Advertising giant Publicis Groupe SA made an unusual executive hire in mid-2022 – a lion-headed digital avatar named Leon who would serve as “chief metaverse officer”, guiding clients through the virtual realm that had seized real-world attention. His moment in the spotlight didn’t last long. Five months later, ChatGPT debuted, and the buzz that had surrounded the...
LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The launch of U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking bitcoin deepens ties between the volatile world of cryptocurrencies and the traditional financial system, potentially creating unforeseen new risks, some experts say. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this month approved 11 spot bitcoin ETFs from issuers including BlackRock and Invesco/Galaxy Digital, in a watershed...
BANGKOK (Bloomberg): Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s key aides renewed calls for an early rate cut to rein in commercial banks from making excessive profits, arguing the highest borrowing costs in a decade will further aggravate an economic crisis. The Bank of Thailand should set rules to lower the net interest margin earned by commercial banks...
JAKARTA (Reuters): Asian currencies were subdued on Monday, with the Indonesian rupiah extending losses on concerns the country's finance minister may resign, while Singapore's dollar was largely flat after monetary policy was left unchanged, as expected. The Indonesian rupiah, among one of the worst performing currencies so far in 2024 after falling nearly 3%, slipped 0.2%...
SINGAPORE: A man who disciplined his nine-year-old son by hitting him several times with two umbrellas and a cane was sentenced to three weeks’ jail on Jan 29. The 45-year-old man committed the offence after his wife suspected the boy had stolen $50 during a birthday party. He also used the cane to hit her when she...
SINGAPORE: Su Wenqiang, one of the 10 foreigners accused in Singapore’s largest money laundering case, was handed seven new charges on Jan 29. Su, 31, who is originally from China and holds a Cambodian passport, now faces nine charges in total. Six of Su’s new charges accuse him of using around S$476,700 in benefits from criminal conduct...
MANILA (Reuters): The Philippines on Monday denied China had a "temporary special arrangement" with Manila to allow the delivery of supplies to Philippine troops occupying a disputed South China Sea reef, calling it "a figment of imagination". The Chinese coastguard said on Saturday it had temporarily allowed the Philippines to provide food and water to soldiers...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Amazon and robot vacuum maker iRobot said Monday they would end their plans to merge in the face of opposition from EU antitrust regulators. iRobot announced a significant restructuring plan to reduce costs and said it would cut about 31% of its workforce, or 350 jobs. The company also said founder Colin Angle...
MANILA (AFP): CNN Philippines will stop operations from January 31 due to "significant financial losses", its owner announced Monday, in the latest blow for the media industry in the South-East Asian nation. The broadcaster began operating in the Philippines in 2015 as a franchise of CNN, delivering mainly English-language news on free-to-air, cable and pay television. Staff...
HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court on Monday ordered the liquidation of China's property giant Evergrande, but the firm said it would continue to operate in a case that has become a symbol of the nation's deepening economic woes. Once China's biggest real estate firm, its astronomical debt of more than S$300 billion had become emblematic...
