World

CEO and co-founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg poses next to Facebook head of global policy communications and former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg (L) prior to a meeting with French President at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on May 10, 2019. Around the world, lawmakers are writing the new rules of the internet. In Europe, India, Australia, the UK and elsewhere, laws are being proposed governing everything from privacy and content, to the size and competitiveness of technology companies and how data is held, shared and used at scale. This is a good thing — regulation is overdue. For too long, many of these important issues have been left to private companies to deal with alone. Far from resisting regulation, Facebook has advocated it in a number of areas for some time now. President...

NEW YORK :U.S. stocks were nearly flat on Friday and technology and consumer discretionary shares were the biggest decliners, while the dollar edged higher after stronger-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data. NEW YORK -U.S. stocks were nearly flat on Friday and technology and consumer discretionary shares were the biggest decliners, while the dollar edged higher after stronger-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data. Data firm IHS Markit said its flash U.S. manufacturing PMI increased to 61.5 in the first half of this month. That was the highest reading since October 2009, and followed a final reading of 60.5 in April. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index dipping to 60.2 in early May. U.S. inflation worries have spooked markets, and minutes Wednesday from the last Fede...

SINGAPORE: Thirteen community cases were among 25 new COVID-19 infections reported in Singapore as of noon on Tuesday (May 11), said the Ministry of Health (MOH). Seven of the 13 new community cases are linked to the Changi Airport cluster, while three are unlinked. The remaining three cases are linked to previous cases. UNLINKED COMMUNITY CASES Of the three unlinked community cases, one is a 27-year-old Malaysian man who works as a manufacturing operator at Siltronic Singapore. He had not gone to work after the onset of symptoms. On May 6, he developed body aches and sought medical treatment at a general practitioner clinic on the same day, and he was given two days' medical leave. On May 8, he developed a fever and cough and sought treatment at another general practitioner clini...

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations convened a special summit last week to address regional concerns, with the coup and resulting violence in Myanmar at the top of their list. The summit produced a “five point consensus plan” to “facilitate mediation of the dialogue process” between military leaders and the opposition that won last year’s elections and was overthrown by the coup. The agreement is an important first step but it is only meaningful if followed up by concrete action. Concerned governments must ensure that there is real dialogue and that the junta begins the process of restoring democracy to Myanmar. On Feb. 1, a military junta led by Gen. Min Aung Hlaing overthrew the democratically elected government of Myanmar, charging that the November election results had been in...

Taiwan is facing major threats from a surge in coronavirus cases and drought-triggered power outages, potentially derailing one of Asia’s economic success stories this year. The island has gone from zero local cases earlier this month to recording 1,226 domestic infections in the past five days alone and on Wednesday a soft lockdown was extended to the entire island. Schools were already closed, but the new rules mean masks are mandatory outdoors, with limits on social gatherings and the closure of many public facilities. If cases remain high, Taiwan may be forced into a full lockdown, which would spread the pain from the retail sector to exports in an economy heavily reliant on trade. On top of that, a drought has left hydroelectric plants operating at limited capacity, contributing to ...

related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. 2 related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. BRASILIA: Brazil's health minister said on Friday (May 21) the government is doing everything possible to prevent the spread of the concerning coronavirus variant first identified in India in the northern state of Maranhao, which has detected the country's first cases. One crew member of a cargo ship, anchored at the port of Sao Luis after a trip from South Africa, was airlifted to a hospital in the city with severe COVID-19 caused by the variant, according to Maranhao state health officials. "This case was detected promptly, all sanitary measures were taken and we hope that there is no spread of this Indian variant here in Brazil...

Myanmar's pro-democracy unity government, which includes members of parliament ousted by the military coup, has told Southeast Asia's regional bloc that it will not engage in talks until the junta releases all political prisoners. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to find a path for Myanmar out of a bloody crisis triggered by the Feb 1 coup and has called for an end to violence and talks between all sides. But the junta has already declined to accept proposals to resolve the crisis that emerged from an ASEAN summit last weekend that was attended by Myanmar's Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, but no-one from the civilian side. The pro-democracy National Unity Government (NUG), formed this month by opponents of the military, said ASEAN should b...

Mergers and acquisitions targeting technology companies have hit a record high in Asia Pacific, Dealogic data shows, and dealmakers expect this M&A pace to continue as the pandemic spurs a shift toward virtual activities in the economy. HONG KONG: Mergers and acquisitions targeting technology companies have hit a record high in Asia Pacific, Dealogic data shows, and dealmakers expect this M&A pace to continue as the pandemic spurs a shift toward virtual activities in the economy. Tech M&A has totalled US$136.2 billion in 2020, more than double the year-ago levels, according to data provider Dealogic. Tech deals accounted for 28per cent of the regions' overall M&A transactions, which totalled US$482.4 billion as of Wednesday, the highest share in at least a decade, the data shows. T...