TOKYO/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Global equities weakened on Monday as investors braced for more indications of economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic while oil prices rose in choppy trade following a landmark deal by OPEC and its allies to cut output. U.S. ... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Monday after major producers finally agreed their biggest-ever output cut, but gains were capped amid concern that it won’t be enough to head off oversupply with the coronavirus pandemic hammering demand. After four day... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Major meat companies in the United States and Canada have closed plants temporarily due to cases of the new coronavirus and concerns about its spread. Here are some facilities that have shut or reduced production: * JBS USA [JBS.UL] shut a ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea reported on Monday that at least 116 people initially cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again, although officials suggested they would soon look at easing strict recommendations aimed at preventing new outbreaks. ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Some of Japan’s ubiquitous convenience stores have taken a novel approach to social distancing by hanging plastic sheets from the ceiling to provide a barrier between customers and staff at the cash register during the coronavirus pandemic. P... More »
SUIFENHE, China (Reuters) – China’s northeastern border with Russia has become a frontline in the fight against a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic as new daily cases rose to the highest in nearly six weeks – with more than 90% involving people coming fro... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China has reduced the number of people crossing its borders by 90% as part of its efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, an immigration official said on Monday. Speaking at a briefing, Liu Haitao, an official with the Na... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – With blunt warnings, flip-charts and daily online briefings, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has been delivering a tough message to the Japanese capital’s residents and shops: stay home and shut down to avert an explosive outbreak of the coronavi... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia on Monday reported 2,558 new cases of the novel coronavirus, a record daily rise, bringing its overall nationwide tally to 18,328. Russia’s coronavirus crisis response centre said that 148 people diagnosed with the virus have died so ... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – The impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on the Indian economy would depend on the depth, duration and diffusion of the crisis, the Reserve Bank of India said in the minutes of its emergency monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting in Mar... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Monday there was no discrimination against “African brothers” in the country and rejected U.S. accusations of mistreatment of Africans in Guangzhou as an attempt to harm Beijing’s relations with African nations. Foreign minist... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Minimal oil price gains on Monday show record output cuts by giant producers will still leave them with a mountain to climb to restore market balance, industry watchers said, with the coronavirus pandemic decimating demand just as stocks ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Narita Airport has prepared an impromptu hotel of cardboard beds and quilts in its baggage-claim area for passengers from overseas who might have to stay there while awaiting the results of tests for the novel coronavirus. Though flig... More »
HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) – A Vietnamese entrepreneur in Ho Chi Minh City has invented a 24/7 automatic dispensing machine providing free rice for people out of work following an ongoing nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Vietnam... More »
TAIPEI (Reuters) – The baseball and soccer seasons got underway behind closed doors in Taiwan at the weekend, providing rare live action for fans at home at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down most professional sport around the globe. Taiwan has be... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea plans to send 600,000 coronavirus testing kits to the United States on Tuesday in the first such shipment following a request from U.S. President Donald Trump, a Seoul official told Reuters on Monday. Trump made the request for te... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore is preparing to house hundreds of foreign workers in accommodation vessels typically used for offshore and marine industry staff as it races to find alternatives to dormitories where the novel coronavirus has been spreading rapi... More »
BAKU/DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC and allies led by Russia agreed on Sunday to a record cut in output to prop up oil prices amid the coronavirus pandemic in an unprecedented deal with fellow oil nations, including the United States, that could curb global oil... More »
(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs said on Sunday that oil prices would continue to fall in the coming weeks, reasoning that a “historic yet insufficient” deal by major oil producers to cut output is unlikely to offset a coronavirus-led demand rout. The Organization of... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand reported 28 new coronavirus cases and 2 new deaths on Monday. Of the new cases, 18 are linked to previous cases, 7 without connection to old cases, and 3 are Thai nationals who had traveled to South Sulawesi province, Indonesia for... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to cut output failed to reach the reduction levels expected by the market, leading to oil prices remaining stagnant, the head of the Japanese petrole... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) chief Steve Dainton has suggested the sport’s annual individual world championships be scrapped, with champions instead decided by the winners of the new “Grand Smash” mega tournaments. The world ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS) told its labour union in South Korea that it wants to suspend operations at three of its domestic factories as the coronavirus outbreak weighs on exports to Europe and the United States, a union official said on Mo... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore has suspended the use of video-conferencing tool Zoom by teachers after “very serious incidents” in the first week of a coronavirus lockdown that has seen schools move to home-based learning. One incident involved obscene images... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department and other federal agencies on Thursday called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke China Telecom (Americas) Corp’s (0728.HK) authorization to provide international telecommunications servic... More »
SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) – A prominent Chinese lawyer who served on the board of telecoms equipment giant ZTE Corp has resigned after several news articles in state-backed media reported that he was under investigation for alleged sexual assault. ZTE said in ... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – A Nintendo Switch video game has been pulled off China’s grey market e-commerce platforms, Reuters’ checks show, after Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong used the game to protest against Beijing’s rule of the Chinese territory. The game, “Ani... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry said on Friday that Beijing is opposed to any action by the United States to revoke China Telecom Corp’s authorisation to provide international telecommunications to and from the United States. Chinese foreign minis... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – As coronavirus cases surge in Indonesia, doctors are working double-time treating patients both at hospitals and online through healthtech startups – an approach that is quickly becoming part of the national healthcare system. Doctor Mohamm... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have figured out how to calculate the age of whale sharks – Earth’s largest fish – with some guidance from the radioactive fallout spawned by Cold War-era atomic bomb testing. By measuring levels of carbon-14, a naturally occu... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Central Bank told euro zone finance ministers that the bloc may need fiscal measures worth up to 1.5 trillion euros ($1.6 trillion) this year to tackle the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, officials told Reuter... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Dollar borrowing costs in the foreign exchange swap markets retreated further on Monday, with swap rates against the euro and pound falling to their lowest levels in more than a decade. These moves indicate recent emergency actions by global... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Investor morale in the euro zone fell to an all-time low in April and the bloc’s economy is in deep recession due to the coronavirus, which is “holding the world economy in a stranglehold”, a survey showed on Monday. Sentix’s index for the e... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The Global Federation of Insurance Associations on Monday warned the world’s governments of the danger of forcing insurers to pay out for losses suffered due to the coronavirus even when pandemic losses were not included in existing policies... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese social media celebrity Pikotaro returned as a leading twitter trend in Japan with a coronavirus hand washing song that repurposes his signature Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen (PPAP) to Pray-for-People-and-Peace. The video was among the top ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will declare a state of emergency as early as Tuesday in a bid to stop the coronavirus, media reported, with the government preparing a stimulus package to soften the blow on an economy already struggling to avoid a recession. More than... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is poised to declare a state of emergency over the coronavirus, giving governors stronger legal authority to urge people to stay home and businesses to close, media reported on Monday. In contrast to stringe... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japanese government’s advisory panel on the new coronavirus outbreak will meet on Monday at 0500 GMT in preparation for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to declare a state of emergency, the Nikkei business daily reported. Source: https://www.reu... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – As Japan faces a fresh wave of coronavirus infections and the government prepares for a state of emergency, medical staff say a shortage of beds and a rise in cases linked to hospitals are pushing Tokyo’s medical system to the brink of collap... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A group representing Britain’s car industry cut its sales forecast for this year by 23% to 1.73 million vehicles because of the impact of the coronavirus crisis. The figure represented a 25% fall from the number of new car registrations in 2... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Angela Merkel’s chief of staff told German broadcasters RTL/n-tv on Monday that he did not think the chancellor’s plans not to run for a fifth term in office had changed after Bild newspaper last week raised the question of whether she might... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – A powerful tropical cyclone made landfall on the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Monday, witnesses said, levelling buildings in a country already in a state of emergency due to concerns about the coronavirus. Cyclone Harold approac... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Mainland China reported 39 new coronavirus cases as of Sunday, up from 30 a day earlier, and the number of asymptomatic cases also surged, as Beijing continued to struggle to extinguish the outbreak despite drastic containment efforts. The ... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur is holed up in New York due to the coronavirus pandemic and says she is contemplating taking up dancing to remain fit as the tennis world finds innovative ways to deal with the lockdown. The 25-year-old became... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – 1/LOOKING TO CHINA The world’s biggest economy won’t be open for business by Easter, as U.S. President Donald Trump had hoped, but the second biggest economy may come close. How China fares offers a guide to other countries when their corona... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Stocks jumped on Monday as investors were encouraged by a slowdown in coronavirus-related deaths and new cases, while oil prices skidded after Saudi-Russian negotiations to cut output were delayed, keeping oversupply concerns alive. Equity i... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s coronavirus case tally has risen to 6,343 in the past 24 hours, a record daily increase of 954, the country’s crisis response centre said on Monday. Cases have been recorded widely, but Moscow remains the epicentre of the outbreak w... More »
BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) – Rockets landed near a site connected with foreign oil firms and state-run companies in Iraq’s southern city of Basra early on Monday, without causing damage or casualties, oil and police sources said. The rockets, which police said were... More »
MELBOURNE/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Carnival Corp’s (CCL.N) troubled Ruby Princess cruise liner, the biggest single source of coronavirus infections in Australia, docked south of Sydney on Monday to get help for sick crew members requiring urgent medical treatment. T... More »
(Reuters) – A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City has tested positive for the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in the first known case of a human infecting an animal and making it sick, the zoo’s chief veterinarian said on Sunday. Nadia... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand reported 51 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths on Monday, according to a spokesman for the government’s Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration. Thirteen of the new cases were medical personnel who attended to infecte... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea reported fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases for the first time since its peak at the end of February as daily infections in Asia’s largest outbreak outside China continued to trend downward. The Korea Centers for Disease Control ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – The coronavirus-driven global shift to working from home is set to have boosted demand for Samsung Electronics’ memory chips from laptop makers and data centres, but first-quarter profits are likely to remain flat as the outbreak weakened con... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global benchmark oil prices traded as much as $3 a barrel lower as the market opened for Monday’s trading session, reflecting fears of oversupply after Saudi Arabia and Russia postponed to Thursday a meeting about a potential pact to cut p... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Lockdowns and travel retrictions prompted by the new coronavirus have been a boon to JOOX, Chinese tech giant Tencent’s international music streaming platform, driving traffic to its karaoke services up by as much as 50%, an executive sai... More »
(Reuters) – Australian triathlete Mirinda Carfrae was cruising along in second place in a virtual bike race when she unexpectedly lost her way. The former world champion, competing from her home in Boulder, Colorado, was suddenly left facing a blank screen dur... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A conspiracy theory that links 5G mobile telecommunications masts to the spread of the novel coronavirus is dangerous fake news and completely false, Britain said on Saturday after masts in several parts of the country were torched. When ask... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Face masks could help limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to researchers who studied the effect of surgical masks on the transmission of other corona and flu viruses. In the study, the use of surgical masks by sufferers sign... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Deep oil output cuts by OPEC and other producing nations would not be enough to prevent a huge build in global crude inventories in the second quarter as measures to contain the coronavirus lead to “unprecedented” demand loss, the head of th... More »
WUHAN, China (Reuters) – Volunteers in hazmat suits have been spraying Wuhan with disinfectant to help the Chinese city where the coronavirus first took hold get back to work as the number of new cases in China drops. Wuhan, where 11 million people live, had b... More »
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s government on Friday imposed a series of new restrictions designed to prevent the coronavirus outbreak spreading widely but said it hoped to soften the measures again in late April. Ukraine reported 138 new cases of the coronavirus o... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global stock markets sank Friday following more signs that the COVID-19 pandemic would take a massive toll on economic growth, while oil prices continued to rally on hopes of a cut to global supply. Investors sought out safe havens in the ... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will send 11 military planes carrying medical equipment to Serbia to help it fight the coronavirus outbreak, the defence ministry in Moscow said on Friday. The announcement came a day after the Kremlin said Serbian President Aleksanda... More »
BEIJING/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global cases of the new coronavirus have shot past 1 million with more than 53,000 fatalities, a Reuters tally showed on Friday, as death tolls soared in the United States and western Europe while the world economy nosedived. In th... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s car sector needs immediate cash and the government should introduce measures to support suppliers, some of which only have enough money to handle the coronavirus crisis for weeks not months, the head of the main trade body told Reu... More »
DUBAI/LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – OPEC and allies are working on a deal for an unprecedented production cut equivalent to around 10% of global supply, an OPEC source said after U.S. President Donald Trump called on oil nations to stop the oil rout caused by the ... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday it would be impractical to restrict economic activity all over the country due to the coronavirus, given that each region is facing different challenges. “It is clear that limiting economic act... More »
OAKLAND, California (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google has published charts showing how the coronavirus has brought hard-hit Italy to a standstill, led to runs on grocery stores around the world and prompted a stark drop in going-out between Mardi Gra... More »
(Reuters) – Google on Thursday published reports for 131 countries showing whether visits to shops, parks and workplaces dropped in March, when many governments issued stay-at-home orders to rein in the spread of COVID-19. Here is a list of countries in alphab... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank Group Corp founder and CEO Masayoshi Son on Friday began polling his Twitter followers over whether a state of emergency should be declared, as the number of people in Tokyo infected with the coronavirus continues to rise. Son also d... More »
(Reuters) – Global coronavirus cases surpassed 1 million on Thursday with more than 52,000 deaths as the pandemic further exploded in the United States and the death toll climbed in Spain and Italy, according to a Reuters tally of official data. Italy had the ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Fujifilm Holdings Corp said it has developed a new, faster test for the novel coronavirus that that causes the COVID-19 disease, reducing the time of results delivery to about two hours. The test was developed by subsidiary Fujifilm Wako Pure... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – For student Kim Jin-won, watching his favourite baseball team’s practice games live on YouTube is a rare slice of happiness while stuck at home during South Korea’s social distancing campaign aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus. Th... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea is struggling to retain its lead in global next-generation 5G telecom services, as the coronavirus pandemic further cools sentiment of consumers whose interest in the technology has waned due to cost and quality concerns. The Asia... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) President John Coates said on Friday he has taken a 20% cut to his “consulting fees” due to the coronavirus crisis. Coates’s fees were A$594,000 ($360,000) for 2020 but he said he would take only A$475,6... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) has denied the struggling Illawarra Hawks club have been sold to teenage NBA prospect LaMelo Ball after the player’s manager said it was a “done deal”. Ball, seen as a potential number one pick... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – A team of Chinese scientists has isolated several antibodies that it says are “extremely effective” at blocking the ability of the new coronavirus to enter cells, which eventually could be helpful in treating or preventing COVID-19. There i... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have solved a longstanding mystery over the age of a landmark skull found in 1921 in Zambia – the first fossil of an extinct human species discovered in Africa – in research with big implications for deciphering the origin of ... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean K-Pop star on Wednesday pulled an April Fool’s prank announcing that he had contracted coronavirus, and later removed the Instagram post after triggering a backlash. Kim Jae-joong, a member of boyband JYJ, posted on his Instagr... More »
LONDON/OAKLAND/BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Driving to work at his factory to the west of London last week, designer Steve Brooks had coronavirus on his mind. What could he make that would let him open a door without touching the handle? “Everyone has to use their li... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s high court upheld on Monday a rarely-used law that criminalizes sex between men, dismissing three appeals that argued it was unconstitutional. The ruling follows challenges to the colonial-era law by activists emboldened after... More »
SYDNEY/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian shares slid on Monday as fears mounted that the global coronavirus shutdown could last for months although markets regained some lost ground late in the session with Australia posting a standout jump. U.S. and European future... More »
WUHAN, China (Reuters) – China reported a drop in new coronavirus infections for a fourth day as drastic curbs on international travellers reined in the number of imported cases, while policymakers turned their efforts to healing the world’s second-largest eco... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Shionogi & Co (4507.T), creator of the blockbuster cholesterol treatment Crestor, said on Monday it would tie up with Ping An Insurance Group Co of China (601318.SS), selling a 2.05% voting stake for 33.53 billion yen ($311 million). ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – A decision on a new date for Japan’s Olympics, postponed because of a coronavirus pandemic, could come as early as this week, the president of the Tokyo organizing committee, Yoshiro Mori, said on Monday. Last week’s postponement is a huge bl... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will step up its efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus by banning the entry of foreign citizens traveling from the United States, China, South Korea and most of Europe, the Asahi newspaper reported on Monday. Non-Japanese citizens w... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s top government spokesman said on Monday there was no truth to rumors the government was planning to declare a state of emergency from April 1 to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has ordered more than 10,000 ventilators from a consortium of leading aerospace, engineering and Formula One racing teams which have met an urgent government plea for help with production due to start this week. The group, including ... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Monday he plans to impose stricter limits on mobility between regions and also to implement a large-scale policy of social distancing to help curb the spread of coronavirus. “In implementing the poli... More »
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s largest state banks said the impact of restrictions on movement imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus could pull down asset quality as borrowers struggle to repay loans, though they are likely big enough to weather ... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai Airways International Pcl (THAI.BK) may permanently reduce the number of aircraft types it deploys once the coronavirus outbreak that has caused the company to ground most of its fleet ends, said a senior government official on Monday.... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Twenty Gazprom workers, who were airlifted to hospital following a coronavirus scare last week, have been discharged after the tests came back negative, a Gazprom spokesman said on Monday. The workers were quarantined at Bovanenkovo gas fiel... More »
(Reuters) – Wimbledon organizers will announce the cancellation of the grasscourt Grand Slam this week due to the coronavirus pandemic, German Tennis Federation (DTB) vice-president Dirk Hordorff has told Sky Sports. All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) offici... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese automaker BAIC Group and ride-hailing service provider Didi Chuxing plan to team up with other industry players to lease BAIC’s cars to customers amid concerns about ride hailing and vehicle sharing eating into car sales. The compan... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd (0175.HK) on Monday said 2020 may be “amongst the most difficult years” in its history, as pressure stemming from the coronavirus pandemic on production and sales is likely to persist in the near future... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s central bank unexpectedly cut the rate on reverse repurchase agreements by 20 basis points on Monday, the largest in nearly five years, as authorities ramped up steps to relieve pressure on an economy ravaged by the coronavirus pan... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Olympic delay has upended years of careful planning by organizers and spawned costly headaches for small businesses, hotels and even pro baseball teams, compounding a $12 billion price tag. The Tokyo Games were postponed until 2021 la... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese comedian Ken Shimura, who had been hospitalized after being infected with the new coronavirus, has died, becoming the first Japanese celebrity to die of the virus. His death, late on Sunday, set off widespread grief among fans. Shimu... More »
(Reuters) – Beijing-based retired basketball star Stephon Marbury is arranging an urgent shipment of surgical masks from China to New York to fight the coronavirus, he said on social media on Sunday. Marbury, who was born on New York’s Coney Island, said he wa... More »
(Reuters) – The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics has dampened the hopes of Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of becoming the sport’s oldest gold medalists, but the pair is determined to stay in shape by restructuring their training program. A ne... More »
