LONDON (Reuters) – Roughly one in three furloughed workers in Britain returned to their jobs in the first two weeks of July as the hospitality industry began to reopen to the public after a coronavirus lockdown, official data showed on Thursday. Businesses surveyed between June 29 and July 12 said 7% of their staff had […]
BEIJING (AFP) – A former top banker in China pleaded guilty on Thursday (July 30) to illegally receiving over US$12 million (S$16.50 million) after being caught last year in President Xi Jinping’s sweeping campaign against corruption. Hu Huaibang, former party secretary and chairman of the China Development Bank, had taken advantage of his positions to […]
SINGAPORE – Many of the recent reforms in the education system arose from feedback and input from teachers and staff at the Ministry of Education (MOE), Mr Lawrence Wong said. Mr Wong, who is the newly appointed Education Minister, told teachers and staff that he will continue to engage them, with the help of Second Minister […]
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar caught a little support on Thursday after the Federal Reserve offered no real clues about its next moves, beyond an expected pledge to keep policy easy as a fresh surge in coronavirus infections stalls the U.S. economic recovery. That was a letdown to some dollar bears who had speculated the […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Turkey’s lira is back in the spotlight. After two months of stability, the currency is testing the 7-per-dollar threshold and tumbling to record lows versus the euro, rekindling memories of the August 2018 lira meltdown. Speaking on Wednesday, Central Bank Governor Murat Uysal downplayed concerns about the bank’s depleted FX reserves, which […]
LAGOS/ABUJA (Reuters) – As women in hairnets and anti-coronavirus masks sort through folded nappies coming off a conveyor belt, the head of the Nigerian firm they work for wonders how much longer he can afford to keep them in employment. Around 80% of the materials that go into Lagos-based diaper and sanitary towel manufacturer Wemy’s […]
SINGAPORE – There were 278 new coronavirus cases confirmed as of Thursday noon (July 30), taking Singapore’s total to 51,809. They included four community cases, comprising a Singaporean and three work pass holders, said the Ministry of Health (MOH). There were also four imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notices upon arrival in […]
SYDNEY (REUTERS) – Australia is to set up a US-funded military fuel reserve in the city of Darwin, authorities said on Thursday (July 30), a show of stronger co-operation between the allies who both face increasing tension with China. The chief minister of Australia’s Northern Territory, of which Darwin is the capital, confirmed the plan […]
SINGAPORE – Domestic violence victims can receive aid quickly from social services agency Pave now that a new mobile app designed to help them is being tested. Since June, the app has been piloted in several neighbourhoods, including those in Jurong, Nee Soon, Yio Chu Kang and Tanjong Pagar. For its pilot tests, Pave recruited 57 […]
TOKYO/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar was mired at a more than two-year low on Thursday, as investors grew increasingly worried about the economic drag of surging coronavirus cases in the United States, and looked to a fiscal rescue package stalled in Congress for another stimulus hit. Overnight, the Federal Reserve kept pressure on the currency […]