World

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...

NEW DELHI: This was supposed to be the Asian century, with the ascent of China being only one – albeit a major – part of the story. The rest of it was going to be about other rising regional stars: Potentially huge economies like India, rapidly industrialising upper-middle-income countries such as Malaysia, strategically significant exporters of minerals and other raw materials like Indonesia, and some relatively new kids on the block, including Vietnam and Bangladesh. Many regarded Asia as the world’s most dynamic region, one with relatively favourable demographics and potential for economic diversification, while China’s increasingly gargantuan economy and evolving supply chains would inevitably pull along much of the region. China’s own external trade and foreign investment plans str...

The United States and its allies accused China on Monday of a global cyberespionage campaign, mustering an unusually broad coalition of countries to publicly call out Beijing for hacking. The United States was joined by NATO, the European Union, Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan and New Zealand in condemning the spying, which U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said posed "a major threat to our economic and national security." Japan said it "strongly supports" the statements by the United States, Britain and other countries, which "express the determination to uphold the rules-based international order in cyberspace." "Malicious cyber activities that could potentially undermine the foundation of democracy embodied by free, fair and secure cyberspace cannot be condoned," foreign press...

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...