World

SINGAPORE: Activist Gilbert Goh Keow Wah was on Friday (Aug 19) fined S$3,200 for protesting outside the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) building without a permit and refusing to sign a police statement. He was convicted of the offences on Jul 26 this year after claiming trial for the two charges he faced. He was fined S$2,000 for protesting without a permit and S$1,200 for refusing to sign the police statement. He will pay the S$2,000 fine but go to jail for three days in default of the S$1,200 fine, his lawyer Lim Tean said in court. On May 1, 2021, Goh held up a placard outside the ICA building that read: "Please ban all flights from India we are not racist! Just being cautious". This took place soon after the Government stopped entry for all long-term pass holders and s...

Select’s editorial team works independently to review financial products and write articles we think our readers will find useful. We earn a commission from affiliate partners on many offers, but not all offers on Select are from affiliate partners. If the last couple years have taught us one thing about managing money, it's that having some savings set aside is crucial. Despite the significance of having savings, however, research shows that 45% of Americans have less than $1,000 saved — and in an emergency situation, $1,000 may very well not be sufficient. To ensure you have an adequate amount to cover a worst-case scenario, stashing away a portion of every paycheck is key. Financial security set aside, there are many other benefits that savings can provide. Interest rates are on the ri...

SINGAPORE : China's refined fuel exports are likely to sink in 2022 to the lowest in seven years as the country seeks to maintain ample domestic supplies while refinery output posts a rare decline. Regional rivals like India and South Korea are the probable primary beneficiaries of China's export cuts, which allow them to step up to fill shortages in Europe and elsewhere after the Ukraine crisis strained global fuel markets. HOW DOES CHINA'S QUOTA SYSTEM WORK? Beijing manages exports of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel under a quota system, issuing several batches of allocations over a year and viewing product shipments to global markets as a tool to manage domestic supply and demand balances. Most quotas go to state oil groups, including China National Petroleum Corp, China Petrochemical...

Disney (DIS) reported a strong fiscal third quarter Wednesday after the bell. Revenue increased 26% year over year to $21.504 billion, beating estimates of $20.994 billion, according to FactSet. Disney's direct-to-consumer subscriber growth was a positive surprise, too. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.09 exceeded estimates of $0.97. Bottom line This was an excellent quarter for Disney with better-than-expected profits driven by outperformance from the theme parks that continue to show no signs of an attendance or spending slowdown. And the Disney+ subscriber numbers were fabulous, as once again, the iconic franchise maker has shown its streaming business is much different from Netflix (NFLX). By the way, Disney now has 221.1 million streaming subscribers across its various services. That...

WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday (Jul 27) in an effort to cool the most intense breakout of inflation since the 1980s, and US central bank chief Jerome Powell said another "unusually large" hike may be appropriate in September if price pressures have not sufficiently abated. "Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher food and energy prices, and broader price pressures," the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee said as it lifted the policy rate to a range of between 2.25 per cent and 2.50 per cent. The FOMC added that it remains "highly attentive" to inflation risks. Powell emphasised that point in a news conference after the rele...

Mr Wong said on Monday that the PAP went through a "very thorough and deliberate process" regarding succession planning, and that the plans were disrupted due to COVID-19. "Then we had to come back together, and we wanted a process that would allow us to choose a leader while strengthening the sense of team within the Cabinet, and we have done that," he said. "I have emerged as the candidate my colleagues have chosen to lead the team. I am honoured by their choice, and we are now in the process of deliberating exactly when would that transition be for me to take over from Prime Minister Lee." Mr Wong said his priorities now are organising the 4G team and how it would deal with immediate priorities, as well as settle in to his expanded responsibilities and portfolio. "In due course we w...

Since last year, the global energy market has been grappling with a “perfect storm” of demand and supply factors, ranging from severe weather events around the world to a recovery in economic activities from the COVID-19 pandemic. Locally, the domestic market was hit by unplanned reductions in the supply of piped natural gas from Indonesia, while electricity demand was higher than usual. As a result, the Uniform Singapore Energy Price (USEP), or the half-hourly rate at which retailers purchase electricity in the wholesale market, spiked alongside huge volatility in the second half of last year and led to abrupt exits by five electricity retailers. Such price spikes eat into the margins of retailers who sell electricity to consumers at fixed prices, while market volatility makes it diffi...

SINGAPORE: Scams are on the rise, and have come under the spotlight in Singapore following several high-profile cases. None more so than the Tradenation luxury goods scam, which saw victims lose tens of millions of dollars. The couple allegedly behind it, Singaporean Pi Jiapeng and his Thai wife Siriwipa Pansuk, were charged in court with cheating offences on Aug 12. But the case also left people wondering just what would happen to the money they allegedly scammed. Latest statistics reveal the crime is showing no signs of abating. Last year, it drove up Singapore's overall crime levels yet again. Of the 46,196 reported crimes in 2021, more than half – or 23,931 cases – involved scams, increasing from the year before when scams made up about 40 per cent of all cases. The figure...

SINGAPORE: Facing stress at work, a lawyer climbed into his neighbour's balcony to film a video of the young woman showering through her toilet window. The 32-year-old man was on Thursday (Aug 18) jailed for 12 weeks after pleading guilty to two counts of voyeurism. Two more charges of criminal trespass were considered for sentencing. CNA is not naming the offender as this could lead to the identification of the victim, who is protected by a gag order. The man has since left the legal profession and now works in a private enterprise, his defence counsel Shashi Nathan told the court. The court heard that the offender and victim lived in neighbouring terrace houses at the time. The victim's master bedroom toilet had a window that overlooked a small balcony. In the evening of Nov 23, 20...

WASHINGTON :A U.S. Appeals Court on Friday upheld rules set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requiring drones to have remote identification technology to enable them to be identified from the ground. The rules, which were finalisedin April 2021, give drone manufacturers 18 months to begin producing drones with so-called Remote ID and are aimed at safely man ageingthe growing use of drones in U.S. airspace. The U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia turned away a legal challenge from a drone operator and others who argued the rule "amounts to constant, warrantless governmental surveillance." The drone identification rules require they broadcast remote ID messages via radio frequency broadcast but eliminated proposed earlier requirements drones be connected to the int...