World

NOTTINGHAM, England: England lost Rory Burns early and Zak Crawley towards the end of the morning session before reaching 61-2 at lunch on the opening day of the first test against India at Trent Bridge on Wednesday. Captain Joe Root was batting on 12 at the break, having hit Mohammed Siraj for three consecutive boundaries after electing to bat. Opener Dom Sibley was batting on 18 in the first match of the five-test series, which also marks beginning of the new World Test Championship cycle. After Root won the toss and elected to bat, Jasprit Bumrah gave India a perfect start dismissing Burns lbw for duck in the very first over. After taking the first four balls away from the opener, Bumrah swung the fifth in to trap the batsman, who reviewed the decision but could not prolong his stay...

The unpredictability of China's regulatory measures make the country unappealing to foreign investors in the short-term, following its latest crackdowns on the technology, property and education sectors, global fund managers said. However, if these measures were turned into meaningful reforms that protected data and reduced monopolistic practices, they could increase China's long-term attractiveness, they told the Reuters Global Markets Forum this week. "I think investors just don't like the uncertainty of not knowing what's the next shoe to drop," said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management. Haefele, who runs the world's largest wealth manager with US$3.2 trillion in assets, said it was still early days and he would wait to see "how long this plays out."...

TOKYO -Asia's factories hit a rough patch in July as rising input costs and a new wave of coronavirus infections overshadowed solid global demand, highlighting the fragile nature of the region's recovery. Manufacturing activity rose in export powerhouses Japan and South Korea, though firms suffered from supply chain disruptions and raw material shortages that pushed up costs. China's factory activity growth slipped sharply in July as demand contracted for the first time in over a year, a private survey showed, broadly aligning with an official survey released on Saturday showing a slowdown in activity. "Supply bottlenecks remain a constraint. But the PMIs suggest demand is cooling too, taking the heat out of price gains and weighing on activity in industry and construction," said Julian...

Over the past three months, South Korea and Japan, the second- and third-largest financiers of overseas coal power have announced plans to end this practice in principle. In April, South Korea said it would stop funding new overseas coal projects. In May, Japan signed on to a statement stating that Group of Seven members will phase out direct government support for unabated overseas coal by the end of 2021, with the exception of “limited circumstances at the discretion of each country.” As Japan and South Korea formulate concrete steps to implement these policies, they must work to limit exceptions to their bans on overseas coal finance. Failing to close major loopholes would not only diminish the decarbonization impact of these commitments, it would also weaken multilateral efforts to p...

LONDON: Britain has been granted 'dialogue partner' status by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a joint communique issued by the group said. "We agreed to accord the United Kingdom the status of Dialogue Partner of ASEAN in view of its individual relationship with ASEAN as well as its past cooperation and engagement with ASEAN when it was a member of the European Union," the communique said. ASEAN members are: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Becoming a dialogue partner gives Britain high-level access to ASEAN summits. The government hopes it will also spur deeper practical cooperation on issues like climate change and regional stability. Britain has been seeking the status as part of its post-Brexit policy sh...

NEW YORK -Stocks on Wall Street fell as much as 2per cent on Monday, with the Dow posting its worst day in nine months, as a rise in worldwide coronavirus cases and increasing U.S. deaths drove investors out of risky assets, crushing bond yields and share prices. Oil prices plunged more than 6per cent, driven down both by worries about future demand and by an OPEC+ agreement to increase supply. U.S. Treasury bond yields tumbled to five-month lows, with the yield on benchmark 10-year notes sinking 12.2 basis points to 1.177per cent, close to the session's low of 1.176per cent, a level last seen in February. All three major U.S. stock indexes ended trading sharply lower, with the S&P and the Nasdaq suffering their largest one-day percentage falls since mid-May. Rising COVID-19 cases, spu...

MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte might be barred from a second term in office, but don't be surprised if he's still running the country after a presidential election next year. The popular Duterte gave the strongest hint yet that he might seek the vice presidency, saying on Wednesday (Jul 7) that he was "sold to the idea" and thinking seriously about running for the largely ceremonial number two post. For Christian Monsod, a lawyer and one of the framers of the 1987 constitution, Duterte's real intent is clear. "There is a plan to use a backdoor approach to stay in power," he said. Duterte, 76, is trying to circumvent the single six year term limit, set by the constitution to stop power from being abused, said Monsod, a former election commission chief. He suspects Duterte...

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Tuesday (Aug 3) acknowledged criticism of its COVID-19 quarantine operations, and apologised over delays and lapses in communication with those under quarantine. A surge in the number of people under quarantine led to operations staff handling an increased workload and delays in conveyance to government isolation facilities, the ministry said in a Facebook post. Most of the backlog has since been cleared and the situation "should settle down", it added. Last week, a total of 14,770 quarantine orders were issued, or an average of 2,110 a day, according to MOH data. As of Monday, about 20,000 people in Singapore were under quarantine. Here is what you need to know if you have been issued a quarantine order. Q: WHAT IS A QUARANTINE ORDER? H...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has restored a crucial pact governing the presence of U.S. troops in the Philippines, the two countries' defense ministers said on Friday, reversing a decision that had caused increasing concern in Washington and Manila. The Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) provides rules for the rotation of thousands of U.S. troops in and out of the Philippines for war drills and exercises. It has assumed additional importance as the United States and its allies contend with an increasingly assertive China. Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he was unsure why Duterte had reversed himself but made the decision after meeting U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Manila on Thursday. Duterte's decision won't change much on the ground, as the pact had not...

TOKYO: Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya said the economy may enjoy a stronger-than-expected rebound next year if coronavirus vaccinations speed up, offering an upbeat view on recovery prospects even as the pandemic weighs on consumption. But he stressed the central bank's readiness to ease monetary policy further if the economy needed additional support to pull it out of the doldrums. "We have room to take additional easing steps including by cutting short- and long-term interest rates," Amamiya said on Wednesday. "While we don't have any specific plans now, we can also consider schemes similar to existing programmes aimed at supporting corporate funding," he told a news conference. A resurgence in infections led the government to impose a new state of emergency in Olymp...