The US will release 50 million barrels of crude from its strategic reserves in coordination with China, Japan, India, South Korea and the UK in an unprecedented, coordinated attempt by the world’s largest oil consumers to tame prices that could prompt a backlash by Opec+.Of that amount, 32 million will be released from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve as an exchange over several months, while 18 million will be as an accelerated release from previously authorised sales, the White House said…
Singapore health minister Ong Ye Kung to visit Hong Kong for global conference
Singapore’s health minister Ong Ye Kung will be in Hong Kong on Wednesday for a conference on global health, the first time “zero-Covid” Hong Kong has hosted a minister from the city state since the beginning of the pandemic.The visit comes three months after the two cities dropped an ill-fated plan for a travel bubble that was twice suspended at the eleventh hour.Ong – who is among a dozen experts attending the inaugural Asia Summit on Global Health to discuss how countries can work together…
How industrialised construction will change the nature of construction disputes
The industrialisation of construction processes is likely to reduce the number of some types of construction disputes because harnessing the power of technology and data should enable better management of projects.
UK FCA confirms temporary use of synthetic sterling and yen LIBOR settings
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is to allow the temporary use of ‘synthetic’ sterling and yen LIBOR rates after the end of the LIBOR regime for these currencies in December 2021.
Philippines redeploys supply boats to disputed South China Sea shoal after China blockade
The Philippine military defiantly redeployed two supply boats on Monday to provide food to Filipino marines guarding a disputed shoal in the South China Sea after the Chinese coastguard used water cannons to forcibly turn the boats away in an assault last week that drew angry condemnation and warnings from Manila.Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the two civilian wooden-hulled boats carrying navy personnel left western Palawan province and should reach the marines stationed on a navy ship…
Malaysia’s former premier Najib’s party considers early general election after big weekend win
Malaysia’s ruling United Malays National Organisation is considering bringing forward a general election that is due only in 2023, after former premier Najib Razak led the pro-Malay party and its allies to a resounding victory in local polls over the weekend.Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan said he spoke with the prime minister on considering an earlier election, to capitalise on the current pro-government sentiments, the Malaysian National News Agency Bernama reported on Sunday. The party…
China’s answer to Aukus alliance? More rhetoric, more intimidation tactics and more weapons
In response to a new Anglo-Saxon military alliance and more US-designed nuclear-powered submarines in the Indo-Pacific, Beijing will likely step up efforts to avoid encirclement and expand its own nuclear submarine fleet, according to current and former officials and military experts.The defence build-up on both sides comes amid louder, if still relatively faint, drums of war around Taiwan, lending greater immediacy to the new alliance and spotlighting broader Chinese, US and allied regional…
South China Sea: Philippines to resume resupply mission after boats blocked by Chinese coastguard
The Philippines’ defence chief said on Sunday a military resupply mission for the country’s troops stationed on an atoll in the South China Sea will resume this week, after it was aborted last week when it was blocked by Chinese coastguard.Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he had instructed the military to send its resupply vessels back to the Philippines-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, and that China “will not interfere” this time.On Thursday, the Philippines condemned “in strongest terms”…
‘Life is bad’: despair grips Vietnamese workers at Chinese tyre factory in Serbia
They are shivering in barracks without heat, going hungry and have no money. They say their passports have been taken by their Chinese employer and that they are now stuck in a grim plainland in Serbia with no help from local authorities.These are the Vietnamese workers who are helping build the first Chinese car tyre factory in Europe. The Associated Press visited the construction site in the northern city of Zrenjanin where some 500 of the workers are living in harsh conditions as China’s…
Singapore to ease dine-in, social gathering rules as Covid-19 cases fall
Singapore will from Monday ease strict Covid-19 restrictions that were reimposed in September after its biggest outbreak of the Delta variant, though officials emphasised further reopening would be done in an incremental manner.With over 85 per cent of the country’s 5.45 million people vaccinated – and some 22 per cent having received booster shots – some citizens have taken to social media to express annoyance at the government’s cautious approach to easing the measures.Prime Minister Lee…