World

SINGAPORE: The United States has updated its travel health notice for Singapore, about a week after it advised against travel to the country. In an update on Monday (Jan 10), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reclassified Singapore as a Level 3 destination, where COVID-19 levels are “high”. “Make sure you are fully vaccinated before travelling to Singapore,” the updated notice said on the CDC website. “Unvaccinated travellers should avoid nonessential travel to Singapore.” According to the CDC website, Level 3 countries have a COVID-19 incidence rate of between 100 and 500 new cases over the past 28 days per 100,000 population. Other Level 3 countries include Malaysia, Australia, Israel, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. On Jan 4, the CDC said that the le...

China’s steady jobless rate is masking pain in the labor market that leaders will find hard to ignore as they look to stimulate the economy in a crucial political year. Alternative indicators and anecdotal reports suggest unemployment is worse than the official monthly figures show. From weak consumer spending to strict COVID-19 control measures to the government’s regulatory crackdown on the edutech and property industries, the labor market is under considerable strain, economists say. Jobs are an overriding consideration for government officials as the Chinese Communist Party prepares for a twice-a-decade leadership meeting later this year. Beijing has already signaled a pro-growth bias in its policies, with economists expecting interest rate cuts and a pick-up in fiscal spending early...

JAKARTA :Indonesia's state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) said on Friday that together with the energy ministry it was strengthening a coal delivery monitoring system to ensure enforcement of domestic sales rules and energy security. The world's biggest thermal coal exporter introduced an export ban on Jan. 1 as coal inventories at local power plants were at critically low levels, amid low compliance with a so-called Domestic Market Obligation (DMO). Under the DMO, miners must sell 25per cent of their output to the local market with a price cap of $70 per tonne for power plants, below the current market price. Coal deliveries to local power plants will be monitored throughout the supply chain by PLN and the energy ministry's mineral and coal department, and miners would receive...

NEW YORK : Annette Clayton is well aware of how few women there are in the energy industry. She is using her power as one of the most senior females in the field to change it. “I'm a huge believer in mentoring,” says Clayton, who is CEO and president of the North America Operations of Schneider Electric, which is headquartered in Rueil-Malmaison, France. Clayton, whose operations are based in Andover, Massachusetts, oversees 30,000 employees. She notes that mentoring has been key to the success of “non-obvious candidates” in her field. “You find yourself mentoring people that need the skills that you have,” Clayton said. “And it’s really democratized the process of open roles and promotions.” Clayton spoke to Reuters about the power of mentoring. Edited excerpts are below. Q. Tell us ...

NEW DELHI : A Delhi court has halted arbitration proceedings between Indian conglomerate Future Group and its estranged U.S. partner Amazon.com in light of the national antitrust agency's suspension of a 2019 deal between the two sides. The decision on Wednesday is a setback for U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon, which had successfully used the terms of its 2019 investment in a Future unit to block the Indian company's attempt to sell retail assets to a rival. But after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) suspended the 2019 deal last month, citing suppression of information by Amazon while seeking clearances, Future argued there was no legal basis for the arbitration between the two sides to continue in Singapore. A two-judge bench led by Chief Justice D. N. Patel of the Delhi High Cou...

China doubled down on imports of Iranian and Venezuelan crude in 2021, taking the most from the U.S.-sanctioned regimes in three years, as refiners brushed off the risk of penalties to scoop up cheap oil. Crude processors in the world’s biggest importer were observed to have bought 324 million barrels from Iran and Venezuela in 2021, about 53% more than the year before, according to data from market intelligence firm Kpler. That’s the most since 2018, when China took 352 million barrels from the two nations. Chinese buyers, particularly private refiners, have benefited from Washington’s tough line on Iran and Venezuela, continuing to buy their oil long after their counterparts elsewhere in Asia ceased purchases. The risk that non-U.S. entities may lose access to the U.S. financial system...

A Myanmar junta court on Monday convicted Aung San Suu Kyi of three criminal charges, sentencing her to four years in prison in the latest in a slew of cases against the ousted civilian leader. The Nobel laureate has been detained since Feb. 1, when her government was forced out in an early morning coup, ending Myanmar’s short-lived experiment with democracy. The generals’ power grab triggered widespread dissent, which security forces sought to quell with mass detentions and bloody crackdowns in which more than 1,400 civilians have been killed, according to a local monitoring group. A source with knowledge of the case said the 76-year-old was found guilty of two charges related to illegally importing and owning walkie-talkies and one of breaking coronavirus rules. The walkie-talkie cha...

China has relied on coercion, including kidnapping and pressuring families, to force some 10,000 “fugitives” to return from overseas, according to a new report that sheds light on a campaign that has stoked diplomatic tensions around the globe. Chinese efforts to repatriate accused criminals netted 9,946 people since President Xi Jinping launched the initiative more than seven years ago, official data compiled by Safeguard Defenders shows. The statistics were released Tuesday as part of a broader report on the program by the Madrid-based human rights group, which found most returns China calls “voluntary” relied on covert or extrajudicial means to force those targeted to come back. The repatriation push peaked at 2,041 in 2019 before the pandemic curbed travel and diplomatic exchanges ar...

:Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe says Friday's signing of England full back Kieran Trippier from LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid shows that the club still has a "huge pull". Trippier became Newcastle's first signing since the club's takeover by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund in October and more are expected to follow in the January window. "It is a sign that the club has a huge pull, not talking financial, Kieran hasn't come for that, he's come for the club and the challenge and the longer term vision," Howe, who also signed Trippier when he was Burnley manager, said. "It is a massive thing for the club. "Hopefully with his signing, other players around the world will share his dream and vision." Newcastle have won only once in their opening 19 Premier League games and sit...

LONDON : World shares extended on Tuesday (Jan 4) a bright start to 2022 as markets from Europe to Asia shrugged off worries the Omicron coronavirus variant could choke the global economic recovery, while the dollar rose after US bond yields jumped. The Euro STOXX 600 gained as much as 0.9 per cent to hit a record of 494.55 points, topping its previous all-time high scaled a day earlier. Indexes in Germany, France and Britain rose between 0.7 per cent and 1.3 per cent. Travel and leisure stocks jumped over 3 per cent, with Ryanair adding 10 per cent and British Airways-owner IAG gaining over 12 per cent, reflecting expectations that Omicron's impact on the industry would be less severe than initially feared. "As far as markets are concerned Omicron is in the rear view mirror," said Coli...