Bloomberg Thailand’s military-backed government said pro-democracy protests risk spreading the coronavirus and asked people to avoid rallies. People gathering in crowds could make it harder to control the spread of the disease known as Covid-19, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a briefing on Saturday. Confirmed infections in Thailand have climbed by one to 42, the ministry said. “Big crowds ...

Bloomberg The next showdown between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may need to wait until after the virus scare. The US said that it would postpone joint military exercises planned for the coming weeks, as its ally South Korea copes with one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks. The decision removes for now a looming ...

Bloomberg Indian poultry sales have been plunging on rumours spread by social media claiming that chickens are linked to the coronavirus, according to the country’s top animal feed company. Industry-wide weekly sales have plummeted at least 47% in the past three to four weeks, while prices have slumped almost 60%, said BS Yadav, managing director of Godrej Agrovet Ltd. “The ...

Bloomberg As the novel coronavirus starts to gather speed in Europe, the Middle East and the US, there’s one place it is seemingly being contained: Singapore. With no reported virus-related deaths despite 96 cases, and a slowing rate of infection that’s been outpaced by recoveries, the Asian city-state is emerging as a litmus test of whether the deadly pathogen can ...

Bloomberg India is considering options including offering subsidised loans to cash-strapped wireless carriers that owe $13 billion in past dues, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The proposals include asking the companies to pay 20% of the principal upfront and the rest over a period of 16 years at an interest rate of 0.5% over the yield on ...

Bloomberg China is slowly starting to get back to work, as it battles the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 2,900 people and sickened tens of thousands. Government controls and the fear of going outside have curtailed spending, and many factories are still not working at full capacity due to a lack of staff, with workers still in their ...

Bloomberg Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc’s securities joint venture with Morgan Stanley is cutting equities staff in Tokyo, including several managers, people with knowledge of the matter said. Managers Yasutaka Takedomi and Toru Kaneda are among five to 10 employees in the sales trading team who are leaving Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co, the people said, asking not to ...

Bloomberg Singapore enhanced its pledge to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases it emits, saying it now aims to halve emissions from an expected peak in 2030 within the following two decades. The Southeast Asian city-state expects the emissions ceiling to be 65 million tons of carbon dioxide around 2030, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean said in Parliament. That will ...

Bloomberg French oil company Total SA is among the final bidders for a stake in an offshore wind farm that may cost more than $7 billion to develop and operate, according to people familiar with the matter. The move is significant because it highlights growing interest from major oil companies in renewables assets. It also would be the first facility ...

Bloomberg State Grid Corp of China started construction of a $2.6 billion ultra-high voltage project that will deliver electricity to the virus-hit province of Hubei. The move by the country’s biggest power distributor is in response to the government’s call to accelerate construction of major energy projects as Chinese leader Xi Jinping seeks to stabilize economic growth, State Grid said ...