World

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...

TOKYO: Japan's imports jumped to a record amount in July, boosted by global fuel inflation and a weak yen, outweighing exports and deepening the trade deficit, in a sign of a further worsening in the terms of trade for the export-oriented economy. The trade data came on the heels of Reuters Tankan, which showed improvement in Japan's business sentiment in August, while a key gauge of corporate capital spending rebounded in June from the previous month's decline. While the mixed batch of data provides some evidence of resilience, policymakers are likely to maintain calls for more stimulus as the world's third-largest economy struggles to shake off the hit from the pandemic and as the global outlook dims. "Exports are likely to slow down ahead due to global tightening of monetary policy, ...

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. For decades, it has been notoriously difficult for travelers to get a refund from an airline if their flight is canceled. In many cases, carriers will simply issue a voucher for the money the passenger already spent. However, the voucher can only be used towards a future flight on that airline, essentially giving the airline an interest-free loan and leaving the customer without their cash. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation published a new proposal that, among other things, would allow for a major expansion of consumer rights...

Serena Williams enters her final US Open as a long shot to take home the trophy but her title as the biggest earner in the history of women's tennis will remain for many years to come. Since turning professional in 1995, Williams has amassed a mind-boggling $94.6 million in prize money, more than twice as much as the second name on the list, which happens to be her older sister Venus, with $42.3 million. "It's hard to overstate her success," Victor Matheson, a sports economist at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, said of the 23-time Grand Slam champion. "There are few other examples of athletes in sport who are so far beyond the number two like that." Put another way, about 25,000 women have won prize money in the history of the WTA and Serena Williams has earned more than th...