World

MOUNTING ANTI-GOVERNMENT SENTIMENT This year, however, the anti-government demonstrations have gained more momentum. The government’s failure to control the COVID-19 pandemic has stirred up anger among other activist groups. These groups have joined forces with youth organisations against the government. One of the activist groups is the Thai Mai Thon (Impatient Thais) group, led by former Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan. Earlier in July, another group led by Red Shirt activist Sombat Boonngam-anong staged a car mob, where a hundred vehicles took to the streets to pressure political parties to withdraw from the pro-Prayut coalition. They demanded that a non-parliamentarian replace Prayut under Section 272 of the Constitution, which stipulates that two-thirds of members of both Houses...

TOKYO: Japan's economy likely recovered slightly in the second quarter from a steep slump at the start of the year, a Reuters poll showed, as solid exports and capital expenditure cushioned some of the blow to consumption from the coronavirus pandemic. But analysts expect the world's third-largest economy to lag other advanced nations emerging from the doldrums, as expanded state of emergency curbs and a resurgence in infections weigh on household spending. "There won't be much of a rebound from the first quarter's big contraction. The data will show the economy continues to stagnate," said Yoshiki Shinke, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute. "Conditions won't improve much in July-September, as expanded COVID-19 curbs and surging infections hurt consumption during the su...

Novavax on Thursday (Aug 5) again delayed its timeline for seeking US authorisation for its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine, and the company now expects to file for its emergency use in the fourth quarter of 2021. It had previously said it would seek emergency use authorisation (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration in the third quarter. Novavax shares dropped 8.5 per cent in after-hours trading. "It's a matter of getting validation work done" to demonstrate consistency in the vaccine's manufacturing process to the FDA, said Chief Executive Officer Stanley Erck, adding that other countries' regulators have been more aggressive in moving Novavax's vaccine through the authorisation process. Despite promising clinical data, the Maryland-based company has lagged rival vaccine makers such...

BRISBANE: Recent Olympics have been wracked by controversy, cost blowouts and COVID-19 chaos, but the residents of Brisbane, strongly tipped to host the 2032 Games, look ready to welcome the event with open arms. The sun-drenched Australian city appears all but certain to be anointed 2032 hosts on Wednesday (Jul 21) when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) holds a vote in Tokyo ahead of the delayed 2020 Games. In other cities, a bid to host an event of such magnitude might prompt demonstrations, or at the very least vigorous public debate. Yet, residents of Brisbane have greeted the news with enthusiasm. "The city is gorgeous, the people are beautiful. And it would be lovely to get something like this happening in the city," Marium Ammar, who moved to Brisbane from Pakistan seven ...

SINGAPORE: Thirteen people have been fined S$3,000 to S$53,500 for selling electronic vaporisers and related components online in Singapore, said the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) on Wednesday (Jul 28). The perpetrators, aged 20 to 40, were convicted in court between March and June 2021, with the total fines amounting to S$164,500. Of the 13, two were also jailed 33 months and 13 weeks each for separate offences. "They had purchased the e-vaporisers and related components from overseas suppliers and sold them illegally on various local social media and e-commerce platforms," said HSA in a press release. More than S$20,000 worth of e-vaporiser products have been seized. The authority conducts "active surveillance" on such platforms and will take "enforcement actions" against those who...

In this article AMZN MSFT FB AAPL If you are an Apple shareholder who wondered after last week's stellar earnings report why the value of your stock holding was going down rather than up, the reason given — that chip shortages will weigh on the short-term outlook — may not seem good enough. For a trader looking at every short-term opportunity to move portfolio money to where the next quick buck is likely to be, it doesn't take more than that "sell on the news" headline. Longer-term investors, though, might want to consider a recent fact about the company and negative headlines: Apple has overcome pretty much every short-term "sell" headline in recent years on its way to being a $2-trillion-plus company. Trump's trade war with China? No problem. The surprise decision to stop offering iP...

"LOW BASE" The strong growth in the second quarter was largely due to the "low base" in the same period last year when GDP fell by 13.3 per cent due to the COVID-19 "circuit breaker" and a sharp drop in external demand brought on by the pandemic, said MTI. Taking into account the GDP performance in the first quarter of 2021, the Singapore economy expanded by 7.7 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the first half of 2021. Sharp improvements across all clusters in the manufacturing sector supported the overall expansion in the April to June period. The sector, as a whole, grew 17.7 per cent year-on-year, with the transport and precision engineering clusters seeing the largest increases in output. The constructor sector, led by an expansion of public and private projects, was also a big g...

NEW DELHI: Tesla Inc has written to Indian ministries seeking a big reduction in import duties on electric vehicles (EVs), a move it says will boost demand and generate revenue for the government, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Its pitch, however, is likely to face resistance from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration which has championed high import taxes for many industries in a bid to boost local manufacturing. Other luxury automakers in India have also lobbied the government in the past to lower taxes on imported cars but have had little success due to opposition from rivals with domestic operations. Tesla, which aims to begin sales in India this year, said in a letter to ministries and the country's leading think-tank Niti Aayog that slashing federal taxes o...

SHANGHAI: A slew of measures by Chinese authorities to tame soaring raw material costs has had only a fleeting effect, leaving the world's largest manufacturing base facing the harsh reality of substantially higher input costs for the foreseeable future. China's enormous manufacturing industry, population and fast-growing economy mean it has uniquely large commodity requirements that substantially exceed domestic output. The recent boom in the price of everything from copper to coal has pushed the country's producer prices up by the most since 2008 and dragged on its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. With major economies in Europe and North America also cranking up again after coronavirus lockdowns, competition for raw materials is only expected to intensify, limiting the near-term...

Five people jumped from an apartment building in Myanmar's main city of Yangon, killing at least two of them, in a bid to escape a raid by security forces, media reports said, sparking condemnation among opponents of military rule. The military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February; since then the country has been thrown into crisis with almost daily protests and fighting between the army and hastily formed militias. Tuesday's (Aug 10) incident occurred in the Botahtaung district of Yangon, with media reports saying at least two died while the others were seriously hurt and taken to hospital. The Myanmar Now news portal showed a photograph of three people lying motionless on the ground in an alleyway, while the US-funded RFA (Radio Free Asia) said that all fiv...