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Bloomberg In Indonesia, locals can soon fly from Jakarta to the beaches of Bali for a domestic vacation. Tokyo residents can escape the pandemic stress with a hike in the mountains, and New Yorkers can head to the Hamptons on Long Island. Residents of Singapore, a city-state smaller than New York City, have few such options, presenting a massive problem ...

Bloomberg Traveloka, Southeast Asia’s biggest online travel startup, is close to raising fresh funds at a private-market valuation of about $2.75 billion — roughly 17% less than its most recent fundraising, according to people familiar with the matter. The Jakarta-based firm is in advanced negotiations with new strategic investors such as Siam Commercial Bank Pcl and Richard Li’s FWD Group ...

Bloomberg Taiwan’s exports fell for a fourth straight month in June as officials warned global demand may struggle to recover in the face of a resurgent worldwide coronavirus outbreak and continuing trade tensions between the US and China. Overseas shipments from Taiwan fell 3.8% last month, according to a statement from Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance. That compares to the median ...

Bloomberg Palm oil imports by India climbed to a five-month high in June as traders and refiners in the world’s biggest buyer increased purchases to replenish stockpiles. Inbound shipments increased 45.5% from a month earlier to 562,932 tons, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India said in an emailed statement. Purchases were 686,886 tons in June 2019. A surge in palm ...

Bloomberg ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok will pull its viral video app from Hong Kong’s mobile stores in coming days, becoming the first internet service to withdraw after Beijing enacted sweeping powers to crack down on national security threats. That announcement came after internet giants from Facebook Inc to Google and Twitter Inc voiced opposition to national security legislation that grants the ...

Bloomberg Europe’s economy will suffer more than previously estimated this year and take longer to recover because of a slow easing of coronavirus restrictions, according to the bloc’s executive arm. Officials sent the starkest warning yet about the impact of the pandemic, with the divergences between richer and poorer countries opening up even further than projected two months ago. It ...

Bloomberg The number of jobs supported by the UK government’s pandemic support exceeds 12 million, highlighting the scale of the task facing Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak as he prepares to announce his latest economic strategy on Wednesday. While the rate of increase in the use of the furloughing program and the self-employed plan has slowed since the height ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) may need an agency for regulating artificial intelligence (AI) to bolster consumer trust in the technology and help realise its economic potential, a German government official said. Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht made the comment to a European Parliament committee in Brussels on Tuesday while presenting priorities for Germany’s six-month presidency of 27-nation EU through December. She cited ...

Bloomberg France’s decision to give only temporary security approval for fifth-generation mobile equipment shows the government intends to gradually sideline Huawei Technologies Co., a majority party lawmaker said. The head of the country’s cybersecurity agency Anssi said this week it will grant time-limited waivers on 5G for wireless operators that use the Chinese company’s products. The measure will deter them ...

Bloomberg Novavax Inc., one of the front-runners in the race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, will receive $1.6 billion from the US Operation Warp Speed program to develop its experimental shot. The funds will allow the company to conduct advanced human studies and establish manufacturing to deliver 100 million doses as soon as late 2020, Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Novavax said in ...