Live Streaming
Program Highlight
Company Profile
International News (6893)
June
One dead in India unrest over military hiring, some gatherings banned
Written by Nur Yasmin
Authorities imposed restrictions on Friday on gatherings in a satellite city of India's capital that is home to offices of several multinational firms, and one person was killed as protests against a new military recruitment process spread.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government unveiled the new recruitment system this week, called Agnipath or "path of fire" in Hindi, triggering turmoil with police firing into the air to break up stone-throwing crowds and the torching of railway infrastructure.
The system aims to bring in more people to the military on short, four-year contracts to lower the average age of India's 1.38 million-strong armed forces and cut down on burgeoning pension costs.
But many potential recruits object, concerned about employment opportunities after serving their four-year terms and disappointed to miss out on a pension, and thousands of young men took to the streets on Friday, with protests turning violent in at least three states.
One protester was killed in a clash with police in the southern city of Secunderabad, a government official said.
The administration of Gurugram district, south of New Delhi, said no more than four people could gather at one place in an effort to forestall demonstrations.
"This order shall come into force with immediate effect," Gurugram's administration said in a notice, a copy of which was posted on social media by district's information department.
While there have been no reports of protests in Gurugram, some demonstrators were out in the neighbouring district of Palwal on Thursday.
Some of the world's major companies have offices in Gurugram including Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Meta and Google Inc. (GOOGL.O). it is also home to manufacturing facilities of major Indian companies like Maruti Suzuki (MRTI.NS).
The new recruitment system has drawn criticism from opposition parties, and even from some members of Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who say it will lead to more unemployment in a country grappling with joblessness.
The government has said the armed forces aim to recruit about 46,000 people under the new system this year, and will keep only 25% of them on at the end of their four-year terms.
'NO PENSION'
In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, protests erupted in 14 districts, and police fired into the air to push back stone-throwing crowds, senior police official Prashant Kumar said.
"The police are trying to disperse protesters by holding talks with them," Kumar told Reuters.
Avnish Kumar, a 19-year-old from Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district who hoped to join the army, said he was disappointed with the new scheme.
"The tenure of the job is only four years and only 25% people will get job after that," he told Reuters by telephone. "There is no pension."
In neighbouring Bihar state, protesters torched train coaches in at least two stations and disrupted rail services, police said.
Hundreds of people gathered in Secunderabad in the south, clashing with police and setting fire to railway station property, police said.
The new process will bring in men and women between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21 for a four-year tenure at non-officer ranks, with only a quarter retained for longer.
Soldiers have previously been recruited by the army, navy and air force separately, and typically serve for up to 17 years, for the lowest ranks.
The government on Friday also announced a one-time extension for the maximum entry age into the scheme to 23 since recruitment had been frozen for the past two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters)
June
Support for refugees rises, survey finds, amid Ukraine war exodus
Written by Nur Yasmin
The world has become more compassionate towards refugees, according to a survey by pollster Ipsos published on Friday, a finding it said suggested the war in Ukraine had increased public openness to people fleeing war or oppression.
Some 78% of people in 28 countries believe those escaping conflict or persecution should be able to take refuge in another country, up from 70% in a 2021 survey.
Fewer people also believe borders should be entirely closed to refugees, with 36% agreeing in Friday's poll, against 50% a year earlier, in part reflecting decreasing concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ipsos survey of attitudes towards refugees polled 20,505 people from 28 countries, including Australia, Argentina, China, France, Great Britain, Poland, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.
"Attitudes have become more favourable since last year in most of the countries surveyed, suggesting that the Ukraine crisis has increased public openness to refugees and reversed some of the concerns generated by the pandemic," IPSOS said.
The Ukraine conflict has forced over 6.5 million people to flee to neighbouring countries.
A report by the U.N. body showed on Thursday that some 89.3 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, abuse and violence at the end of 2021.
Since then, millions more have fled Ukraine or been displaced within its borders, with price hikes linked to blocked grain exports set to stoke more displacement elsewhere. (Reuters)
June
EU recommends Ukraine and Moldova as membership candidates in snub to Russia
Written by Nur Yasmin
The European Union's executive recommended on Friday that Ukraine and Moldova become candidates for membership, a milestone in their potential path from former Soviet republics to developed economies in the world's largest trading bloc.
If the European Commission's decision is ratified as expected next week at a leaders' summit, it will be a major morale boost for Kyiv and further Western snub for Russian President Vladimir Putin after his invasion of Ukraine.
The path to actual membership of the 27-nation bloc for Ukraine and Moldova may, however, take years as it needs reforms to conform with democratic and anti-corruption standards.
"Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us the European dream," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference, announcing the decisions.
In keeping with Western leaders' high-profile solidarity, she wore Ukraine's national colours of a yellow blazer and blue shirt.
While some EU countries including the Netherlands and Denmark do not want to enlarge the bloc, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's ambition won the backing of France, Germany, Italy and Romania on Thursday.
Ukraine already has a free trade pact with the EU but applied to join days after Russia's Feb. 24 invasion. It said it was grateful for the formal recommendation.
Moscow says its "special military operation" was partly necessitated by Western encroachment into what it characterises as its rightful geographical sphere of influence.
"There are various transformations that we are observing in the most careful way," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said of the EU move in a telephone briefing with reporters.
In their first visit to Kyiv since Russia invaded, France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Olaf Scholz, Italy's Mario Draghi and Romania's Klaus Iohannis said Ukraine belonged in the "European family". read more
CONDITIONS FOR GEORGIA
Since Ukraine and Moldova won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, pro-Russian and pro-EU politicians have vied for control. Ukraine has sought EU candidate status since 2014 when protests in Kyiv toppled an unpopular pro-Russian president.
As well as in Ukraine, Russia has troops in Transnistria, a breakaway, Russian-speaking province along Moldova's eastern side.
The Commission put conditions on Georgia's aspiration for membership candidacy due to a domestic political crisis, saying it would first have to overcome.
Russia fought a brief war with Georgia in 2008 and maintains a military presence in two disputed regions of the country.
The United States accuses Russia of seeking to check all three countries' European ambitions. Moscow denies this.
For the EU, the path towards membership requires deep reforms tackling endemic corruption in Ukraine. Von der Leyen singled out corruption during a visit to Kyiv on June 11.
According to watchdog Transparency International, Ukraine is perceived as one of the world's most corrupt countries, ranked 122 out of 180 states.
EU enlargement as a policy has also stalled since 2018. EU member states cannot agree on whether to bring other official candidates - Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey - into the bloc.
One senior eastern European diplomat was also wary of France's public support for Ukraine ahead of the EU summit on June 23/24, where leaders must endorse the Commission plan.
"I'd rather wait to see what happens at (the summit) to see it on paper and how they formulate it. EU decisions on candidate status can be taken in very different forms so I think actions and results are more important than public statements," the diplomat said. (Reuters)
June
G20 targets raising $1.5 bln for global pandemic fund, says host Indonesia
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Group of 20 (G20) major economies aims to raise $1.5 billion this year for a fund set up to better prepare for future pandemics, the health minister of current G20 president Indonesia said on Friday.
G20 countries have provisionally agreed to set up a multi-billion dollar fund that health officials have said will finance efforts like surveillance, research, and better access to vaccination for lower-to-middle income countries, among others.
Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said in an interview the United States, European Union, Indonesia, Singapore and Germany have pledged about $1.1 billion to the fund so far.
"If we can get by the end of this year $1.5 billion of fresh funding, we will be very, very happy," he told Reuters, adding he hopes the group can raise another $1.5 billion next year.
Indonesia will host the G20 leaders summit in Bali in November.
The World Bank, which will house the fund, and the World Health Organization (WHO), which is advising on the facility, estimated in a report that the annual funding gap for pandemic preparedness is $10.5 billion.
Budi said he will start discussing contributions to the fund with countries like Japan and Britain at a G20 health ministers meeting in Indonesia next week.
"Pandemic is a war, and we have to be ready with enough money when war happens," he said.
The United States and Indonesia have been pushing for the establishment of the fund to help the world be better prepared to tackle future pandemics, but the WHO has been concerned the fund could undermine its own efforts and those of other global health mechanisms.
But Budi said the WHO will play "a leadership role" in identifying which countries would need the fund or provide other countermeasures.
The World Bank has said the fund is expected to be operational this year, and Budi said the structure for the fund could be established in a few months' time. (Reuters)
June
Singapore hospitality trusts seen as ripe for more take-private deals
Written by Nur Yasmin
Deals to take private Singapore's real estate investment trusts (REITs) are expected to gain momentum as the companies reel under rising interest rates and fierce competition to buy assets, bankers and analysts said.
The trend in the sector, which is worth $7 billion, was underscored by a proposal this week by Frasers Property Ltd (FPL) (FRPL.SI), part of Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi's TCC Group. FPL wants to take private its unit Frasers Hospitality Trust in a deal that values the target at $1.35 billion ($973 million).
Hospitality REITs count large groups as their main shareholders. There has been a wave of consolidation among REITs in other sectors over the past couple of years as companies have sought scale and have expanded overseas.
Prospects of a surge in take-private deals come against the backdrop of the industry's damage from the COVID-19 pandemic and its disruption to travel and tourism.
"For the moment, hospitality and retail REITs which are sub-scale and trade at a big discount to now-lower net asset value (NAV) may be targets," said Quiddity Advisors analyst Travis Lundy, who publishes on the Smartkarma research platform.
Singapore's REIT market is dominated by retail investors attracted to the firms' high dividends. REITs in Singapore must pay out 90% of their rental income, whereas a similar form of investment, called property trusts, need not.
"In hospitality REITs and commercial REITs, takeovers are scale-merit opportunities but take-privates like Frasers are really more about corporate strategy and opportunism than about industrial logic," said Lundy.
Singapore had 44 REITs and property trusts with a combined market value of S$117 billion, according to Singapore Exchange research published in May.
Frasers Hospitality Trust (FHT) (FRHO.SI) has the second least valuable collection of assets among five listed hospitality trusts on the Singapore bourse. Others include Ascott Residence Trust (ASCO.SI), CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLT.SI) and Far East Hospitality Trust (FAEH.SI).
The other is diversified OUE Commercial REIT (OUEC.SI), which has investments in both commercial and hospitality sectors.
FHT's net asset value has declined since its listing in 2014, partly because of the sector's muted growth and the strengthening of the Singapore dollar against its operating currencies, it and FPL said.
"The proposed privatization of Frasers Hospitality Trust by its sponsor should result in a positive kneejerk reaction on hospitality S-REITs (REITs in Singapore) which are still trading at discounts to their NAVs as valuation plays catch-up in the face of the ongoing hospitality recovery," said Citi analyst Brandon Lee.
He said in a report he expected the deal to result in "deeper evaluation by sponsors managing REITs currently trading at deep discounts to NAVs, as assets under management growth becomes increasingly challenging in the face of the rising cost of capital, especially for the smaller ones."
The offer price of S$0.70 a share for FHT represented a 44% premium to its volume-weighted average price in the 12 months to April 7, the day before a strategic review was announced.
The offer valued it at 1.07 times its NAV,while FHT's peers trade at lower valuations, analysts said. FHT said its small size had limited its ability to reap benefits from its listing.
"There's so much competition to buy assets, even from private equity players. With interest rates rising, funding assets to boost scale becomes even more challenging," said one banker familiar with REIT deals. (reuters)
June
S.Korea cuts 2022 growth outlook, vows to lower corporate tax rate
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea's economy will grow at its slowest pace in three years in 2022 as the world faces supply bottlenecks, surging inflation and rapidly rising interest rates, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
Setting out its first economic policy initiatives, the new government of President Yoon Suk-yeol said it had lowered this year's growth forecast to 2.6% from 3.1% and raised the inflation forecast from 2.2% to 4.7%, the fastest since 2008.
"Our economy and markets are being shaken as we are thrown into a complex crisis amid fears of stagflation," Yoon said in a speech on Thursday.
"We will make bold moves to remove any regulations that hampers corporate competitiveness and entrepreneur spirit and take action against unfair practices that disrupt market order in accordance with laws and principles."
To help South Korean businesses facing inflationary pressures, the government proposed to lower the maximum corporate tax rate to 22%, the average of countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The rate on about 100 of the largest companies has been 25% since 2018, when the former government increased it to pay for more social welfare.
South Korea's economy, Asia's fourth largest, last year recorded its fastest annual expansion since 2010. But as the Yoon administration came to office last month, the country was suddenly facing global supply chain disruptions and resulting difficulty in sustaining exports.
The ministry said the global economy was suffering from bottlenecks, plus the Ukraine crisis, inflation, faster monetary tightening in major countries, and COVID-19 lockdowns in China.
Yoon pledged in his election campaign to support a "private-sector-led economy". His measures would help corporate South Korea cope with higher minimum wages, rising borrowing costs and the previous administration's limits on working hours.
Markets are predicting the Bank of Korea will keep moving aggressively after hiking interest rates by 125 basis points since mid-2021. The expected further rises will likely hit private consumption for households saddled with the world's highest debt loads.
On Thursday, the ministry said boosting capital investment in key technology sectors was one of its main policy initiatives. Between 8% and 12% of big conglomerates' investment in making semiconductors and organic light-emitting diodes will be deductible from corporate tax, up from the current 6% to 10%.
Separately, South Korea would improve foreign dealers' access to U.S. dollar/Korean won (USD/KRW) trading. This will help the country in its quest for inclusion in the MSCI developed markets index.
The government plans to extend trading time of the USD/KRW spot market to 17 hours -- 0000 GMT to 1700 GMT. It will also allow dealers based abroad to participate, with details to be disclosed in the third quarter.
Currently, onshore USD/KRW trading hours are 0000 GMT to 0630 GMT and only locally licensed financial institutions can participate.
To revive share prices after the market's fall of almost 18% this year, the government has decided to remove capital gains taxes on retail stock investors, except for holdings worth more than 10 billion won ($7.74 million) in any one stock.
The government also plans to cut tax on stock transactions to 0.20% from 0.23% beginning next year. (reuters)
June
Australia has ground to make up on climate change - foreign minister
Written by Nur Yasmin
New Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday that her visit to the Solomon Islands this week as well as trips to other countries in the region were due to her belief that Australia had ground to make up on the issue of climate change.
"Many countries in the region have been concerned about Australia's previous position about climate," she said after a meeting with her New Zealand counterpart Nanaia Mahuta in Wellington. Wong was named foreign minister late last month.
"So part of why I wanted to engage really early is because I think we do have some ground to make up and we want to demonstrate we bring stronger and more ambitious commitments on climate because we actually think it matters."
According to a joint statement after the meeting, the two
foreign ministers underlined the importance of consultation on new security measures in the region at a time of growing concern between the allies over the impact of a security pact between the Pacific island nations and China.
The two countries' partnership in supporting the Pacific would include joint practical action on issues such as climate change, Mahuta said.
The statement added the ministers were looking ahead to discussions on regional security among Pacific Islands Forum members in Fiji next month.
"During our consultations, we discussed cooperation and engagement in the Pacific region, and particularly the importance of working together to support Pacific partners facing a complex and growing array of challenges, including the effects of climate change and an increasingly contested strategic environment," said Mahuta.
The United States and its Australian and New Zealand allies have for decades seen the Pacific islands as largely their sphere of influence.
China has dismissed their concerns and is pressing ahead with building ties, saying it poses no military threat and that development and prosperity benefit everyone. (reuters)
June
South Korean president promises deregulation, reforms
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol promised on Thursday to remove outdated regulations hindering new businesses while calling for an immediate start to reforming labour practices, the education system and pension programmes.
Yoon, in his second month in office, also said at an event introducing his government's economic policy framework that his government would lower the living cost by helping reduce private sector production costs. (reuters)
June
Japanese PM Kishida's support edges down, voters critical about rising prices
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's support edged down less than a month before a parliamentary election, with more than half of voters critical of how his government is handling rising prices, according to a survey published on Thursday.
Kishida took office last September and will be leading his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) through an election for the upper house of parliament on July 10.
Support has been consistently high, with voters largely approving of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
But support edged down 2.1 points from the previous month's survey to 48.1%, slipping below 50% for the first time in four months, according to the survey conducted earlier this week by Jiji News Agency.
More than half of respondents, at 54.1%, said they were critical of his government's handling of a wave of price rises driven by the Russian invasion and the fall of the Japanese yen to a 24-year-low, feeling not enough has been done.
The results echo a survey by Kyodo News Agency earlier this week that found 64.1% of respondents did not support Kishida's handling of price hikes, while his support slipped 4.6 points to 56.9%.
Although Japan's economy is expected to grow an annualised 4.1% this quarter as the coronavirus pandemic fades, a slide in the yen is threatening to hurt consumer sentiment as higher fuel and food costs inflict pain on households.
But the LDP is still widely expected to win the election, due largely to disarray among opposition parties. (Reuters)
June
North Korea expands work at nuclear test site to second tunnel -report
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korea appears to be expanding work at its nuclear test site to include a second tunnel, a U.S.-based think tank said on Thursday, as South Korean and U.S. officials say North Korea might conduct a nuclear test any day.
Preparation work at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility's Tunnel No. 3 was apparently complete and ready for a possible nuclear test, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report, citing commercial satellite imagery.
North Korea conducted six underground nuclear tests at the site from 2006 to 2017.
The research group said that for the first time, analysts spotted new construction activity at the facility's Tunnel No. 4, "strongly suggesting an effort to re-enable it for potential future testing".
Outside Tunnel No. 3, images showed a retaining wall and some minor landscaping with small trees or bushes, likely in anticipation of a visit by senior officials, it said.
The two tunnels were never previously used for nuclear tests and their entrances were demolished in 2018, when North Korea declared a self-imposed moratorium on testing nuclear weapons and its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Leader Kim Jong Un has said he is no longer bound by that moratorium because of a lack of reciprocal steps by the United States during denuclearisation talks, and North Korea resumed testing ICBMs this year.
South Korean officials said this week that North Korea was poised to conduct a nuclear test "at any time" and that the timing would be decided by Kim.
South Korea's defence ministry spokesman, when asked about the report, said it was closely monitoring developments on North Korea's nuclear activity together with U.S. intelligence authorities but declined to make any further comment.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said on Monday after talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington that any provocation by North Korea, including a nuclear test, would be met with a united, firm response.
He urged China, for years North Korea's only major ally, to use its influence.
Park also vowed to work to normalise an intelligence sharing pact with Japan "as soon as possible" to boost their responses to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
The accord, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), had been a backbone of trilateral security information sharing by South Korea, the United States and Japan.
But South Korea had considered scrapping the pact with Japan in late 2019, during a period of strained ties, before a last-minute decision to renew it in the face of U.S. pressure.
South Korean officials have said that since then, intelligence sharing with Japan had not been as smooth as it was before. (Reuters)