Countries
Oil prices dropped more than 10% on Friday (March 6) when the U.S. WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude closed at US$41.28 – the lowest since August 2016. More importantly, it was WTI’s biggest one day percentage drop since November 28, 2014. Meanwhile, international benchmark Brent crude lost 9.4% to close at US$45.27 a barrel – […]
... written on Mar 08 2020Xi Jinping rarely mingles with the public. But the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak forced him to take a walk outside the municipal office in the Anhuali neighbourhood in Beijing last month as part of a publicity stunt to assure people that everything was under control. As he was chatting with ordinary folks, the Chinese president joked […]
... written on Mar 05 2020As expected, the next Dewan Rakyat (Lower House of Representative) sitting, scheduled to meet on March 9, has been postponed to May 18 under the instruction of newly crowned Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Essentially, that means the 72-year-old premier was sworn in without the necessary 112 minimum seats required to form a simple majority government […]
... written on Mar 04 2020Moments after Covid-19 coronavirus killed the first American in Washington state, President Donald Trump said on Saturday that there was “no reason to panic”. On Sunday, a second U.S. death was announced. On the same day, New York state confirmed its first case. So far, there are at least 89 confirmed cases, and the nasty […]
... written on Mar 02 2020After Thursday (Feb 27) closing bell, the Dow Jones lost a jaw-dropping 1,190.9 points – the biggest in history. It was also the second day in the same week the index shed more than 1,000 points. On Monday, it had already plunged 1,031 points, before losing 879 points again the next day. Thursday also saw […]
... written on Feb 28 2020On Monday, the Dow plunged 1,031 points. The next day, the stock market continued its losses by closing 879 points lower. In total, the DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average) lost nearly 1,900 points as fears over the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus intensified around the world. Investors scrambled to sell their shares and diverted their money […]
... written on Feb 27 2020Unlike the economy of Abu Dhabi, the big brother and richest emirate in the seven-emirate United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dubai’s economy is not directly dependent on oil. Dubai depends heavily on luxury real estate, tourism, logistics, and financial services for revenues. However, Dubai’s economy suffers indirectly when crude oil prices go south. Surprisingly, despite […]
... written on Feb 20 2020Singapore’s economy almost came to a standstill in the second quarter of 2019, thanks largely to the US-China trade war. Its economy grew by merely 0.7% last year, down from 3.1% registered in 2018. In essence, it had been the slowest economic growth since the 2009 (when its economy expanded 0.1%) Great Recession. Still, the country […]
... written on Feb 18 2020As the death toll caused by the infectious Coronavirus continues to rise, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning that “trolls and conspiracy theories” are jeopardizing the response to the new virus. WHO said misinformation and fake news around the new strain, 2019-nCoV, causes “confusion and spreads fear” to the general public. […]
... written on Feb 12 2020Malaysian leader Mahathir appears to be a very angry man, or at least he pretends to be one. And when he’s angry, he tends to ask people to resign. In 2008, he asked his own handpicked successor, (former) PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down from office. Mr. Badawi, who spent most of this time sleeping on […]
... written on Feb 10 2020
