World

European shares jumped on Monday and the bond market calmed, with yields dropping from their recent spikes, while optimism about U.S. fiscal stimulus sent oil prices higher. LONDON: European shares jumped on Monday and the bond market calmed, with yields dropping from their recent spikes, while optimism about U.S. fiscal stimulus sent oil prices higher. After Asian stocks rallied overnight, European share indexes opened higher, with the STOXX 600 up 1.7per cent at 0837 GMT. London's FTSE 100 up 1.8per cent and Germany's DAX was up 1.3per cent. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 49 countries, was up 0.5per cent, recovering from the previous session's multi-week low. The much-anticipated US$1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill was passed in the U.S. House of Representat...

During Thursday's GameStop hearing, Citadel Securities' Ken Griffin defended a controversial method brokerages use to make money, and said his firm would adapt if new regulations prohibited the practice. Lawmakers finally got a chance to press Robinhood, Citadel and Reddit chiefs about the GameStop trading controversy. Members of Congress spent much of their time prodding about "payment for order flow," a practice in which a brokerage receives payment from a market maker, known as a dealer, for directing the order to them. This model is how Robinhood and other brokers are able to have commission-free trading. Robinhood made more than $221 million from payment for order flow in the fourth quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, Citadel Securities is a market maker. "We simply play by the rules of ...

Sanctions have limited impact when Myanmar has support from some regional countries, key state-owned enterprises are left untouched and a looming cybersecurity law threatens to cut protesters from the outside world, says international security scholar Hannan Hussain. COLLEGE PARK, Maryland: US President Joe Biden ordered a series of sanctions against Myanmar’s military leadership on Wednesday (Feb 10), including robust export controls, a freeze on cooperative US assets and a halt to billion-dollar government funds. “I've approved a new executive order enabling us to immediately sanction the military leaders who directed the coup, their business interests as well as close family members,” announced Biden. Though Myanmar’s military junta has withstood sanctions in the past, its curren...

Myanmar security forces opened fire on protests against military rule on Wednesday, killing nine people, witnesses and media reported, a day after neighbouring countries called for restraint and offered to help Myanmar resolve the crisis. The security forces resorted to live fire with little warning in several towns and cities, witnesses said, as the junta appeared more determined than ever to stamp out protests against a Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. “They marched towards us and fired tear gas, marched again and used stun grenades,” Si Thu Maung, a protest leader in the central town of Myingyan, said. “Then they didn’t spray us with water cannon, no warning to disperse, they just fired their guns.” A spokesman for the ruling military council did no...

The coronavirus pandemic was still in its infancy a year ago when the eyes of the world — preoccupied by a burgeoning outbreak in China — turned to a quarantined cruise ship in Yokohama. In January 2020, the world watched as mainland China struggled to contain a deadly new virus that appeared to be spreading from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. On Feb. 5, the Diamond Princess docked in the port of Yokohama with more than 3,700 passengers and crew members who, upon arrival, were largely confined to their quarters for the next two weeks after a passenger tested positive for COVID-19 upon disembarking earlier in Hong Kong. By then, however, the virus had already begun to spread. Within 14 days, the cruise ship had become a floating incubator. By the time it was eventually evacuated,...