World

THE RACE TO DIGITISE AND ITS DOWNSIDES I get it. To remain competitive, companies are racing to digitalise and streamline business and IT processes and scale up quickly as demand for their products and services increased, especially after a pandemic struck. From food delivery services to late charges over credit card bills, automated voice services and customer support have reduced the need for human interaction with customers. Many customers don’t mind either. Just look at how they use supermarket self-serve lines with ease. In a manpower-lean economy short on staff, this is a sensible strategy. Airlines and hotels will incentivise customers to use their apps and automated service either by giving a slightly lower price for transactions conducted online or by charging extra fees for tr...

TOKYO: Japan's economy rebounded in the final three months of 2021 as falling coronavirus cases helped prop up consumption, though rising raw material costs and a spike in new Omicron variant infections cloud the outlook. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda also highlighted escalating tensions in Ukraine as a fresh risk to the central bank's forecast for a moderate economic recovery. The world's third-largest economy expanded an annualised 5.4 per cent in October-December after contracting a revised 2.7 per cent in the previous quarter, government data showed on Tuesday (Feb 15), falling short of a median market forecast for a 5.8 per cent gain. Some analysts expect the economy to slump again in the current quarter as rising COVID-19 cases keep households from shopping and supply cha...

Ecuador is expecting a planned trade deal with China to increase commerce between the two countries by about 35per cent, though the South American country will seek to protect some local industry, Exterior Commerce Minister Julio Jose Prado said on Sunday. The two countries on Saturday said they would seek to reach a trade deal by the end of the year. The announcement was made during a state visit to China by Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso. China became Ecuador's top lender over the past decade, with millions of dollars in long-term credit tied to the handover of crude oil, large investments in hydro-electric and mining projects and other loans. China is a leading buyer of Ecuadorean products including shrimp and bananas and a major importer to the Andean country. "There will be a...

BEIJING: The coach of the Finland men's ice hockey team accused China of not respecting a player's human rights on Sunday (Feb 6) as complaints about COVID-19 isolation protocols piled up at the Winter Games. Finnish head coach Jukka Jalonen said Marko Anttila, a ninth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2004 NHL draft, was "not getting good food" and was under tremendous mental stress. "We know that he's fully healthy and ready to go and that's why we think that China, for some reason, they won't respect his human rights and that's not a great situation," head coach Jalonen said on a Zoom call with media. Anttila was no longer infectious but continued to be kept in COVID-19 isolation after testing positive 18 days ago, according to the team doctor. More than 350 Games particip...

Less than a tenth of Japan’s population live in the countryside, but the furusato (hometown) exerts a powerful draw. There’s a whole subgenre of Japanese cinema devoted to the rural areas that many urban residents have left behind: tales of honest folk and time-honored traditions, often aimed at an older audience and teeming with picturesque shots that could have been plucked from a tourism video. Director Yoshinari Nishikori is an expert at this kind of thing. His films, many of them set in his native Shimane Prefecture, are odes to the old ways — and while they may be dewy-eyed, they’re not without merit. Like comfort food, sometimes stodgy fare can be satisfying too. Originally set for release in April 2020, “The Takatsu River” has been stuck in limbo since the start of the pandemic, ...

If you're thinking about finding a new job, switching careers or negotiating your pay, it's important to understand the salary range for different roles you're interested in, as well as chances for higher – or alternative – compensation, such as sign-on bonuses or working in a different state. Millions of Americans left their jobs during the second half of 2021 in a quitting spree experts have called "The Great Resignation" fueled by record-high job openings and pandemic realizations about the role work plays in our lives. A surgeon in South Dakota, for example, makes almost $30,000 more each year, on average, than a surgeon in Massachusetts – that's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest state occupational employment and wage estimates , which are based on salary informatio...

Western analysts fear a failure to check Russia’s revanchist ambitions will serve to embolden China in the axis of autocracies. On Feb. 4, on the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Beijing that was boycotted by Western diplomats, Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin declared a “no limits” partnership and backed each other on Ukraine and Taiwan. A second narrative holds that increased U.S. military presence will reassure NATO allies and check Russian belligerence, but only at the cost of distracting America from the bigger strategic challenge of China in the Indo-Pacific, most imminently in Taiwan. Given China’s dramatic expansion of military might and economic strength, U.S. promises to defend Taiwan against attack might prove hollow. A fall of Taiwan would vastly complicate U.S. e...

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO : Self-driving vehicle companies from Tesla Inc to General Motors Co's Cruise are racing to start making money with their technology, outrunning efforts by regulators and Congress to write rules of the road for robot-driven vehicles. On Tuesday, Cruise said that SoftBank Group Corp will invest another $1.35 billion in anticipation of Cruise launching commercial robo-taxi operations. Cruise needs one permit, from California's Public Utilities Commission, to start charging for rides around San Francisco in vehicles with no human driver. Cruise, Tesla, Alphabet Inc's Waymo and Aurora Innovation Inc are among many companies aiming to deploy fully autonomous vehicle technology in the United States within the next two to three years, whether or not federal regulators ...

This year began amid widespread despondency about the resurgent COVID-19 pandemic and the struggling global economy, as well as premonitions of heightened political conflict in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and even the United States. True, there is now some hope that the omicron variant may be the pandemic’s last hurrah. But troubling questions remain about the economic and political legacy of the crisis. The World Bank’s latest biannual Global Economic Prospects report, released last week, points to some possible answers. Produced by a team of talented economists, the report is one of the best summaries of the current outlook for the world economy. And while the report uses the diplomatic language of multilateral organizations, it nonetheless packs a powerful cautionary punch. For s...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian badminton ace Lee Zii Jia, ranked seventh in the world, was Friday (Jan 21) banned from tournaments for two years as a punishment for quitting his national team to go independent. Lee has been held up as the heir to Malaysian legend Lee Chong Wei, rising rapidly up the rankings and scoring a breakthrough victory at the prestigious All England Open last year. Following some poor performances in recent months, including at the Olympics, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) disclosed this week he had quit the body and wanted to play as an independent. But the association refused to back the move, instead deciding to punish him with a two-year ban from all tournaments sanctioned by world governing body the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF sanctions the v...