BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s factory activity shrank for the third month in a row in July, an official survey showed, underlining the growing strains on the world’s second-biggest economy as the Sino-U.S. trade war hits business profits, confidence and investment. Wednesday’s weak manufacturing reading adds to global growth risks and explains why policymakers around the […]
MANILA (DPA) – National lottery operations in the Philippines resumed on Wednesday (July 31) after President Rodrigo Duterte partially lifted an order to close all gaming activities run by the government’s charity agency amid reports of massive corruption. Only national lottery operations were allowed to resume, said presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo. “The rest of (the) […]
SINGAPORE – ST Telemedia has launched three scholarships – created in conjunction with its 25th anniversary – with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy; Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge; and Somerville College, Oxford. The bond-free scholarships target Singaporean students from disadvantaged backgrounds and are valued at an aggregate of up to about $4 million for […]
Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday slammed what he called Beijing’s doublespeak, after its top envoy in Manila said China would “not take the first shot” in the South China Sea, even as it expands its military presence in disputed waters. “So they are saying… they want peace in the South China Sea, blah blah […]
SINGAPORE – Two soldiers who were in the cabin of a howitzer artillery gun with the late actor Aloysius Pang will be charged in military court on Wednesday (July 31), said the Ministry of Defence. They are Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) servicemen, Military Expert 2 (ME2) Ivan Teo, 35, and Third Sergeant (NS) Hubert Wah, 31. […]
HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) – Hong Kong’s youth were less happy than their peers in Singapore even before historic protests erupted against legislation allowing extraditions to China, a survey by the City University of Hong Kong showed. Researchers polled 2,304 people under the age of 40 – with roughly half of the respondents in Hong Kong, […]
TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar held steady on Wednesday, largely in a wait-and-see mode as traders looked ahead to the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s meeting later in the day when policymakers are expected to cut interest rates for the first time since 2008. With markets predicting the Fed to reduce its key rate by […]
SEOUL (REUTERS) – North Korea fired multiple unidentified projectiles early on Wednesday (July 31), the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South Korean military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The projectiles were launched from the Hodo peninsula in South Hamgyong Province on North Korea’s east coast, the JCS said, according to Yonhap. The JCS said […]
WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – A North Korean official told a White House National Security Council counterpart last week that working-level talks to revive denuclearisation negotiations with North Korea would start very soon, a senior US administration official told reporters on Tuesday (July 30). The US official had been in the region for unrelated talks, and travelled […]
(Reuters) – European shares slipped on Tuesday as grim forecasts from German giants Bayer and Lufthansa soured sentiment, while a battered pound helped London’s blue-chip index outperform for a second day. Bayer (BAYGn.DE) slipped 3% as it became the latest agricultural supplies company to be affected by flooded farms in the United States and by […]