per cent of its shares to potentially raise nearly $8 billion, dwarfing the biggest IPO in Asia's third-largest economy by a considerable margin. The offering is crucial to the Narendra Modi-led government's efforts to meet its sharply trimmed divestment target for the current financial year and will provide a measure of the success of the government's pro-market policies. India's largest insurer will be selling 316.25 million shares, according to the draft prospectus filed on Sunday, amounting to nearly 5per cent of the post-offer paid up share capital. The government could raise a little more than 600 billion Indian rupees ($7.97 billion) from the issuance rather t...

SINGAPORE: From building more electric vehicle charging points to issuing more green bonds to fund public sector green infrastructure projects, Singapore is taking steps to “move decisively” towards a net-zero world. Delivering his Budget speech on Friday (Feb 18), Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said the path towards net-zero will entail “significant” economic restructuring and changes in how people live and work in future. “All of us - the public, businesses, the government - will face difficult choices,” he said. “Costly investments may be required, for example, to import or generate low carbon energy.” “But now is the time when we must move decisively towards the future of a net-zero world. This will allow us to tap fully on the many exciting possibilities in this green transition.” ...

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. For each dollar you earn from your employer, you must pay a certain amount in taxes based on your level of income and where you live . However, there are many ways you can lower that overall income to minimize your tax bill — without taking a pay cut. 1. Enroll in an employee stock purchasing program If you work for a publicly traded company, you may be eligible to enroll in an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP). By enrolling in your ESPP, you will divert after-tax dollars from your paycheck with the intent of purchasing shares of your comp...

NEW YORK :Crude oil futures on Tuesday reached their highest levels since 2014 on supply concerns and stocks sold off in a volatile session as investors eyed international responses after Russia sent troops into parts of Ukraine. Markets were jittery a day after Russia's move but the safe-haven U.S. dollar was slightly lower against major currencies while gold, another safety bet, was also in the red. U.S. President Joe Biden announced the first sanctions against Russia for what he called Moscow's beginning of an invasion of Ukraine, and he promised steeper punishments ahead if Russia continued its aggression. While the S&P 500 confirmed it is in a correction by closing more than 10per cent under its record high, it still finished above its session low, reached before Biden spoke. [.N] ...

BRUSSELS: The European Commission said on Tuesday (Feb 8) it would take the unprecedented step of tapping into EU funding earmarked for Poland to collect a fine Warsaw racked up for refusing to close a coal mine. The EU executive has informed Poland of its decision, which will be carried out next week, a commission spokesman, Balazs Ujvari, told AFP. Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller said Warsaw would use "all possible legal means to appeal against this," Poland's PAP news agency reported. The cut will amount to nearly €15 million (US$17 million) for the period between Sep 20 and Oct 19 last year. The total unpaid fine amounts to around €70 million including interest, according to an AFP calculation. The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) hit Poland with the €500,000 a day fine l...

Tier 1 levies, which apply to up to 10 per cent of a company’s workforce, will also go up from S$330 to S$450 from September this year. It is expected to increase to S$650 by Sep 1, 2025. “In addition to quotas, qualifying salaries and levies are in place to ensure that S Pass holders are hired because they fill skills gaps, and not simply because they are cheaper than locals,” said MOM. JOBS EXCLUDED But firms will be allowed to hire workers for some jobs on work permits once the higher salary benchmarks kick in on Sep 1 next year. This is as some firms hire rank-and-file workers on S Passes due to the source restrictions for work permit holders. “We will introduce a Non-Traditional Source (NTS) occupation list, which is a tight list of rank-and-file occupations where employers will b...

UDUPI, India: A series of religious laws promoted by India's ruling Hindu nationalist party in the southern state of Karnataka, including a ban on the wearing of hijabs, is raising concerns the divisive measures will stoke sectarian tensions more prevalent in the country's north. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently banned wearing the hijab in classrooms in Karnataka, the only one of India's five southern states it rules. A proposal to make religious conversions largely illegal is being considered by the local legislature. The moves have become an issue of contention involving India's Muslim minority. Opposition parties and many political analysts accuse the BJP of fomenting tensions in Karnataka to consolidate its appeal to majority Hindus, like they say ...

LONDON : Chelsea will not have a queue of buyers lining up outside Stamford Bridge, according to one of the advisors who helped Roman Abramovich purchase the Premier League club in 2003. Abramovich announced he was putting the west London club up for sale after 19 trophy-laden years on Wednesday in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "In all likelihood there aren't going to be 20 or 30 people queuing up to buy this," investment banker and corporate takeover advisor Keith Harris told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on Friday. "It's like buying a house that's very expensive: it will appeal to a limited population of buyers. It's a rare beast that has the odd three billion pounds lying in a back pocket. "It's a big, big ask." Metals magnate Abramovich bought the team for 140 million ...