LONDON (Reuters) – Turkey needs to put a comprehensive and credible economic plan in place if it is to avoid another cut to sovereign credit rating, a senior Moody’s sovereign analyst said on Thursday. New analysis from the rating agency shows Turkey’s recession, the slump in the lira, upcoming refinancing pressures and dwindling reserves have […]

SINGAPORE – A Singapore-based company director has admitted in court his connection to a 2008 case in which Citibank in New York was duped into transferring US$27.2 million (more than S$37 million) from the corporate account of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) to various beneficiaries worldwide. On Thursday (May 16), a Singapore district court […]

TOKYO (AFP) – Iran’s Foreign Minister said on Thursday (May 16) there is “no possibility” of negotiations with the United States to reduce spiralling tensions, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. “No, there is no possibility for negotiations,” the news agency cited Mr Mohammad Javad Zarif as telling reporters in Tokyo, where he is meeting with […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, pointing to sustained labor market strength that should underpin the economy as growth slows. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 212,000 for the week ended May 11, the Labor Department said […]

JAKARTA (JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Indonesian airports are tightening their screening process for travellers arriving from Singapore after the city state reported its first case of monkeypox, by installing thermal scanners. Singapore reported last week that it had identified a case of the rare monkeypox virus in a Nigerian man. The man has been […]

DOHA (Reuters) – Qatari banks face growing pressure from high exposure to the country’s sluggish real estate market, hit by oversupply tied to preparations for its 2022 World Cup, ratings agency Fitch said. The tiny but wealthy Gulf state has seen its rental prices slide by 20 percent over the past three years. Analysts expect […]

SINGAPORE – A fire broke out at a two-storey shophouse in Little India on Thursday afternoon (May 16), with many people in the nearby areas seeing thick grey smoke rising into the air. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post at around 3pm that it had been alerted to a fire at 14 […]

LONDON (Reuters) – European stocks fell, government bond yields slipped and the Japanese yen firmed on Thursday after the U.S. government hit Chinese telecoms giant Huawei with severe sanctions, further straining Sino-U.S. trade ties. An index of European shares fell as much as 0.5% in early European trading with the German stock index down 0.4%. […]

(Reuters) – European shares retreated on Thursday after Washington blacklisted Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, adding another confrontational element to the U.S.-China trade dispute. The STOXX 600 index fell 0.4% by 0727 GMT with losses led by Germany’s DAX, which is sensitive to tariff and China-related news. The U.S. Commerce Department said it was adding Huawei […]

SUVA, Fiji (AFP) – UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres raised concerns on Thursday (May 16) that a concrete dome built last century to contain waste from atomic bomb tests is leaking radioactive material into the Pacific. Speaking to students in Fiji, Guterres described the structure on Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands as “a kind […]