World

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about refugee programs for Afghans who aided the U.S. during a briefing at the State Department in Washington, DC, U.S. August 2, 2021. Brendan Smialowski | Reuters America's top diplomat expressed concern to Southeast Asian foreign ministers about China's growing nuclear arsenal, the State Department said Friday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlined to the ASEAN Regional Forum, an online meeting of more than 20 countries, a list of provocative Chinese behavior. "The secretary also noted deep concern with the rapid growth of the PRC's nuclear arsenal which highlights how Beijing has sharply deviated from its decades-old nuclear strategy based on minimum deterrence," State spokesman Ned Price said, referring to the People's Republic of Ch...

WASHINGTON: The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Monday (Jul 12) said it has fined an Atlanta-based financial technology firm US$2.5 million for processing and servicing loans to consumers who did not request or authorise them to do so. GreenSky, LLC is a mobile app that connects merchants and banks with customers who are usually seeking financing for mostly home-improvement projects. The CFPB also ordered the company to refund or cancel up to US$9 million in loans it allowed outside merchants to promote and offer consumers. The order comes as part of ongoing scrutiny of fintech firms that automate the delivery and use of financial services via online platforms and devices, like mobile phones. The agency found the lender to have acted unfairly toward consumers by faili...

BEIJING: China on Friday (Jul 16) rebuffed World Health Organization (WHO) accusations that it failed to share raw data needed for an investigation into COVID-19's s origins, insisting experts were given adequate access when they visited the country this year. The WHO is facing intensifying pressure for a new, in-depth investigation into the pandemic's origins after the UN agency sent a team of independent, international experts to China's Wuhan in January - more than a year after COVID-19 first surfaced there. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Thursday that one of the main challenges during the first phase of the investigation was that "the raw data was not shared", and urged China to "be transparent, to be open and cooperate" on a second phase of the investigation. B...

An employee holds a sign during a walkout at Activision Blizzard offices in Irvine, California, U.S., on Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Blizzard President J. Allen Brack is leaving the company, Activision Blizzard announced Tuesday. The move comes after a July lawsuit filed against Activision Blizzard by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing that alleges discrimination and sexual harassment against women at the company. Brack was mentioned in the lawsuit, which alleged he was aware as early as 2019 that employees were leaving because of sexual harassment at the company. Brack did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment sent to his Yahoo email account. Blizzard Executive Vice President Jen Oneal and Blizzard Executive Vice President and General Manager Mike Y...

NEW YORK: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday (Jul 14) said one of the stronger arguments for the US central bank to set up a digital currency is that it could undercut the need for private alternatives such as cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. Asked during a congressional hearing if having a digital currency issued by the Fed would be a more viable alternative than having multiple cryptocurrencies or stablecoins emerge in the payments system, Powell said he agreed. "I think that may be the case and I think that’s one of the arguments that are offered in favour of digital currency," Powell said during a hearing before the US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee. "That, in particular, you wouldn’t need stablecoins, you wouldn’t need cryptocurrencies if you ha...

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) announced on Wednesday (Aug 4) that Ms Jacqueline Poh will be appointed as the new managing director of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). Ms Poh is currently the deputy secretary of the Strategy Group in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), said MTI in a press release. She will succeed current managing director Chng Kai Fong when his term ends on Oct 3. Mr Chng was appointed managing director of EDB on Oct 1, 2017. Prior to EDB, he was the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. He has also held leadership roles at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Home Affairs and Civil Service College, said MTI. Ms Poh will be appointed as managing director-designate of EDB with effect from Sep 1 and managing ...

If you're one of the millions of Americans considering a job move right now, recruiters are on a tear to find you. Workers burned out by their employer during the pandemic, or those simply biding their time for the job market to recover, are quitting their jobs at record rates, leaving hiring managers scrambling to fill an increasing number of open roles more than a year after devastating layoffs. All of this means that "recruiters in this moment are spending a lot of money to hunt down talent," says Brianne Thomas, head of recruiting at the hiring software company Jobvite. Workers just feeling out the current job market "may find just cracking the door open brings [them] lots of opportunities," she adds. Connecting with a recruiter, whether they work internally with one company or hire ro...

SHIMULIA, Bangladesh: Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers rushed back to major cities on Saturday (Jul 31), besieging train and bus stations, after the government said export factories could reopen despite a deadly coronavirus wave. With the economy badly hit by the pandemic, the government excluded the factories that supply top brands in Europe and North America from a nationwide lockdown order. Authorities had ordered factories, offices, transport and shops to close from Jul 23 to Aug 5 as daily coronavirus infections and deaths hit record levels. Officially, Bangladesh has reported 1.2 million cases and more than 20,000 deaths. Experts say the real figures are at least four times higher. The government said however that the country's 4,500 garment factories, which e...

SINGAPORE: A 29-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly causing grievous hurt to another man in an assault in the early hours of Thursday (Jul 29), the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said. The police were alerted to the case at 5.35am on Thursday, when the man allegedly kicked and punched the victim along Clementi Avenue 5. He fled the scene before the police arrived, SPF said, adding that the victim was conscious when he was taken to the hospital. The man was arrested within three hours of the alleged assault, said the police. Preliminary investigations show that both men "are believed to be known to each other" and had a dispute before the incident, police said. The man will be charged in court on Friday with voluntarily causing grievous hurt, an offence which carries a jail term...

Last year, the countries of East Asia were hailed for their success stories in the effort to stop the coronavirus pandemic. Today, these same countries are battling a resurgence in infections. One unintended consequence of their early success in suppressing the virus has been a late start in vaccinating their populations. China alone has successfully contained the spread of the virus, vaccinated its people and taken measures to get its economy back on track. The Asian giant’s government immediately set up special hospital wards for coronavirus patients and called up a large number of regional health care professionals to provide assistance. Domestic vaccines are in full production and more than 25 million doses are administered daily. The speed with which China is vaccinating its citizen...