News

October 1, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s household spending likely slipped back into contraction in August, when the government expanded emergency curbs to contain the coronavirus, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. The government this week ended a state of emergency it had imposed to combat the pandemic, as the number of new cases and […]

October 1, 2021 MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines further loosened coronavirus restrictions in the capital region on Friday, allowing restaurants to accept more guests and gyms to reopen after recording a decline in daily COVID 19 cases. The Philippines, which is battling one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Asia, is gradually relaxing curbs to […]

October 1, 2021 By Praveen Menon WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand logged 19 more cases of the highly infectious Delta coronavirus variant on Friday – all in Auckland, making it highly likely that the country’s biggest city will continue to be sealed off even if some restrictions are eased next week. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern […]

October 1, 2021 SYDNEY (Reuters) -New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian resigned on Friday, shortly after the state’s corruption watchdog said it was investigating whether Berejiklian was involved in conduct that “constituted or involved a breach of public trust”. Berejiklian at a news conference said the issues being investigated were “historical matters”. “I state categorically […]

October 1, 2021 By Rozanna Latiff KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia recorded 9,671 deaths due to COVID-19 in September, the deadliest month since the pandemic began, government data showed on Friday, though authorities have said the increase was mostly due to the delayed inclusion of fatalities from previous months.     The spike has pushed Malaysia’s […]

October 1, 2021 By Dominique Patton and Tom Polansek BEIJING/CHICAGO (Reuters) – As Australian beef exports to China wither amid diplomatic tensions, demand there for U.S. grain-fed beef has soared, fuelled by the appetites of a growing Chinese middle class. Hotpot restaurants, Japanese barbecue chains and steakhouses, all expanding in the world’s No. 2 economy, […]

October 1, 2021 By Karen Lema MANILA (Reuters) – Newly retired boxing icon Manny Pacquiao was the first to file his candidacy to be the next president of the Philippines at the start of registration for thousands of political posts in what is expected to be a hotly contested election in May next year. The […]

October 1, 2021 TAIPEI (Reuters) – Resolving the global shortage of auto semiconductors needs Malaysia’s help, especially when it comes to packaging, a sector affected by the country’s COVID-19 curbs, Taiwan Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said. Taiwan, as a major chip producer, has been front and centre of efforts to resolve the shortage, which has […]

October 1, 2021 By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) – Asia’s manufacturing activity was lacklustre in September as signs of slowing Chinese growth and factory shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic weighed on the region’s economies, surveys showed on Friday. Factory activity in September shrank in Malaysia and Vietnam, and grew in Japan at the slowest […]

October 1, 2021 By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will unveil the Biden administration’s long-awaited strategy for the troubled U.S.-China trade relationship in a speech on Monday at a Washington think tank, her office said. Tai will deliver remarks on her review of China trade policy at the Center for […]

October 1, 2021 By Colin Packham and Jamie Freed CANBERRA/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce detailed plans on Friday to allow Australians to travel overseas, two sources told Reuters, easing some of the toughest COVID-19 restrictions imposed globally. Lifting the ban on international travel will be linked to the establishment of home […]

October 1, 2021 By Ben Blanchard, Yimou Lee and Jeanny Kao TAIPEI (Reuters) – China’s restrictive practices present fundamental problems for its application to join a major pan-Pacific free trade pact, and if it joins before Taiwan there is a risk it could block their application, the island’s economy minister said. Taiwan and China both […]

October 1, 2021 TAIPEI (Reuters) – China has launched a vituperative attack on Taiwan’s foreign minister, evoking the words of revolutionary leader Mao Zedong to denounce him as a “shrilling” fly for his efforts to promote Taiwan internationally. Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, a fluent English speaker, is an outspoken supporter of the island’s efforts […]

October 1, 2021 By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian equities followed Wall Street sharply lower and bonds rallied on Friday as risk sentiment soured amid growing worries that inflation may persist even after global growth has peaked. Japan’s Nikkei tumbled 1.86%, while the broader Topix slid 1.95%. Australian stocks slumped 2.05% and South Korea’s […]

October 1, 2021 By Sonali Paul MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Oil prices dropped on Friday on the prospect that the OPEC+ supplier alliance might step up a planned increase in output to ease supply concerns, with soaring gas prices spurring power producers to switch from gas to oil. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped […]

October 1, 2021 By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s business mood improved for a fifth straight quarter in September with manufacturers perking up on robust global demand, a central bank survey showed on Friday, boding well for the next administration’s bid to pull the economy out of the doldrums. Steady progress […]

October 1, 2021 By Sheila Dang (Reuters) – Major social media stars including Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber and Charli D’Amelio are among celebrities whose Instagram followers experience more negative feelings about their self-image, according to internal Facebook research revealed by the Wall Street Journal this week, raising questions about the impact of celebrity culture online. […]

October 1, 2021 (Reuters) – Singapore Telecommunications has divested a 70% stake in its Australian tower network to superannuation fund AustralianSuper for A$1.9 billion ($1.37 billion), and said it will use the proceeds to fund a 5G rollout and for data centres. The deal involves the sale of 2,312 mobile network towers and rooftop sites, […]

October 1, 2021 CHICAGO (Reuters) – United Airlines on Thursday trimmed the number of employees who are facing termination for defying the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The Chicago-based carrier said only 320 U.S.-based staff are now not in compliance with its COVID-19 vaccination policy, marking a 46% drop in the past two days. Excluding those […]

October 1, 2021 By Tom Westbrook SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar began the last quarter of 2021 near its highest levels of the year and headed for its best week since June, as currency markets braced for U.S. interest rates to rise before those of major peers. The euro slipped 0.1% early on Friday to […]