financializer news A weblog highlighting financial topics making news in the international media.

masayoshi son: The deal follows the sale of Verizon Communications Inc.'s media division, the bulk of which is the original U.S. version of the Yahoo web portal, to private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc. for 5 billion. ; Yahoo Inc. was one of Son's early big investments, who built a 100 million stake in one of the original web startups in the mid-90s, according to The Japan Times. He subsequently formed the joint venture Yahoo Japan Corp., which over the years morphed into tech and e-commerce platform Z Holdings as Yahoo sold off its core assets. But it still has value in Japan, where the once-illustrious marquee just sold for 178.5 billion 1.6 billion . Z Holdings Inc., a unit of Masayoshi Son's Soft Bank Group Corp., agreed to buy the rights to the Yahoo name in Japan to replace an existing licensing agreement. While the Yahoo brand has fallen from favor on the English-language internet, it is a vital part of the Z Holdings portfolio, along with messaging app Line, fashion e-commerce outlet Zozo and mobile payment platform Pay Pay. The Yahoo Japan top page alone brought in almost the same number of users as You Tube. Yahoo brands made up four of the top-10 visited websites in Japan in 2020, according to a survey by Values Inc. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

non-discretionary spending: Cuts to non-discretionary spending are also part of the plan, according to The Japan Times. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is pushing for investment into green and digital technologies even as the government struggles under the developed world's heaviest debt burden. Under the plan, ministries get 3 to spend on projects in targeted areas including the environment and digitalization for every yen they're able to cut from other spending, according to documents released by the Cabinet Office Wednesday. ; The plan calls for cuts of 10% to discretionary spending, which totaled 14.9 trillion 135 billion last year across the country's ministries. The new budgeting mechanism is an attempt to square that circle by providing incentives for Japan's bureaucrats to cut costs while also funding the country's new growth projects. Analysts are skeptical the goal will be met, but the new budgeting incentives could at least help. Like many countries, Japan has adopted new targets for reducing greenhouse gases, aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

year: Gone are the days when a long, lucrative career in finance and all the social capital that comes with it seemed appealing. ; But the real reason no one wants to work in banking isn't just the terrible hours and a generational awakening, according to The Japan Times. It's that, like banks themselves, the work isn't what it used to be. Post-pandemic life has been an opportunity for introspection. Sources of investment banking revenue have been the same for years. Slides that proposed companies for mergers have shown up in pitchbooks year after year. Bankers have been talking the same old book. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

challenge son: Son may relinquish the chief executive officer title and hopes to have an idea of who his successor will be at around 69, according to The Japan Times. For now, the 63-year-old CEO, unusually wearing reading glasses during his presentation, said he feels energized thanks to advanced medical technology. ; Coming up with a plan for who will succeed Son is Soft Bank's biggest challenge, according to Yuko Kawamoto, who just stepped down as director after one year on the job. Son, who has often indicated he plans to find his replacement in his 60s, may stay on as the chairman into his 70s, the billionaire told shareholders during their annual meeting Wednesday. She had been the first female board member for the conglomerate and shareholders approved the appointment of another, Koei Tecmo Holdings Co. Investors also asked about plans for more share repurchases and the possibility of taking the company private through a slow-motion management buyout. Chairman Keiko Erikawa, at the meeting. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

day: The Tokyo market got off to a mixed start, according to The Japan Times. The Nikkei rose on the strength of higher semiconductor-related stocks after the tech-heavy Nasdaq index rewrote its record high on Tuesday, while the Topix met with profit-taking after the previous day's sharp rally took back more than it lost Monday. The 225-issue Nikkei average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange inched down 9.24 points, or 0.03%, to close at 28,874.89, after rocketing 873.20 points Tuesday. ; The Topix index of all first section issues ended 10.39 points, or 0.53%, lower at 1,949.14, following a gain of 60.08 points the day before. Stocks weakened in the afternoon as investors sold on the rally, pulling down the Nikkei to around the previous day's close. The Nikkei was capped at around 29,000, as it has been for a while, Maki Sawada, strategist at Nomura Securities Co., said. The market then struggled for direction amid a dearth of new market-moving factors. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

ueno facility: Zoo director Yutaka Fukuda said the twin birth was a first for the Ueno facility, according to The Japan Times. When I heard the news that the second baby was born, I couldn't help but whoop, he told reporters. They were born in the early hours of Wednesday, the zoo said in a statement, adding that it had not yet confirmed the sex of the pair. ; Officials are currently doing their best to protect and observe the mother and babies, the statement added. One of the babies, weighing in at 124 grams, was placed in an incubator, spokesman Naoya Ohashi said in a news conference later. When pandas have twins, they usually only raise one, so we will be making sure the mother panda will breastfeed one while we keep the other in the incubator, Ohashi said. The mother panda is in good health, and carefully looking after the other baby, he added. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

bri projects: But until now we haven't offered a positive alternative that reflects our values, our standards and our way of doing business, according to The Japan Times. China's BRI is a multitrillion-dollar infrastructure project launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping involving development and investment initiatives that would stretch from Asia to Europe and beyond. The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the United States would also push the other G7 leaders for concrete action on forced labor in China, and to include criticism of Beijing in their final communique ; This is not just about confronting or taking on China, the official said. More than 100 countries have signed agreements with China to cooperate in BRI projects like railways, ports, highways and other infrastructure. In March, Biden said he had suggested to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting the three-day G7 leaders' summit in southwest England, that democratic countries should develop their own rival plan. According to a Refinitiv database, as of mid-last year, more than 2,600 projects at a cost of 3.7 trillion were linked to the initiative, although the Chinese Foreign Ministry said last June that about 20% of projects had been seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

caregiving: The program took aim at the government's kaigo hoken caregiving insurance system implemented in 2000 and to which everyone starting at age 40 contributes, according to The Japan Times. Although the problems inherent in the system have been discussed previously, the pandemic has exacerbated them, making them even more apparent since the well-publicized aging of Japanese society has yet to peak. Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, is running a series of special reports on how the pandemic is changing the world, and the May 23 installment was about senior caregiving services. Demand for services will increase over the next decade even as the caregiving insurance system collapses. One of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic is resident facilities, which became hotbeds of infection clusters early on, thus bringing to the fore one of the main purposes of the caregiving insurance system, which is to encourage and promote care at home, where seniors can be attended to either by family members or contracted home helpers. So far, media coverage has focused on the lack of caregivers owing to low pay and difficult working conditions. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

fintech officer: The environment the country is building enables these fintech players to find opportunities to see if their early ideas translate into real value in the long run, according to The Japan Times. Mohanty, who spent 17 years at Citigroup Inc. before taking the position at the central bank in 2015, is in the fintech role at a time when the industry is fast evolving. Such investments have risen from around 20 million in 2014 to a record 1.1 billion last year, and more is expected this year, Sopnendu Mohanty, the Monetary Authority of Singapore's MAS chief fintech officer, said in an interview. ; We don't have Silicon Valley, but we are trying our best, he said. The MAS' aspirations are central to Singapore's aim to fortify its position as a global financial center where incumbent banks and contesting tech firms compete to provide services to consumers and corporates, though it is also a gatekeeper of standards as companies roll out their businesses. He is also keen to expand a cross-border payments infrastructure, that has kicked off with Thailand allowing people in both countries to almost immediately move money via their mobile phones through government-backed systems. Mohanty has been involved with efforts like Partior the joint venture between JPMorgan Chase & Co., Temasek Holdings Pte. and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. that's a new blockchain-based platform for payments, trade and foreign-exchange settlement. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

korean: The ruling was contrary to South Korean Supreme Court rulings in 2018 that had ordered two Japanese companies to compensate South Korean plaintiffs for wartime forced labor, according to The Japan Times. Presiding Judge Kim Yang-ho said that while the plaintiffs have not lost their right to claim damages as individuals under a 1965 claims settlement agreement signed alongside a treaty normalizing ties between the two countries, such a right cannot be exercised through lawsuits. According to one judicial source, what lay behind those rulings, which dismissed Korean plaintiffs' demand for damages from Japanese government and corporations, was judges' personal conviction that is unrestrained by the political winds of the day. ; On Monday, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed a damages lawsuit brought against 16 Japanese companies by 85 plaintiffs and their bereaved families who say they were made to work for them during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The decision was in line with the Japanese government's position that the issue of compensation was resolved finally and completely by the bilateral agreement, under which Japan provided South Korea with 300 million in grants and 200 million in loans. The court went so far as to say that Japan's economic cooperation provided under the 1965 accord greatly contributed to South Korea's economic growth. The ruling said that if a compulsory execution for compensation follows a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, and if an international court subsequently rules against South Korea over the case, that would damage the country's relations with Japan and the United States, and its national security. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

pricing talks: In a dramatic shift from a year ago, customers rushing to secure supply are left with far less haggling power, leading to ever-higher fees. ; Buyers in Japan agreed to pay a premium of 185 about 20,240 per ton above benchmark London prices for the coming quarter, the highest in six years, according to five people familiar with the matter, according to The Japan Times. That's more than double the level seen a year earlier, when demand suffered due to the global coronavirus outbreak. Producers of the lightweight metal are increasingly calling the shots in pricing talks with Japanese buyers as demand climbs amid a tightening global market driven by economies recovering from the pandemic. Further, in a sign of how clearly the sellers have gained the upper hand, the negotiations involved a rare notice from a producer saying that if its initial offer wasn't agreed to, the price would be raised, according to three of the people who asked not to be identified because talks are private. Japanese buyers seem to have had to accept the higher premium to secure enough supply, because otherwise ingot would be diverted to other countries, said Takeshi Irisawa, an analyst at Tachibana Securities Co. Typically, producers present their highest prices at the start of talks and gradually lower their offer as they seek deals. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

security officials: Major decisions involving data security will be made by central national security officials, according to The Japan Times. The law takes effect Sept. 1. Firms found mishandling core state data can be forced to cease operations, have their operating licenses revoked or fined up to 10 million yuan 1.6 million under a law passed Thursday by the Asian nation's top legislative body. ; Companies that leak sensitive data abroad can be hit with similar fines and punishments, and those providing data to overseas law enforcement bodies without permission can face financial penalties up to 5 million yuan and business suspensions, according to the law published on the website of the National People's Congress. Xi's administration has tightened control over the hoard of information produced by the nation's tech companies as part of broader efforts to position China as a leader in big data. The law represents another important piece in the overall data protection regulatory jigsaw in China, Carolyn Bigg, a lawyer who specializes in intellectual property and technology issues with DLA Piper in Hong Kong, said before it was passed. Beijing has been pouring money into data centers and other digital infrastructure to make electronic information a national economic driver and help shore up the Communist Party's legitimacy. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

apec host: The trade ministers also said APEC economies will work proactively to support discussions for a temporary waiver of certain intellectual property protections on COVID-19 vaccines, according to The Japan Times. The mention of the waiver was included in the statement as New Zealand has announced its support of a proposal by India and South Africa for the World Trade Organization to temporarily suspend intellectual property protections on the vaccines. The ministers from 21 economies that form the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation met virtually amid the pandemic, with New Zealand, the current APEC host, serving as chair. ; Recognizing the role of extensive COVID-19 immunization as a global public good, we urgently need to accelerate the production and distribution of safe, effective, quality-assured, and affordable COVID-19 vaccines, they said in a joint statement, stressing trade and investment's role in ensuring widespread and equitable access to vaccines. In addition to the joint statement, the ministers issued a separate one on COVID-19 vaccine supply chains that said APEC economies will expedite the flow and transit of all vaccines and related goods through air, sea and land ports. At a pre-meeting news conference, New Zealand Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O'Connor, who serves as meeting chair, said the successful distribution of vaccines across the Asia-Pacific region will be critical to the region's recovery. We will consider voluntary actions to reduce the cost of these products for our people, particularly by encouraging each economy to review its own charges levied at the border on COVID-19 vaccines and related goods, the ministers said in the statement. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

low-tax countries: Increasingly, income from intangible sources such as drug patents, software and royalties on intellectual property has migrated to these jurisdictions, allowing companies to avoid paying higher taxes in their traditional home countries, according to The Japan Times. What other talks have taken place The G7 accord feeds into a much broader, existing effort. Such a deal aims to end what U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called a 30-year race to the bottom on corporate tax rates as countries compete to lure multinationals. ; Why a global minimum tax Major economies are aiming to discourage multinationals from shifting profits and tax revenues to low-tax countries regardless of where their sales are made. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has been coordinating tax negotiations among 140 countries for years on rules for taxing cross-border digital services and curbing tax base erosion, including a global corporate minimum tax. If a broad consensus is reached, it will be extremely hard for any low-tax country to try and block an agreement. The OECD and Group of 20 countries aim to reach consensus on both by midyear, but the talks on a global corporate minimum are technically simpler and less contentious. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

u.s: From denying its existence, minimizing its seriousness, delaying the delivery of personal-protective equipment and by placing inexperienced people in charge of managing the administration's response, the former president's approach needlessly caused the loss of many lives, according to The Japan Times. In addition, the president's messages were often unclear and at odds with information from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control CDC . While China has successfully controlled the pandemic, other countries including the United States still suffer its consequences. The differences in its evolution throughout the world permits us to draw some lessons on how best to deal with the pandemic, and by studying failed policies, we will be able to better confront future challenges. ; Wrong and right approach The Trump administration's pandemic policies can be best described as a tragedy of errors. Authorities in China were able to implement, from the beginning, draconian measures to prevent the rapid spread of the virus. A note of caution Many experts consider this a gross underreporting by the Chinese authorities, although China's success in controlling the pandemic cannot be denied. From Jan. 3, 2020, to May 17, 2021, there were 104,428 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China, with 4,858 deaths reported to the World Health Organization. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

mass protests: The junta has insisted schools open on Tuesday after a year's absence due to COVID-19, but many educators had already decided they could not return to a job they love, according to The Japan Times. I'm not afraid of their arrest and torture, said Shwe Nadi, a teacher from the commercial capital Yangon. Four months of national turmoil have followed the February ouster of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with more than 800 people killed by security forces and a nationwide strike crippling the economy. ; Public school teachers dressed in the green and white uniforms mandated by the education ministry were prominent in the early mass protests, joining railway workers, doctors and civil servants on the streets. Her name has been changed for her safety. The 28-year-old was fired for supporting the civil disobedience movement one of the thousands of teachers and academics the junta has sacked. I'm afraid of becoming a teacher who teaches the students propaganda. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

retirement age: In 2016, couples were allowed to have a second baby, although that did little to boost the birthrate, according to The Japan Times. In a meeting presided over by President Xi Jinping on Monday, the Communist Party's Politburo agreed to ease the current two-child restriction and also raise the retirement age, in a bid to boost the labor force. Economists and demographers say authorities will need a range of supportive policies on child care and measures to curb high education and housing costs to make it viable for couples to expand their families. ; China has been gradually reforming its stringent birth policy, which for decades limited most families to having only a single child. It is an important policy move, but the three-children policy alone will not lead to a sustained rebound in the fertility rate, said Yuan Xin, a professor at Nankai University in Tianjin. Some government officials, including researchers at China's central bank, have called for birth limits to be abolished entirely. A whole package of services and polices, such as childcare, tax-rebates for parents, housing subsidies and even gender equality, are needed to create a social environment that encourages parents to have more babies. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

tectonic transformation: Something like COVID-19, according to The Japan Times. In 2020, when the pandemic hit and economies around the world went into lockdown, policymakers effectively short-circuited the business cycle without thinking twice. Something big usually has to happen to jolt policy onto a different track. In the U.S. in particular, a blitz of public spending pulled the economy out of the deepest slump on record faster than almost anyone expected and put it on the verge of a boom. But the overall approach the framework in place since President Ronald Reagan and Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker steered U.S. economic policy in the 1980s emerged relatively intact. The result could be a tectonic transformation of economic theory and practice. ; The Great Recession that followed the crash of 2008 had already triggered a rethink. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

cryptocurrency market: In the aftermath of the massive cryptocurrency heist, which saw 58 billion worth of NEM coins taken from the Tokyo-based startup, Japan's cryptocurrency market appeared to have lost vigor amid an intensified crackdown on virtual currency exchange operators by the country's financial watchdog, according to The Japan Times. According to fiscal 2020 earnings released by Monex Group last month, Coincheck's revenue jumped by more than fivefold to 20.8 billion compared with the previous year. Perhaps, the most symbolic indication of the local industry's progress is the steady growth recorded by Coincheck Inc., which is now under Monex Group Inc., an online brokerage. ; A hacking attack that hit Coincheck in January 2018 put a wet blanket on a growing cryptocurrency frenzy. Of the 260,000 users that it gained, about 210,000 were concentrated in the second half of the business year that ended in March, indicating that many users have hopped on the latest crypto bandwagon. That incident highlighted the fact that many exchange operators, which were startups, did not have experience and know-how in properly running online-based financial services, prompting the government to issue a series of reprimands, some of which even ordered the suspension of operations. When Coincheck was hit by the cyberattack, the firm was criticized for neglecting consumer protection amid its sharp growth. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

franklin templeton: Franklin Templeton's Michael Hasenstab says it could undermine the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency, according to The Japan Times. Joe Biden's White House is studying the potential threat to U.S. interests. ; Yet talk to people who have actually used the digital yuan in China, and you're more likely to get a different response shrugs of indifference. Historian Niall Ferguson is calling the digital yuan a potentially fatal challenge to decades of American financial hegemony. In Shenzhen, the high-tech metropolis that just extended China's largest digital yuan trial, participants interviewed showed little interest in switching from mobile payment systems run by Ant Group Co. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. that have already replaced cash in much of the country. I'm not at all excited, said Patricia Chen, a 36-year-old who works in the telecom industry and was one of the more than 500,000 people in Shenzhen eligible to take part in the trial. Some balked at the possibility a digital yuan might give authorities easier access to real-time data on their financial lives. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

growth stocks: The key market gauge inched up 26.45 points Friday. ; The Topix index of all issues on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended up 19.22 points, or 0.99%, at 1,952.27, following a 5.65-point rise the previous trading day, according to The Japan Times. Tokyo stocks got off to a firm start, aided by rises in all three major U.S. stock indicators Friday of which the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 index rewrote their record highs. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 160.52 points, or 0.55%, to end at 29,518.34, extending its winning streak to a third straight market day. The U.S. indexes' strong performances came as growth stocks, in particular, attracted buying, after the Labor Department's announcement of far weaker-than-expected growth in April's U.S. nonfarm payrolls eased concerns over a rise of long-term interest rates. But the key market gauge failed to extend gains in the afternoon, with its upside capped by profit-taking of heavyweight semiconductor names such as chipmaking gear manufacturer Tokyo Electron. The Nikkei climbed over 300 points at one point in the morning. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

cash reserves: That is the fundamental problem with bitcoin, if those are the objectives for treasurers, then breaking them could get them in trouble, according to The Japan Times. Tesla Inc.'s 1.5 billion bitcoin bet saw it join business software firm Micro Strategy Inc. and Twitter boss Jack Dorsey's payments company Square Inc. in swapping some traditional cash reserves for the digital coin. Yet there's unlikely to be a concerted cryptocurrency charge any time soon, say many finance executives and accountants loath to risk balance sheets and reputations on a highly volatile and unpredictable asset that confounds convention. ; When I did my treasury exams, the thing we were told as No. 1 objective is to guarantee security and liquidity of the balance sheet, said Graham Robinson, a partner in international tax and treasury at PwC and an adviser to the U.K.'s Association for Corporate Treasurers. RELATED STORIES Pandemic-era central banking is creating bubbles everywhere Bitcoin's epic run is winning more attention on Wall Street Bitcoin bet sparks rally at Japan's most expensive brokerage Coinbase mafia shows how tight a circle holds sway over Bitcoin Proponents of the cryptocurrency see it as a hedge against inflation at a time of unprecedented government stimulus, a falling dollar and record-low interest rates that make attractive high-yielding assets hard to find. It will take more than a small handful of disruptive companies investing in bitcoin to impact the narrative in boardrooms, said Raul Fernandez, an entrepreneur and investor who sits on the audit committee of the board of chipmaker Broadcom Inc. as well as other companies. While the moves have prompted more boardroom discussions, headaches from bitcoin's volatility to accounting for it and storing it are likely to preclude a big wave of companies holding large amounts on balance sheets in the short term, according to financial officers, board members and accountants. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

household spending: The economy grew an annualized 11.7% in the October-December period, weaker than the preliminary reading of 12.7% annualized growth to mark the second straight quarter of growth, Cabinet Office data showed Tuesday, according to The Japan Times. The reading, which was weaker than economists' median forecast for a 12.8% gain, translates into a real quarter-on-quarter expansion of 2.8% from October to December, versus a preliminary 3.0% gain. The slower growth was mainly due to weaker capital expenditure and public spending, which both expanded less than previously thought in the fourth quarter, even as exports remained solid. ; Separate data showed household spending was hit by a bigger annual drop in January than in the prior month, a sign the COVID-19 pandemic was keeping consumers cautious about shopping. Capital spending grew 4.3% from the previous quarter, lower than a preliminary 4.5% rise, but outpacing the median forecast for a 4.1% increase. Although vaccination started in Japan, it will take time to yield its impact, so the economy is forecast to go though some ups and downs, said Yoshiki Shinke, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute. Private inventories, including raw materials and manufactured products, subtracted 0.6 percentage point from revised growth domestic product growth GDP worse than a negative preliminary contribution of 0.4 percentage point. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

toyota: That's why Toyota has so far been largely unscathed by a global shortage of semiconductors following a surge in demand for electrical goods under novel coronavirus lockdowns that has forced many rival automakers to suspend production, the sources said, according to The Japan Times. Toyota was, as far as we can tell, the only automaker properly equipped to deal with chip shortages, said a person familiar with Harman International, which specializes in car audio systems, displays and driver assistance technology. After the catastrophe severed Toyota's supply chains on March 11, 2011, the world's biggest automaker realized the lead-time for semiconductors was far too long to cope with devastating shocks such as natural disasters. ; The automaker came up with a business continuity plan BCP that required suppliers to stockpile anywhere from two to six months' worth of chips, depending on the time it takes from order to delivery, four sources said. Two of the sources who spoke to Reuters are Toyota engineers and the others are at companies involved in the chip business. Toyota, meanwhile, has raised its vehicle output for the fiscal year ending this month and jacked up its full-year earnings forecast by 54%. Classic lean solution The source familiar with Harman said the technology company, part of South Korea's Samsung Electronics, was experiencing shortages of central processing units CPUs and power management integrated circuits as early as November last year. Toyota surprised rivals and investors last month when it said its output would not be disrupted significantly by chip shortages, even as Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford, Honda and Stellantis, among others, have been forced to slow or suspend some production. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

exports dependence: A trio of Asian countries reporting growth recently show why the bullish scenarios tossed around at the end of 2020 resonate, but what some of the cheery sentiment is skipping over, according to The Japan Times. Too much focus on the broad-brush global picture glosses over telling nuances at the regional level; without that insight, projections can go awry. The recent performances of big commercial powers and small-but-indicative nations point to a far-from-perfect rebound. Japan, Singapore and Thailand recorded a promising end to a terrible year. That matters because the region is perceived to have tackled the pandemic relatively well, and because of Asia's strength in exports and dependence on travel. Critically, the forces that drove the world into a massive recession COVID-19 and the efforts to contain it still haunt Asia. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

indian state: Police said the document aimed to spread disaffection against the Indian state in a tweet that tagged the prime minister's office. ; She joined at least seven others hit with similar charges since the farmer protests began almost three months ago, including a former foreign minister, journalists, authors and academics, part of a growing number of sedition cases under Modi, according to The Japan Times. The total number of cases has risen from 43 when he first took office in 2014 to more than 100 each of the past two years, according to research group Article14. Delhi police this month arrested Disha Ravi, a 22-year-old environmental campaigner, at her home in the southern city of Bangalore for editing and sharing a toolkit tweeted by teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg in support of the farmers. Since multiple individuals can be charged in one case, it said, the number of people affected stretches into the thousands. The maximum penalty can be a life term in prison. A relic of the British colonial government once used against Mahatma Gandhi, India's 19th-century sedition statute gives police broad powers to make arrests ahead of filing formal charges if an act or speech by an individual is regarded to be disloyal to or threatening to the state. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.