World

South Korea's LG Chem Ltd plans to start producing batteries for Tesla Inc vehicles at a domestic factory this year after the U.S. electric carmaker raised orders to cope with demand, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. SEOUL: South Korea's LG Chem Ltd plans to start producing batteries for Tesla Inc vehicles at a domestic factory this year after the U.S. electric carmaker raised orders to cope with demand, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. "Tesla is asking not only LG Chem but other suppliers to increase supplies, as its cars are selling well," the person told Reuters. A second person with knowledge of the situation also said LG Chem is converting some of its production in South Korea to produce batteries for Tesla. An LG Chem factory in Nanjing, China...

President Donald Trump's belated endorsement of face masks sparked a rally in the recovery stocks, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Tuesday. The president's newfound appreciation for mask-wearing takes away the leading voice for the anti-face covering crowd and should tamp down on the culture and political clash that brewed from the controversial topic, the "Mad Money" host said. "If the president of the United States keeps encouraging people to wear masks, rather than discouraging them … that makes it much easier to flatten the curve, because the no-mask contingent listens to him, fears him, cheers him," Cramer said. "With enough mask-wearing, we can beat this thing long before we get a vaccine, although it's still gonna take weeks before we see any progress." With his mind focused on reopening ...

NEW DELHI: Amid growing calls for a boycott of Chinese goods after a clash on the border in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, India's government instructed sellers to declare the country of origin for goods and services purchased via a state-run online portal. The government announced the change in requirements for users of its Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal in a statement on Tuesday (Jun 23). The statement did not single out China, but an official source told Reuters that the main objective was to identify items coming from China. Separately, the portal will provide a "Make in India" filter so that the government or its agencies could choose to buy only those products that meet the minimum 50 per cent local content criteria, the statement said. According to officials the...

China’s new security law has sent a chill through Hong Kong’s schools and universities, with many teachers fearful the city’s reputation for academic freedom and excellence is now at risk. Just a week after the sweeping legislation was imposed on the territory, staff at some institutions have already been warned by their administrators to be careful how they teach. “Remain neutral in your teaching and be mindful of the language you use,” read one email to staff of HKU SPACE, a college attached to the prestigious University of Hong Kong (HKU). “Any behavior in eliciting further discussion on sensitive issues MUST be avoided,” the email from the program director of the humanities and law faculty said. It ended with a warning of “zero-tolerance against politics or personal political views...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's leader said Sunday (Jul 19) that COVID-19 was spreading out of control in the city as she announced a record daily high of more than 100 cases and ordered new social distancing measures. The finance hub was one of the first places to be struck by the virus when it emerged from central China. But the city had impressive success in tackling the disease, all but ending local transmissions by late June. However, in the last two weeks, cases have begun to spike once more and doctors fear it is spreading undetected in the densely packed territory of 7.5 million people. On Sunday, chief executive Carrie Lam said more than 500 infections had been confirmed in the last fortnight, bringing the city's total tally to 1,788 cases with 12 fatalities. More than 100 wer...

DUBAI: In Dubai's Atlantis resort, at the head of a palm tree-shaped island, workers in face masks clean cushions, sofas and king-size beds in luxury suites that have largely been vacant since the coronavirus pandemic. The resort and seven other hotels in the regional tourism hub contacted by Reuters are seeing business pick up as Dubai reopened to foreign visitors on Tuesday, but do not expect a significant increase before the fourth quarter of 2020. "Bookings have started to increase," Tim Kelly, managing director at Atlantis Dubai, said, adding he expected a "solid" fourth quarter for the resort, known for its giant aquarium and water slides. The resort shut in March as the United Arab Emirates imposed a coronavirus lockdown and reopened in mid-May when restrictions started easin...

The Federal Aviation Administration began recertification flights of the Boeing 737 Max on Monday, a key step toward permitting the planes to return to service after two fatal crashes more than a year ago. The 737 Max, Boeing's bestseller, has been grounded worldwide since March 2019 after the crashes — one in Indonesia and another in Ethiopia — within five months of one another. All 346 people on the flights were killed in the crashes. Boeing has since changed a flight-control system that was implicated in both crashes and has made other tweaks. Additional scrutiny of the aircraft contributed to repeated delays in the recertification process. Boeing shares added to earlier gains after the first Max certification flight took off, adding more than 14% to end the day at $194.49, leading th...