World

NEW YORK :Oil prices skidded on Thursday for a sixth session, hitting lows not seen since May, as investors pulled back over concerns about weakened global demand as COVID-19 cases climb and on the back of a rise in the U.S. dollar. The oil market rallied throughout the first half of 2021, but has lost about 15per cent since early July. The recent wave of coronavirus infections worldwide has sapped global travel and threatens economic activity, just as major oil producers are getting ready to increase supply. "There seems to be a lot of people getting squeezed out of long positions," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group. Brent crude lost US$1.78, or 2.6per cent, to settle at US$66.45 a barrel, after touching US$65.57, the lowest level since May 21. The most-active contract fo...

WASHINGTON :Facebook Inc and Amazon.com Inc have asked the U.S. government for approval to operate a new undersea data cable between the Philippines and California after China Mobile agreed to exit the plan, a government agency said on Friday. The two companies told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) they intend to start commercial operation by late 2022 and said the new data connection will provide significant new capacity on routes where capacity demand continues to increase substantially each year. The companies in a joint filing said the new cable will help to support Facebook applications and provide Amazon and its affiliates with capacity to support Amazon’s cloud services and connect its data centers. A Facebook spokeswoman said the project parties agreed "the best path ...

Denso Corp., Toyota Motor Corp.’s top supplier, says production at the automaker should recover swiftly, leaving Denso on track to beat its own profit forecast for the current fiscal year. Denso will likely take a profit hit of about ¥20 billion ($182 million) to ¥30 billion in September due to Toyota’s production cuts, Chief Financial Officer Yasushi Matsui said. But that loss is more than covered by the ¥75 billion in potential losses Denso had earlier worked into forecasts for the fiscal year ending March, he said. “There are automakers that can’t up their production after stumbling, but if Toyota says it will recover, it really will,” Matsui said in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, on Friday. For Denso, which issued a relatively conservative pr...

Japan’s current account surplus grew 50.3% in the first half of 2021 from a year earlier to ¥10.5 trillion ($95 billion), boosted by a remarkable improvement in exports from a slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Tuesday. Among key components, the goods trade balance marked a ¥2.3 trillion surplus, a turnaround from the previous year’s ¥973.5 billion deficit, as exports of cars, auto parts and other items rebounded in line with a strong recovery in the global economy from a pandemic-induced slump in early 2020. Also lifted by brisk shipments of semiconductor-producing equipment amid a global chip crunch, exports soared 22.2% to ¥39.2 trillion. Imports expanded 11.6% to ¥36.9 trillion on the back of higher materials prices such as nonferrous metals and iron or...

NEW DELHI: India has begun selling oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to state-run refiners as it implements a new policy to commercialise its federal storage by leasing out space, three sources familiar with the matter said. Reuters reported last month that India had changed its policy to allow the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL), which manages the federal oil inventories, to lease 30 per cent of its overall 37 million barrels capacity to Indian and foreign companies. Last year, the ISPRL filled the SPRs with cheap oil and it needs to sell some of that to make way for leasing. So far Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (NOC) has leased one of the two equal size chambers at the 11-million-barrel Mangalore SPR. The ISPRL is gradually releasing 8 million barrels from th...

SINGAPORE: From 2018 to 2020, 11 Employment Pass and S Pass holders working in the Infocomm Technology (ICT) industry were found to have submitted false qualifications to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), said Manpower Minister Tan See Leng on Monday (Aug 2). Their work passes were revoked and they were permanently barred from working in Singapore. Dr Tan was replying to parliamentary questions from MP Gan Thiam Poh (PAP-Ang Mo Kio) who asked how many Employment Pass and S Pass holders in the ICT industry have submitted fabricated or forged education qualification certifications in the past three years. He also asked if MOM reviews and works with only reputable overseas educational institutions with a proven track record for approval of work pass applications. Dr Tan said all employers h...

In this article SIAL-SG SINGAPORE — Singapore is lifting some border restrictions but recovery in its important aviation sector remains challenging given the Covid-19 pandemic's uncertain trajectory, said the country's transport minister. "The fact remains that it's going to be a long haul because while certain countries are more advanced in vaccination, others are still trying to vaccinate their population," S Iswaran told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Friday. "And at the same time the virus is in different phases in different parts of the world, and therefore countries have also adopted different types of border measures," the minister said. The aviation sector contributes around 3% of Singapore's gross domestic product. Singapore is a city-state with no domestic air travel market. As a ...

TOKYO : Unheralded Brazilian Hebert Sousa clawed back from an almost certain defeat with a stunning late knockout on Saturday to win an Olympic title, while Busenaz Surmeneli prevailed in a battle of wills to land Turkey's first-ever boxing gold medal. With about 90 seconds left in the middleweight final, Sousa made an astonishing split-second turnaround, launching a powerful left that sent world champion Oleksandr Khyzhniak to the floor and sparked wild Brazilian celebrations. Khyzhniak had a clear advantage with quick and big punches but Sousa, who had no championship titles to his name, fought hard to stay in the match and was as surprised as anyone when his opponent hit the canvas. "I got lucky, I connected and it was a knockout," he said. "I don't have that many knockouts, but I t...

BEIJING: China's growth in new home prices slowed in July for the first time in five months, with smaller cities especially weighed down by higher mortgage rates, price caps on resale homes and other steps to cool speculation, a private-sector survey showed on Sunday (Aug 1). New home prices in 100 cities rose 0.35 per cent in July from a month earlier, versus 0.36 per cent growth in June, according to data from China Index Academy, one of the country's largest independent real estate research firms. This year Chinese authorities have implemented measures to rein in the red-hot real estate market, including caps on developers' borrowing and strict bans on illegal flows of funds into the sector. "New home growth softened in July against the backdrop of stringent measures and tighter cred...

The Russian and British empires battled over Afghanistan in the 19th century, and the United States and the Soviet Union in the 20th. As the Taliban take over in the strategic, landlocked nation, the new “Great Game” has Pakistan in control, with its ally China looking to cement its grip on the region. Pakistan has deep ties with the Taliban and has been accused of supporting the Islamist group as it battled the U.S.-backed government in Kabul — charges denied by Islamabad. When the Taliban captured Kabul last week, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said Afghans had broken the “shackles of slavery.” As the Taliban holds discussions to decide on its government model, media reports have said some Pakistani officials are involved. A Foreign Office spokesperson in Islamabad said Pakistan w...