Global News

[ad_1] Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has tested positive again for Covid-19 Thursday, a week and a half after his initial diagnosis, in what his doctors say is a case of rebound infection. Martin Ollman | Getty Images News | Getty Images SINGAPORE — Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has tested positive again for Covid-19 a week and a half after his initial diagnosis, in what his doctors said is a case of rebound infection. "I feel fine but I am afraid I have turned COVID-19 positive again," Lee said Thursday on social media . "My doctors say it is a Covid rebound, which happens in 5-10% of cases. It is still infectious although the risk is not high compared to the initial infection." As a result, Lee missed the consecration ceremony of a Hindu temple in Singapore. His reinfection comes as Singapore prepares to host top defense leaders from Asia Pacific at this weekend's Shangri-La Dialogue, including China defense minister, Gen. Li Shangfu...

[ad_1] A currency dealer monitors exchange rates in a trading room at KEB Hana Bank in Seoul on June 21, 2021. JUNG YEON-JE | AFP via Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets fell Wednesday, with stocks in South Korea and Taiwan leading declines as major tech firms including chipmakers came under pressure after Barclays downgraded Apple . Apple shares  dropped  4% on Tuesday, after  Barclays cut the iPhone maker's rating to underweight and trimmed its price target to $160 from $161. Apple suppliers in major Asia markets fell, weighing down indexes in Taiwan and South Korea. South Korea's Kospi closed 2.34% lower at 2,607.31, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.84% to end at 871.57. Most technology and chip stocks including Samsung Electronics, LG Corporation and SK Hynix fell about 3% each. The Taiwan Weighted Index shed 1.65%, with shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company down 2.53% and Hon Hai, known internationally as Foxconn, falling 0.48%. India's factory a...

[ad_1] An undated editorial photo of Chinese yuan cash bills and the flag of the People's Republic of China. Javier Ghersi | Moment | Getty Images China's consumer prices were flat in September, while factory gate prices saw annual declines slow for a third month — pointing to the uneven post-Covid recovery in the world's second-largest economy that may require further policy support. Consumer price index for September was flat on an annual basis, the National Bureau of Statistics reported Friday , below than the median estimate for a 0.2% increase in a Reuters poll. CPI inched up 0.1% in August for the first year-on-year increase in three months. Core inflation — excluding energy and food prices — however, climbed 0.8% in September from a year earlier, the bureau said in a separate statement . This rate of increase was similar to the one recorded in August. China's producer price index fell 2.5% from a year earlier , weaker than expectations for a 2.4% decline, af...

[ad_1] People gather outside the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on January 17, 2023. (Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP) (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images) Roslan Rahman | Afp | Getty Images SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to allow non-fully vaccinated travelers to enter the country without a negative pre-departure test from next week, health authorities announced Thursday. The country is set to remove mask-wearing on public transport from Monday, as it seeks to exit the "acute phase" of the pandemic, said the Ministry of Health. The country's Covid task force, created in January 2020, will be deactivated. "Our Covid situation has remained stable over the recent months, despite increased travel over the year and holidays and China's shift from zero Covid," said Singapore's deputy prime minister Lawrence Wong, who is also co-chair of the Covid task force. "Our population has developed a high level of hybrid immunity. The r...

[ad_1] Pedestrians walk past Yum! Brands Inc. Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants in Shanghai, China. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images China is leaving behind pandemic lockdowns, and U.S. companies like Procter & Gamble , Starbucks and MGM Resorts International say the country's recovery is boosting their overall sales as consumers in their home markets watch their wallets. With its large population and swelling middle class, China is a desirable market for many multinational companies that have seen their U.S. businesses mature. But its zero- Covid policy, which imposed harsh restrictions to stop the spread of the virus, hurt the country's economy — and revenue for the many U.S. companies that sell their goods or services there. After rolling back the policy in December, China's economy grew 4.5% in the first quarter. U.S. companies are reporting that demand in China is returning, boosting their sales at a time when many U.S. consumers are pulling back their spe...

[ad_1] China is restricting the exports of gallium and germanium, two metals key to the manufacturing of semiconductors, its commerce ministry said in a statement late on July 3, escalating a technological trade war over access to microchips with Europe and the United States. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images China is restricting the exports of two metals key to the manufacturing of semiconductors, its commerce ministry said late Monday , escalating a technological trade war with Europe and the United States over access to microchips. These new regulations — imposed on grounds of national security — will require exporters to seek a license to ship some gallium and germanium compounds starting Aug. 1, China's commerce ministry said . Applications for these export licenses must identify importers and end users and stipulate how these metals will be used. This move is part of an intensifying global battle for technological supremacy — with China as the world's largest sourc...

[ad_1] A whopping 150 million jobs will shift to workers over the age of 55 by 2030, according to a new global study from Bain & Company .   In the Group of Seven countries , Bain predicts, older and experienced workers will make up more than quarter of the workforce by 2031. "That's a massive shift," Andrew Schwedel, partner at Bain & Company, told CNBC's " Squawk Box Asia " on Tuesday. "Japan is already at the vanguard of this with almost 40% of the workforce over age 55. Europe and the U.S. are not far behind, [with] anywhere from 25 to 30%."  But an aging workforce isn't unique to developed markets — China's elderly population (65 and older), for example, will double by 2050, according to the study.  "Fewer young people are entering the workforce, due partly to lower fertility rates, partly to longer education," Bain added.  "According to OECD data, a long-term trend toward earlier retirement is slowly going ...

[ad_1] Official data showed Inflation in China lingered at weak levels in June 2023, underscoring the challenges that beset the world's second-largest economy in revitalizing growth momentum. Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images China's annual producer prices sank for a ninth-straight month in June, while consumer prices remain unchanged, official data showed Monday, underscoring the depth of the challenges that beset the world's second-largest economy in reviving demand and revitalizing growth. Monday's inflation data underwhelmed market expectations, offering fresh evidence that China's economy may require more muscular policy support to sustain the country's recovery from its strict "zero-Covid" curbs late last year. Producer prices sank 5.4% in June from a year earlier and slipped 0.8% from a month ago, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics. This was weaker than a Reuters poll that had expected a 5.0% annual decline, compar...