Bloomberg China’s reopening is disrupting energy markets as the abrupt shift from Covid Zero shutters industry and upends the usual flow of commodities. A dramatic surge in infections is having a short-term impact on the supply chain for solar companies, the China Silicon Industry Association said in a statement. Many manufacturers of the wafers used in solar panels have curtailed ...

Bloomberg Australia is eyeing India’s burgeoning middle class to help offset the economic damage wrought to some of its major exports by the twin headwinds of Covid-19 and heavy restrictions imposed by its biggest trade partner, China. With a middle-to-high income population of about 85 million people, according to Pew Research — roughly three times Australia’s total population — it’s ...

  Bloomberg India is likely to spend less on subsidising fertilisers as global prices fall and the government looks to narrow its budget deficit, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials are considering slashing the fertiliser subsidy bill to 1 trillion to 1.5 trillion rupees ($18 billion) for the 2023-24 fiscal year starting April, according to the people, who ...

  Bloomberg Malaysia’s urbanisation rate has nearly tripled since 1970, with three-quarters of the nation’s residents now living in cities. The nation’s urban population expanded to 24.4 million in 2020 from 3 million in 1970, according to a report by the Department of Statistics. The rural population saw rose slightly to 8.1 million from 7.5 million in the period. The ...

Bloomberg Thailand will exceed its most-recent target for foreign tourist arrivals by about 15%, buoyed by a year-end rush of visitors from Europe and the United States, according to the government’s tourism agency. At least 11.5 million international travellers will come this year, compared to a target of 10 million, according to Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of ...

  Bloomberg Shanghai, the world’s biggest container port, is isolating the shipment of international goods to prevent disruptions to global exports as a Covid wave sweeps across China. The port is keeping overseas vessels in a closed-loop zone to avoid massive delays, according to an oil-shipping broker. In addition, most infected staff have mild symptoms, and there are backup teams ...

  Bloomberg China’s soaring Covid infections are keeping people home and causing a slump in travel and economic activity, according to the latest high-frequency data. Following the recent abrupt end to Covid Zero controls, more cities have been hit by an exit wave of infections in the past week, leading to crowded hospitals and queues at funeral parlours. That’s keeping ...

Bloomberg North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles ahead of a major political meeting to set policy for the new year, after ratcheting up tensions with a record number of launches in 2022. The suspected ballistic missiles were fired at around 4:32 pm from an area near Pyongyang’s main international airport towards waters off North Korea’s east coast, South ...

  Bloomberg A suicide bomber and his accomplice detonated explosives in Pakistan’s capital when police tried to check their vehicle, killing themselves, one policeman and injuring five people. The incident, the first such attack in Islamabad in more than eight years, took place in a neighbourhood close to the garrison town of Rawalpindi, local police said on Twitter. An attack ...

  Bloomberg A shooting in Paris has left two people dead and four injured, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. The shooting took place around noon on Friday in the 10th arrondissement. A 69-year-old man old was arrested, the prosecutor’s office said. Authorities are still determining the man’s identity. The shooting occurred on rue d’Enghien, near a Kurdish cultural center, Agence ...