VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A worker holds palm oil fruits while posing for a picture at an oil palm plantation in Slim River, Malaysia August 12, 2021. Picture taken August 12, 2021. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng/Files - 

Malaysian crude palm oil prices, which have hovered near last month's record highs, will stay firm until February, and may start easing from March on rising output in the top two producer nations rise, leading industry analyst Dorab Mistry said.

Mistry, the director of Indian consumer goods company Godrej International, unveiled on Saturday a bullish outlook for the next five months, due to Indonesia's high export levy and a peak in supply tightness anticipated at the start of 2022.

He pegged palm oil prices in a range from 4,000 ringgit to 4,400 ringgit during October to February before they ease in March//CNA

Commuters wearing masks to avoid contracting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) walk on a zebra crossing in Seoul, South Korea, September 24, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji - 

South Korea's daily COVID-19 infections topped 3,000 for the first time as an outbreak fuelled by this week's three-day holiday spreads, authorities said on Saturday (Sep 25).

Friday's 3,273 coronavirus cases surpassed the previous high a day earlier, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said, taking the nation's tally to 298,402 infections and 2,441 deaths.

Domestically transmitted cases accounted for 3,245 of the new infections, while 28 were imported.

More than 77 per cent of the former were in Seoul and areas neighbouring the capital, which is home to about half the population of 52 million.

"We estimate that the surge in travel during the Thanksgiving holiday, as well as the increase in person-to-person contact, could be major reasons for the sharp increase," said the agency's director, Jeong Eun-kyeong.

The current outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant has contributed to the jump in infections, she told a briefing.

Daily infections may continue to surge over the next one or two weeks, she added, urging people to delay or cancel private gatherings over the period.

The mortality rate and the number of severe cases remain relatively low and steady at 0.82 per cent and 339, respectively, helped by vaccinations that focused on older people at high risk of severe infection, the KDCA said.

The number of coronavirus tests jumped more than 50 per cent to 227,874 from a week earlier, it added.

Authorities have urged those returning from the holiday to get tested even for the mildest symptoms similar to COVID-19, especially before going back to work.

By Friday, 73.5 per cent of the population had received at least one dose of vaccine, with nearly 45 per cent fully inoculated//CNA

FILE PHOTO: Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison is seated with members of his delegation as he participates in a 'Quad nations' meeting at the Leaders' Summit of the Quadrilateral Framework hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden in the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 24, 2021. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo - 

The United States, Japan, India and Australia will work to improve the security of supply chains for critical technologies such as clean energy and to ease a global semiconductor shortage, said Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The Quad nations, in their first in-person summit on Friday in Washington, agreed on a partnership to secure critical infrastructure, the White House said. 

Morrison told reporters after the meeting this will include connecting Australia's raw minerals with manufacturing and processing capabilities, and with end users in the United States, India and Japan, according to a transcript released on Saturday by his government.

Australia is the world's biggest supplier of rare earths outside of China, and is a major supplier of minerals used in electric vehicle batteries, such as nickel, copper and cobalt.

While the leaders did not publicly refer to China, they repeatedly insisted on rules-based behaviour in a region where China has been trying to flex its muscles. Beijing criticised the group as "doomed to fail."

The other Quad leaders expressed appreciation for Australia's role in supplying critical materials "because that is a necessary supply for the many industries and processing works that they operate themselves", Morrison said.

"On critical minerals, Australia is one of the biggest producers, but we believe we can play a bigger role in a critical supply chain that is supporting the technologies of the future."

Australia will host a clean-energy supply chain summit next year, aiming to develop a roadmap for building such supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region, Morrison said.

The Quad also discussed ways to better secure a semiconductor supply, Morrison said, as global carmakers and other manufacturers have cut production due to the shortage made worse by a COVID-19 resurgence in key Asian semiconductor production hubs.

"This is an ecosystem we want to create and we want to do that... in the region," he said//CNA

Taxis wait in line along Battery Road in the Central Business District of Singapore. (Photo: Jeremy Long) - 

Restrictions on group sizes which come into effect on Monday as part of tighter COVID-19 measures in Singapore will also apply to passengers in taxis and private hire cars, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Saturday (Sep 25). 

“Passengers from different households are required to keep to the two passenger-limit when travelling in taxis and private-hire cars,” said LTA.

“However, more than two passengers can travel together in a taxi or private-hire car if they all live in the same household. For example, a parent can travel with his/her two children if they live together.”

LTA also announced that all forms of car pooling services will be suspended.

“These include services such as GrabHitch and RydePool, which involve drivers receiving payment for ferrying passengers while en-route to their destination,” it said.

“Social car pooling trips are only permitted among friends or colleagues if the prevailing permissible group size of two people is adhered to.”

LTA added: “Commuters are strongly encouraged to use taxis and private hire cars booked through licensed ride-hail operators.

“Members of the public who come across individuals providing illegal car pooling services should notify LTA through the OneMotoring portal using the e-service, Report Vehicle-Related Offences.”

On Friday, the Ministry of Health announced the group size limit for dining-in at regular food and beverage outlets will be reduced to two vaccinated people from Monday, while the cap on social gatherings will also be reduced.

This comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in Singapore in recent weeks//CNA