World

SINGAPORE: Myanmar has "all the ingredients for civil war", Cambodia, chair of Southeast Asia's regional bloc, has warned ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Hun Sen to the crisis-wracked country. Myanmar has been in chaos since a coup last year, with more than 1,400 people killed in a crackdown on dissent by security forces, according to a local monitoring group. Hun Sen, whose country this year holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, will visit Myanmar on Friday (Jan 7) and Saturday in an effort to defuse the crisis. But Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn warned the outlook was dire. "The political and security crisis in Myanmar is deepening, and has led to (an) economic, health and humanitarian crisis," he said. "We feel that ...

European Commission proposals to bring shipping into the bloc’s carbon market contain exclusions for small commercial and military vessels that would leave millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions unregulated, a study by a nongovernmental organization showed on Thursday. With about 90% of world trade transported by sea, global shipping accounts for nearly 3% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. So far, the industry has avoided the EU’s system of pollution charges. Under proposals announced in July 2021, shipping would be added to the European Union Emissions Trading System (ETS) from 2023 phased over a three-year period, a move designed to spur emissions cuts from the sector. A study by environmental group Transport & Environment (T&E) said that the proposals, which will be nego...

JAKARTA: Indonesia, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter, has allowed 37 loaded coal vessels to depart after they secured approvals from authorities, the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime and Investment Affairs said on Thursday (Jan 13). In a statement, the ministry said an export ban implemented on Jan 1 had been eased for miners that had met a requirement to sell a portion of their output for local power generation after the state utility procured enough coal at power stations to ensure 15 days of operations. "I request that this is supervised closely so this also becomes a moment for us to improve domestic governance," Luhut Pandjaitan, coordinating minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs, said in the statement. The 37 vessels included 14 ships whose clearance was announced...

NEW YORK: COVID-19 cases surged in New York City and around the United States over the weekend, dashing hopes for a more normal holiday season, resurrecting restrictions and stretching the country's testing infrastructure ahead of holiday travel and gatherings. The spike is alarming public health officials, who fear an explosion of infections after the Christmas and New Year's holidays. The fast-spreading new Omicron variant of the coronavirus has become dominant in the United States with lightning speed. The variant now accounts for 73 per cent of US coronavirus infections based on sequencing data for the week ended Dec 18, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday. With the new variant in circulation, COVID-19 cases are now doubling in one and a half to three da...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will begin a visit to Myanmar on Friday for talks with its military rulers, triggering protests across the conflict-torn nation by opponents of the coup who fear Sen’s trip will provide more legitimacy to the country’s junta. His visit will be the first by a head of government to Myanmar since the army overthrew the elected administration of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1 last year, sparking months of protests and a bloody crackdown. Cambodia is current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has been leading diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar and which adopted a five-point “consensus” peace plan in April. Some other ASEAN countries including Indonesia have expressed frustration at the junta’s failure to implement ...

BEIJING: China's factory activity grew at its fastest pace in six months in December, driven by production hikes and easing price pressures, but a weaker job market and business confidence added uncertainty, a private survey showed on Tuesday (Jan 4). The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 50.9 in December - its highest level since June. Economists in a Reuters poll had expected the index to rise to 50.0, which separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis, from November's 49.9. The relative strength in the Caixin PMI tallies with an official survey released on Friday which showed China's factory activity edged up. Factory output increased at the fastest pace in a year, the private survey showed, helped by easing price pressures. A gauge of input...

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An acceleration of Sino-U.S. tensions may jeopardize the security environment in East Asia in 2022 ahead of key political events in the world’s two major powers, making circumstances surrounding Taiwan and North Korea more volatile. Relations between Beijing and Washington would deteriorate further as U.S. President Joe Biden is set to take a tougher approach to the Communist-led government to garner support from voters with anti-China sentiment before the midterm elections in November. While Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to intensify provocations against Taiwan to pave the way for his controversial third term as leader, U.S.-North Korea talks on denuclearization and sanctions relief are almost certain to make no headway. To ease security concerns in the region, Japan and Sou...

NEW YORK :Oil prices rose slightly on Thursday on expectations that fuel demand held up despite soaring Omicron coronavirus infections and that OPEC and its allies would continue to increase imports only incrementally. Gains eased as the world's top importer China cut the first batch of crude import allocations for 2022. Brent crude futures settled at US$79.32 a barrel, up 9 cents, or 0.11per cent. U.S. crude futures rose 43 cents, or 0.56per cent, to settle at US$76.9 a barrel, the seventh straight session of gains. "We've had incredibly strong demand numbers through December, so now the question is what OPEC will do," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital Management in New York. Kilduff expects the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC...

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Congressional Democrats discuss the 'Build Back Better Act' and climate investments during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, November 17, 2021. Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters Congressional Democrats will return next year and try to check a few long-floundering items off their to-do list before the 2022 midterms consume Washington. The next few months in the Capitol could shape the economic health of U.S. households for years to come. The scope of Democrats' accomplishments could also play a role in whether they hold control of one or both chambers of Congress for the second half of President Joe Biden's first term. Biden's Build Back Better Act weighs the most heavily on Democratic minds...