World

Oil prices fell in early trade on Thursday on worries about slow demand growth with coronavirus cases rising, U.S. crude stockpiles hitting an all-time high and the U.S. Federal Reserve projecting recovery from the pandemic would take years. MELBOURNE: Oil prices fell in early trade on Thursday on worries about slow demand growth with coronavirus cases rising, U.S. crude stockpiles hitting an all-time high and the U.S. Federal Reserve projecting recovery from the pandemic would take years. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures erased gains from Wednesday, falling as low as US$38.42 a barrel. The benchmark contract was down 2.2per cent, or 86 cents, at US$38.74 at 0031 GMT. Brent crude futures fell 2.0per cent, or 85 cents, to US$40.88 a barrel, also giving up gains from W...

MARSEILLE: French giants Marseille are "not for sale", the club's president Jacques-Henri Eyraud insisted Saturday (Jun 27) following reports of a mega Saudi-backed bid to buy the former European champions. "Olympique de Marseille is not for sale," said Eyraud. "I thank those who have shown a financial interest in OM, but we are not interested in selling." Eyraud was speaking following reports of a 700 million-euro (US$785 million) bid to buy the club from a consortium fronted by Mourad Boudjellal, the high-profile former owner of leading French rugby outfit Toulon, but backed by Saudi investors. The offer would reportedly see 300 million euros going towards the purchase of the club, with another 200 million euros going towards clearing debts and 200 million euros more destined to b...

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd's planned factory in the United States is "definitely in line with" the company's interests, Chairman Mark Liu told investors on Tuesday. HSINCHU, Taiwan: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) could quickly fill any order gap should U.S. restrictions against Huawei Technologies Co Ltd prevent sales to the Chinese firm, the company's chairman said on Tuesday. TSMC's clients include Huawei's chip division HiSilicon. However, the U.S. blacklisting of Huawei over security concerns and trade disputes with China has left the world's biggest contract chipmaker exposed to diplomatic developments between two countries where it also has production bases. The company last month unveiled plans for a US$12 billion plant in the United States ju...

BANGKOK: Footage of a distressed baby elephant jabbed by bullhooks at a Thai camp to tame it before joining the tourist industry has been released by conservationists in an appeal to end the practice. The footage, taken on a hidden camera last year and published Wednesday (Jun 24) by UK-based animal rights group World Animal Protection (WAP), shows what they say is the forced separation of a two-year-old female elephant from her mother. The distraught calf is confined to a small space known as the "crush box" and held by chains and ropes for days as she struggles to escape. Calves are repeatedly jabbed with a bullhook, a long rod with a sharpened metal tip, to get them to understand basic commands, sometimes causing bleeding. About 3,000 domesticated elephants work in Thailand's ...

Health-care stocks have been among the best performers since the market bottomed in March. The XLV health care ETF now sits less than 3% below its January record. Mark Tepper, president of Strategic Wealth Partners, is backing one of the stocks as the sector makes its way back to highs. "My favorite would be Bristol-Myers," Tepper told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Wednesday. "Bristol Myers has lagged the health-care sector by about 6% this year. The reason I like it is it is a pure play on cancer -- let's not forget cancer is still the number one medical problem in the world." Tepper said a rebound in cancer screening and treatment as the coronavirus pandemic eases should benefit Bristol-Myers. The stock's fundamentals also appeal to Tepper. "The valuation is cheap. The stock is trading...

BEIJING: The Chinese Beidou navigation network will be complete this month when its final satellite goes into orbit, giving China greater independence from US-owned GPS and heating up competition in a sector long dominated by the United States. The idea to develop Beidou, or the Big Dipper in Chinese, took shape in the 1990s as the military sought to reduce reliance on the Global Positioning System (GPS) run by the US Air Force. When the first Beidou satellites were launched in 2000, coverage was limited to China. As use of mobile devices expanded, China in 2003 tried to join the Galileo satellite navigation project proposed by the European Union but later pulled out to focus on Beidou. In the age of the iPhone, the second generation of Beidou satellites went operational in 2012, co...

Sony Corp's image sensor business aims to replicate PlayStation's success to address its reliance on a handful of manufacturers in the fickle smartphone market: It plans to sell software by subscription for data-analysing sensors in situ. TOKYO: Sony Corp's image sensor business aims to replicate PlayStation's success to address its reliance on a handful of manufacturers in the fickle smartphone market: It plans to sell software by subscription for data-analysing sensors in situ. Transforming the light-converting chips into a platform for software - essentially akin to the PlayStation Plus video games service - amounts to a sea change for the US$10 billion business, which built its dominance through hardware breakthroughs. The effort chimes with Sony's pursuit of recurring revenue a...

JAKARTA: Indonesia plans to build one of its largest industrial parks on the north coast of Java island in a renewed drive to attract manufacturers relocating out of China as Southeast Asia's biggest economy comes out of a coronavirus-induced lockdown. Yet, despite its low wages and huge domestic market Indonesia must overcome decades-old hurdles including red tape, rigid labour laws, and poor infrastructure to be able to move up the global manufacturing value chain. This time, in its quest to emulate rivals such as Vietnam, the government has shown serious intent in bringing about change and is aiming to pass an ambitious 'omnibus' Bill later this year to address some of the pressing foreign investor concerns. At the same time it is pushing ahead with plans for a 4,000-hectare indu...