World

Despite its unassuming size, Singapore has found footing to stand among giants in the global start-up scene. The country’s unique positioning as a regional business and technology hub – including a deep talent pool and strong innovation culture – has led to many successful start-ups choosing to base themselves out of the city. This includes Singapore’s six unicorns, such as ride-hailing giant Grab and e-commerce heavyweight Lazada. Singapore was notably ranked joint 4th best economy for unicorn startups globally. However, the start-up terrain remains fairly uneven, with factors such as multi-cultural and multi-lingual landscapes, socio-economic and digital divides as well as siloed stakeholders coming into play. Huawei’s inaugural Spark Founders Summit saw start-up founders, regional v...

NEW YORK : Bitcoin investment products and funds registered outflows for a fifth consecutive week, as investor sentiment remained cautious in the midst of increased global regulatory scrutiny, data from digital asset manager CoinShares showed on Monday. Outflows from the world's most popular cryptocurrency totaled US$33 million in the week ended Aug. 6, compared with US$19.7 million the previous week. But so far this year, bitcoin inflows remained a robust US$4.2 billion. Total crypto outflows, meanwhile, added up to nearly US$26 million, although CoinShares noted that the magnitude of outflows was much less than in May and June. Sluggishness in the crypto market was due in part to global regulatory crackdown, analysts say. "There's all this focus on crypto because with all the new fin...

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI : Embattled Chinese property developer Evergrande Group is in talks with smartphone maker Xiaomi and Shenzhen state-backed investment firms as it looks to sell part of a 65per cent stake in its electric vehicle (EV) unit, three sources said. China's central bank, banking and insurance regulator summoned executives of Evergrande to a meeting on Thursday and issued a rare warning that the company ought to reduce its debt risks and prioritise stability. The Evergrande New Energy Vehicle (NEV) Group had a market capitalisation of US$12.5 billion on Thursday and one of the sources said the consortium is looking to buy a significant minority stake. Evergrande said in a statement on Friday that its unit, Evergrande NEV, had held preliminary talks https://www.reuters.com/worl...

An ideological split between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the country’s business and cultural elite has come to the fore after a hardline commentary by a known Maoist supporter received official blessing in state media. The widely distributed commentary, laden with Cold War jargon, calls for a “profound transformation” to make China strong enough to fight against the United States, a process some have dubbed Cultural Revolution 2.0. Political commentators said the article resembled the way revolutionary leader Mao Zedong initiated the Cultural Revolution with his “big-character posters” in 1966. They also said President and Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping would gain more political and economic power with this transformation while businessmen and officials who had benefi...

BEIJING: China's exports unexpectedly grew at a faster pace in August thanks to solid global demand, helping take some of the pressure off the world's second-biggest economy as it navigates its way through headwinds from several fronts. The Asian giant staged an impressive recovery from a coronavirus-battered slump, but economic momentum has weakened recently due to the Delta variant-driven COVID-19 outbreaks, high raw material prices, slowing factory activity, tighter measures to tame hot property prices and a campaign to reduce carbon emissions. Shipments from the world's biggest exporter in August rose 25.6 per cent year-on-year, picking up speed from a 19.3. per cent gain in July, customs data showed on Tuesday (Sep 7), pointing to some resilience in China's industrial sector. Analy...

The number of COVID-19 infections in Malaysia is surging, threatening to aggravate shortages of semiconductors and other components that have hammered automakers for months. The Southeast Asian country hasn’t historically had the kind of importance to technology supply chains that Taiwan, South Korea or Japan do. But in recent years, Malaysia has emerged as a major center for chip testing and packaging, with Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors NV and STMicroelectronics NV among the key suppliers operating plants there. Now numbers of COVID-19 infections are soaring in the country, jeopardizing plans to lift lockdowns and restore full production capacity. The seven-day average for reported daily infections has pushed past 20,000, up from just over 5,000 in late June. Ford Motor ...

MANILA :The Philippine economy grew at its fastest annual pace in over three decades in the second quarter, rebounding from a COVID-induced slump a year ago, but tighter curbs are clouding the outlook, reinforcing an accommodative monetary stance. Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 11.8per cent in the June quarter, the biggest year-on-year expansion since the fourth quarter of 1988, the statistics agency said on Tuesday. Philippine's economy exited a recession after five consecutive quarters of contraction. Economists in a Reuters poll had expected GDP to expand 10per cent year-on-year in the second quarter. The economy, however, contracted a seasonally adjusted 1.3per cent in the April-June period, after growing 0.3per cent in the previous quarter. The figures come ahead of the Bangko ...

A Singapore Airlines plane is parked beside Scoots passenger planes on the terminal tarmac at Changi International Airport in Singapore on March 15, 2021. Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty Images SINGAPORE — Singapore is reopening its borders to more destinations, and some travelers from Hong Kong, Macao, Germany and Brunei will soon be able to enter without having to serve quarantine. The city-state announced the lifting of border restrictions for visitors from Hong Kong and Macao, who can apply for entry immediately and enter Singapore as soon as Aug. 26, according to Transport Minister S. Iswaran. Singapore will also be opening a so-called vaccinated travel lane with Germany and Brunei in September, the national aviation authority said. It means Singaporeans can travel to Germany and Brunei,...

Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket: Best Buy (BBY) – Best Buy shares rallied 4.3% in the premarket after the electronics retailer beat estimates on the top and bottom lines for the second quarter. Best Buy earned $2.98 per share, compared to a $1.85 a share. consensus estimate. Comparable-store sales rose a better-than-expected 19.6%. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) – Palo Alto Networks surged 11.9% in the premarket, after being estimates by 16 cents a share, with quarterly earnings of $1.60 per share. The cybersecurity company's revenue was also above estimates, and it issued an upbeat outlook as well. Camping World (CWH) – The maker of RVs and other recreational products announced it would double its quarterly dividend to 50 cents per share from 25 cents a share, pay...

At-risk communities in Asia are warning that they have "no hope" of coping with more climate catastrophes and some even fear "extinction" if the world does not act quicker, after the U.N. said global warming was close to being out of control. Climate experts are also concerned the effects could worsen inequalities in a region where many people rely on natural resources for their livelihoods, pushing more into poverty. The U.N. climate science panel on Monday warned in a major report that the average global temperature will likely cross the 1.5-degree Celsius warming threshold within the next 20 years — bringing stronger droughts, heat waves, floods and storms. Such devastating impacts are already being felt in the Asia-Pacific, the world's most disaster-prone region, which saw a record ...