World

In this article DOW 1. Stocks to open lower, but July still tracking for gains Traders at the New York Stock Exchange, July 20, 2021. Source: NYSE Wall Street is set to open lower on the final trading day of July as investors got three Dow stock earnings reports and another reading on inflation to digest. Nasdaq futures were leading the way down Friday, with a decline of more than 1% as Amazon shares fell nearly 7% in the premarket after its first revenue miss in three years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 hit all-time highs during Thursday's trading and broke two-day losing streaks. But they failed to top Monday's record closes. The Nasdaq advanced modestly, but still finished about 0.4% away from its latest record close on Monday. All three stock benchmarks were tracking...

WASHINGTON: Former US vice president Mike Pence warned on Wednesday (Jul 14) that China was on its way to becoming an "evil empire" and posing a greater threat to America than the Cold War-era Soviet Union. Former president Donald Trump's deputy, believed to be mulling his own 2024 White House bid, also urged current occupant Joe Biden to confront China more forcefully on multiple fronts including the origin of the coronavirus and the Asian giant's "neocolonialism". "The Chinese Communist Party is the greatest threat to our prosperity, security and values on the face of the Earth," Pence said during a speech at the Heritage Foundation think tank. "China may not yet be an evil empire, but it's working hard every day to become one," he added. "In many respects, communist China poses a gr...

Since the beginning of the year, the Federal Aviation Administration has reported a sharp uptick in the number of passengers behaving badly. In a typical year, the Federal Aviation Administration logs between 100 and 200 incidents. In the first three months of 2021, it reported a whopping 1300, despite the fact that the number of passengers was still well below normal levels. It’s difficult to account for this recent uptick, but it’s hard to dispute that air rage has become a growing problem over the past few decades. The usual explanations — shrinking legroom, alcohol and flight delays — have merit. But these are arguably overshadowed by a decades-long trend: the transformation of air travel from an elite prerogative to a service that divides passengers into haves and have nots. This w...

MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday (Jul 30) approved the imposition of lockdown measures in the capital region, in a bid to contain the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant and to shield the country's medical system. The Manila capital region, a sprawl of 16 cities home to more than 13 million people, will be placed under the tightest quarantine curbs from Aug 6 to Aug 20, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a televised address. "While it is a painful decision, this is for the good of all." The lockdown, which is expected to cost the economy US$4 billion, will prevent people leaving their homes, except for essential shopping, while indoor and al fresco dining is banned. "Delta is all over Metro Manila already. This is proper intervention," Benjamin Abalos, ...

SINGAPORE: Lower-income households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic will be able to receive more financial support under The Courage Fund, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) said on Sunday (Aug 1). Singapore returned to tighter Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) measures last month amid a surge in locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, most of which are linked to the Jurong Fishery Port cluster, which has 1,027 infections as of Saturday. The Courage Fund was established in 2003 to provide relief to victims of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, as well as healthcare workers and their dependants. The fund is also used to provide relief and support for those affected by COVID-19. Under the fund, lower-income house...

MELBOURNE: Rio Tinto is asking train drivers working in mineral-rich Western Australia to work more hours, following a move by rival BHP Group, as miners rush to ship millions of tonnes of iron ore amid soaring prices for the steel making material. The push comes among a worsening skills shortage in Australia's west that has been exacerbated by strict coronavirus restrictions, which unions say have raised mental health risks for workers and their families. Train driver Paul Bloxsom, who will leave Rio next month, said Western Australian border constraints to keep out COVID-19 that include a 14-day quarantine meant he had only seen his family in Queensland four times in 15 months. "That's a challenge in itself, the isolation and the loneliness and so on. There was a combination of things...

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Monday (Aug 2) that Myanmar's junta was playing for time with a two-year election timeframe as Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to encourage ASEAN to appoint an envoy. Blinken is participating virtually in a week of talks involving foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the latest bid by President Joe Biden's administration to engage a region at the frontlines of US competition with China. Ahead of the ASEAN talks, Myanmar's junta chief promised to hold elections and lift a state of emergency by August 2023, extending an initial timeline given when the military deposed elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb 1. The announcement is "a call for ASEAN to have to step up its effort because it's clear that the Burmese j...

The foreign ministers of Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Tuesday agreed on the importance of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where China has conflicting territorial claims with some of the 10-member bloc. In an online meeting with his ASEAN counterparts, Toshimitsu Motegi stressed Japan's opposition to any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo of the Indo-Pacific by force, but did not single out China, according to the Foreign Ministry. "As we face the challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic, it is important for us to maintain and strengthen principles of the rule of law and transparency in the Indo-Pacific region," Motegi said at the beginning of the talks. Motegi also reiterated Japan's support for ASEAN's bid to implement its...

TOKYO :Albert Batyrgaziev prevailed in a tactical battle to win the first Russian boxing gold of the Tokyo Olympics with victory by split decision over American Duke Ragan in the men's featherweight final on Thursday. Ragan went into the gold medal bout looking for a technical fight and started well, flicking out his jab at his opponent and looking to land big right hands, but he never found the target and Batyrgaziev grew in confidence. The Russian Olympic Committee fighter stalked forward, landing punches in pairs as Ragan failed to keep out of range, came off worst in the clinch and was wrestled to the floor several times. Ragan had no choice but to go for broke in the final round but Batyrgaziev stifled him again as he pushed home his advantage to take gold. "Before I came here I t...

LONDON: China's decision on Friday to give its economy a 1 trillion yuan (US$154 billion) shot in the arm has given investors a reminder that even the largest economies are likely to the need the occasional pick-me-up while the coronavirus pandemic lasts. In one of its trademark Friday night moves, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) cut its reserve requirement ratio (RRR) - the money banks have to park at the central bank for safety - by 50 basis points (bps). It is the first such step since April last year when COVID was rapidly spreading around the world. Just as significantly, it ends nine months of gradual policy tightening by authorities eager to prevent credit growth getting out of control. "We believe this marks a shift from countercyclical tightening to an easing bias," analysts ...