World

Aerial view of containers sitting stacked at the Qinzhou Port on August 15, 2022 in Qinzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. China News Service | Getty Images Two of the major trade lanes for U.S. shippers are under strain this peak season. The heatwave in China has shut down key manufacturing and the growing backlog of European imports is expected to spill over into the first quarter of 2023. Negotiations between the trade union verdi and the Central Association of German Seaport Operators (ZDS) remain inconclusive. This is the tenth round of negotiations. The last date set by the courts is August 22nd. If both parties fail to reach a compromise in this tenth round of negotiations, the port workers could strike again. "If no compromise will be made, we can expect further stri...

NEW YORK: The United States on Monday (Aug 8) returned 30 stolen works of art and antiquities to Cambodia that had been looted from the southeast Asian nation, including from an ancient Khmer city, and illegally trafficked around the world for decades. Manhattan federal prosecutor Damian Williams officially handed over the looted antiquities to Cambodia's ambassador to the United States, Keo Chhea, in front of press. "We celebrate the return of Cambodia's cultural heritage to the Cambodian people, and reaffirm our commitment to reducing the illicit trafficking of art and antiquities," Williams said. Among the 30 works was a 10th-century sculpture of the Hindu deity Skanda, seated on a peacock, as well as a 10th-century sculpture of the Hindu god Ganesha. Both were stolen from Koh Ker, t...

Even so, being Singaporean is a part of his identity that he is extremely proud of, said Mr Pravin, who is the son of L Krishna Samy who composed the 1966 NDP song, Engkal Singapore. When it comes to reconciling his geographically-agnostic idea of home with his intense pride in Singapore, Mr Pravin said: “I am definitely very much Singaporean in spirit, the way I am with people and everything. It's just that I feel like I serve my role and my duties better as I travel as an ambassador of the Singapore brand like this.” And Mr Pravin, it seems, is not the only one who feels that way. “Home today is now both Singapore and Manila,” said Mr Taruc, the employment pass holder from the Philippines. He added: “Singapore is where I, my wife and daughter are building memories together every day,...

SINGAPORE: Malaysia's second-richest man Quek Leng Chan is weighing options for his stake in Hong Leong Bank, including a merger, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, in a move that could trigger wider consolidation in the sector. Quek, 80, is also exploring the possibility of reducing his stake in the Malaysian lender, said the sources who declined to be named due to the confidential nature of the matter. Conglomerate Hong Leong Financial Group, controlled by Quek, holds a 62 per cent stake in Hong Leong Bank, the country's fourth-largest lender with a market value of US$10 billion, according to Refinitiv data. Hong Leong Bank and Hong Leong Financial did not respond to multiple queries sent by Reuters and there was also no response from Quek to queries sent through the bank....

NEW YORK :The U.S. dollar rose across the board on Monday, driving the euro back below parity, as investors shied away from riskier assets amid growing fears that interest-rate hikes in the United States and Europe, aimed at curbing inflation, would weaken the global economy. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar rose 0.8 per cent to a more than five-week high of 109.02, not far from the two-decade peak of 109.29 touched in mid-July. The greenback has found support in recent sessions as several Federal Reserve officials reiterated an aggressive monetary tightening stance ahead of the Fed's Jackson Hole, Wyoming, symposium this week. The latest of these officials, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, on Friday said the "urge" among central bankers was toward faster, front-loaded ra...

A joint battery venture of Toyota Motor Corp and Panasonic Corp will buy lithium from ioneer Ltd's Rhyolite Ridge mining project and use the metal to build electric vehicle batteries in the United States. The binding supply deal, announced on Sunday, is the second in less than a month for ioneer and a strong vote of confidence in a project that is racing to be the first new U.S. source of the battery metal in decades. Under the terms of the deal, ioneer will supply 4,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate annually for five years to Prime Planet Energy & Solutions (PPES), which was formed by Toyota and Panasonic in 2020 to better compete with battery market leader Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL). Supplies are slated to begin in 2025, a timeline that depends in part on ioneer obtai...

China has introduced rules that aim to govern how technology platforms use recommendation algorithms. It is part of a broader push from Beijing to more closely regulate China's domestic technology sector. It comes after China brought in a law in March governing the way tech firms use recommendation algorithms . The rules include allowing users to opt out of recommendation algorithms, as well as requiring companies to obtain a license to provide news services. The Cyberspace Administration of China, one of the country's most powerful regulators, released a list on Friday of 30 algorithms alongside a brief description of their purpose from companies including e-commerce firm Alibaba and gaming giant Tencent. Chinese technology giants shared details of their prized algorithms with the coun...

LONDON :The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes the "largest investment ever in combating the existential crisis of climate change", according to President Joe Biden, who will sign the bill into law later on Tuesday. Around $369 billion of federal funds will flow into climate change and energy security, boosting domestic capacity to produce wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles. However, the green investment comes with a metallic sting in the tail. The IRA extends and expands the existing electric vehicle (EV) subsidy of up to $7,500 but conditions the tax credit on the sourcing of the mineral content of the battery. At least 40 per cent of the critical metals in the battery - lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese - must come from the United States or a Free Trade Agreem...

SINGAPORE: A youth told seven friends that he had made profits from trading cryptocurrency, convincing them to invest about S$332,000 through him. Instead of investing, he used the money to buy items in online games, which he sold for profit. He then paid back about S$82,000 to his friends. The youth, now 20, on Tuesday (Aug 16) pleaded guilty to three charges of cheating. Another four similar charges will be considered when he returns for sentencing next week. The youth cannot be named as he was under 18 when he committed the offences and is protected under the Children and Young Persons Act. Sometime before 2017, the youth discovered that he was able to profit from buying and selling in-game items from games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Around November 2017, when the yout...

SHANGHAI: A few cities in China's tourism hub Hainan extended lockdowns on Friday (Aug 12), with some of the measures expected to last through the weekend, while Lhasa in Tibet also tightened restrictions, among the latest curbs to contain COVID-19 clusters in the country. Under the "dynamic COVID zero" policy that aims at quickly stopping each outbreak from spreading, local governments have imposed shorter lockdowns where people were barred from unnecessary movements for a few days or weeks until clusters were contained within narrower areas. Such lockdowns were less painful than the two-month virus battle fought by Shanghai in the spring, but the growing spread of Omicron across China may lead to more cities made subject to such measures along with the potential disruption to local bus...