World

U.S. sends two carriers to disputed South China Sea
10Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, World

U.S. sends two carriers to disputed South China Sea

The U.S. sent two aircraft carrier strike groups for joint operations in the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday, the Navy said, as new President Joe Biden shows no signs of backing down from Beijing’s growing maritime assertiveness in the area. The dual carrier operations in the flash point waterway were the first there since last July and come just under three weeks since Biden was sworn into office on Jan. 20. The new administration has called China the United States’ “most critical challenge” and “most serious competitor.” Tuesday’s exercises saw the USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Nimitz strike groups conduct “a multitude of exercises aimed at increasing interoperability between assets as well as command and control capabilities,” the U.S. Navy said. Rear Adm. Doug Verissimo, comman...
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Commentary: How Tencent, that other Chinese Big Tech giant, is beating a path to a trillion dollars
10Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Market, Singapore, World

Commentary: How Tencent, that other Chinese Big Tech giant, is beating a path to a trillion dollars

Tencent looks set to grow to a US$1 trillion market capitalisation given its diversified revenue sources, its strong growth strategy premised on e-sports and live-streaming, says IMD Business School’s Mark Greeven. SINGAPORE: Tencent is poised to join the trillion dollar club. After a whopping 11 per cent rally in stock price and an equally whopping tumble of about 5 per cent last week, the question is whether we are seeing the global tech bubble expanding to Asia. Certainly, the Hong Kong market generally was in a positive mood on the day of the 115 per cent jump. And over this past year, Tencent’s stock price has risen by 85 per cent in value. Nevertheless, a trillion dollars is a lot of money. Amazon, Apple and Microsoft are all well into their first trillion-dollar market cap...
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Public transport satisfaction dips in 2020, MRT safety scores largest improvement: Survey
9Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, Singapore, World

Public transport satisfaction dips in 2020, MRT safety scores largest improvement: Survey

SINGAPORE: Overall satisfaction with public transport dipped in 2020, with MRT safety and security scoring the largest increase, the Public Transport Council (PTC) said on Friday (Feb 7). The percentage of people who said they were satisfied with public transport was 97.6 per cent, lower than the high of 99.4 per cent in 2019. According to PTC, percentage satisfaction levels are measured based on the proportion of respondents whose overall satisfaction rating for public transport services was 6 and above on a 10-point scale. Satisfaction with public transport, bus, and MRT services over the past 5 years. (Graphic: Public Transport Council While the proportion of satisfied commuters dropped in 2020, the mean satisfaction score remained at 7.8 for the second consecutive year, due to ...
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Myanmar police file charges against Aung San Suu Kyi after coup
9Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, USA, World

Myanmar police file charges against Aung San Suu Kyi after coup

Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi attends the Leaders Plenary Session of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -Australia Special Summit in Sydney on March 18, 2018. Mark Metcalfe | AFP | Getty Images Myanmar police have filed charges against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi for illegally importing communications equipment and she will be detained until Feb. 15 for investigations, according to a police document. The move followed a military coup on Monday and the detention of Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi and other civilian politicians. The takeover cut short Myanmar's long transition to democracy and drew condemnation from the United States and other Western countries. A police request to a court detailing the accusations against Suu Kyi, 75, said six walkie-talkie radios had b...
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Asia shares pare losses as China GDP pips forecasts
9Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Market, World

Asia shares pare losses as China GDP pips forecasts

Asian share markets retreated from highs on Monday as disappointing news on U.S. consumer spending tempered risk sentiment ahead of a closely-watched reading on the health of the Chinese economy. SYDNEY: Asian share markets pared early losses on Monday as data confirmed China's economy had bounced back last quarter as factory output jumped, helping offset recent disappointing news on U.S. consumer spending. Chinese blue chips edged up 0.4per cent after the economy was reported to have grown 6.5per cent in the fourth quarter, on a year earlier, topping forecasts of 6.1per cent. Industrial production for December also beat estimates, though retail sales missed the mark. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan trimmed losses and were off 0.2per cent, having hit a st...
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Market is at ‘speculative peak’ as Reddit traders fuel GameStop, money manager says
9Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, World

Market is at ‘speculative peak’ as Reddit traders fuel GameStop, money manager says

Speculation in the stock market is soaring. Retail investors have been piling into equities at a rapid rate in the new year, building on 2020's rush and squeezing short sellers in stocks such as GameStop, up a staggering 685% for the month as of Tuesday's closing bell. The GameStop frenzy even caught the attention of billionaires CEOs Chamath Palihapitiya and Elon Musk. Both referenced the action Tuesday on Twitter, with Palihapitiya saying he made an options bet on the stock and Musk sharing a link to r/wallstreetbets, a Reddit page popular with traders. Also Tuesday, the hedge fund Melvin Capital closed out its short position after taking a huge loss, the manager of the fund told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin. Shares of other popular names including Apple have also been seesawing this we...
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‘Let’s each manage our own business’: Top Chinese diplomat on US’ remarks on human rights abuses
7Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

‘Let’s each manage our own business’: Top Chinese diplomat on US’ remarks on human rights abuses

In a sharp response to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling out Beijing for its gross human rights violations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, the top foreign policy aide to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Yang Jiechi has said “let’s each manage our own business.”Yang told Blinken during their Friday call that the US should “correct recent mistakes, and work with China to promote the healthy and stable development of China-US relations by upholding the spirit of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” according to a statement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.Yang said that both sides should respect the other’s core interests, as well as political systems and developmental paths of their own choosing, according to the statement.“Each side should focus ...
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Quad countries working to arrange first meeting amid China’s growing influence
7Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
Asia, China, World

Quad countries working to arrange first meeting amid China’s growing influence

Amid China’s growing influence, members of the Quad countries - the US, India, Japan and Australia - are working to arrange the first meeting of their leaders, according to media reports.This comes as the US President Joe Biden’s new administration has expressed its eagerness to build on renewed attention to the grouping of the four major Indo-Pacific democracies. National security adviser Jake Sullivan even called it “a foundation upon which to build substantial American policy in the Indo-Pacific”.According to a source, the US has already proposed to other countries the idea of holding an online meeting of the Quad leaders.During the envisioned meeting, the Quad members are expected to discuss cooperation for the realisation of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” amid concerns over China’s ma...
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Shares rally, retail surge drives silver to 8-year high
6Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, Market, World

Shares rally, retail surge drives silver to 8-year high

LONDON: Global shares bounced and silver markets surged on Monday (Feb 1) as retail investors expanded their social media-fuelled battle with Wall Street to drive the precious metal to an eight-year high. Stock markets were roiled last week after a spike in retail demand to buy the stocks most bet against by hedge funds drove huge gains in companies such as GameStop, and prompted fresh concern that COVID-19 monetary and fiscal support measures were fuelling a market bubble. With chatrooms abuzz with talk that silver was the new target, silver-exposed stocks, funds and coins jumped, helping push spot silver up more than 11 per cent, before gains were trimmed and it last traded up around 9 per cent. The bullish spirit helped London-listed miners post strong gains, including one of mor...
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Thailand reports 819 new COVID-19 cases, 1 additional death
6Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, World

Thailand reports 819 new COVID-19 cases, 1 additional death

BANGKOK: Thailand on Wednesday (Jan 27) reported 819 new COVID-19 cases, taking its total infections to 15,465. One additional death was reported, bringing total fatalities to 76. More than 700 of the new infections were in Samut Sakhon province, the epicentre of the most recent outbreak, the Thailand COVID-19 task force said at a briefing. On Tuesday, Thailand's health minister called for understanding and sought to explain the country's coronavirus vaccine procurement plan, following criticism that the government has lacked transparency and been too slow in securing supplies. The strategy came under scrutiny last week when banned opposition politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said the government had been too reliant on a company owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn to produce va...
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