TOKYO: A coalition of climate groups are stepping up pressure on Japan’s top three banks to cut financing linked to fossil fuels, filing shareholder resolutions to be voted on at the companies’ annual general meetings in June, sources said on Monday. The groups are targeting megabanks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group,Continue Reading
KUALA LUMPUR: China will invest an estimated RM170.07 billion (US$38.64 billion) in Malaysia, including in the petrochemical and automotive industries, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday (Apr 4). Rongsheng Petrochemical will invest an estimated RM80 billion in a petrochemical refinery in southern Malaysia, Anwar said in parliament. Automaker GeelyContinue Reading
TOKYO: Asia’s factory activity weakened in March as soft overseas demand hurt output, surveys showed on Monday (Apr 3), suggesting that a deteriorating global outlook will remain a drag on the region’s recovery and keep policymakers on their toes. Export-reliant Japan and South Korea both saw manufacturing activity contract inContinue Reading
ISLAMABAD: Consumer price inflation in Pakistan jumped to a record 35.37 per cent in March from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said on Saturday (Apr 1), as at least 16 people were killed in stampedes for food aid. The March inflation number eclipsed February’s 31.5 per cent, the bureauContinue Reading
GENEVA: Switzerland’s major luxury watch brands are cautiously optimistic that Chinese tourists will boost sales this year, if they return to Europe in large numbers after the easing of domestic COVID-19 restrictions. Exports to China, a key market for watchmakers, contracted by 13.6 per cent in 2022 due to Beijing’sContinue Reading
However, the World Bank warned that regional economies must now navigate a changing global landscape, including rising trade tensions, rapidly ageing populations and climate risks.Continue Reading
KARACHI, Pakistan: Pakistan on Monday (Mar 27) deferred a decision on a request by pharmaceutical firms to raise the prices of more than 100 medicines, prolonging a stand-off with an industry struggling to stem losses from soaring inflation and a weakened currency. The request was discussed during a meeting ofContinue Reading
TOKYO: A group of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers plans to compile a proposal next month urging the government to ban social networking services such as TikTok if they are used for disinformation campaigns, an LDP lawmaker said on Monday (Mar 26). Many US lawmakers are calling onContinue Reading
BEIJING: Profits at industrial firms in China declined 22.9 per cent in the first two months of 2023 from the year before, official data showed on Monday (Mar 27), as the factory sector struggles to claw its way out of the slump caused by COVID-related disruptions. The contraction followed aContinue Reading
SHANGHAI: Apple CEO Tim Cook on Saturday (Mar 25) used his first public remarks on his visit to China to praise the country for its rapid innovation and its long ties with the US iPhone maker, according to local media reports. Cook is in Beijing to attend the China DevelopmentContinue Reading