Bloomberg Southeast Asia’s tourist havens from Bali to Bangkok are moving to further reopen, rolling back Covid-19 restrictions to attract more visitors and bolster growth in their tourism-reliant economies. Thailand announced that it will further ease entry rules for vaccinated visitors starting from April 1. Foreign tourists will no longer be required to hold a Covid-free certificate issued within 72 ...

  Bloomberg Toyota Motor Corp has unveiled a project to introduce India’s first hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric car as one of the biggest emerging car markets looks to expedite its transition to clean transport. Local unit Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt will work with the government’s testing agency International Centre for Automotive Technology to study the fuel cell electric car Mirai ...

Bloomberg US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping began a closely watched phone call on Friday, their first since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month. The call, which started shortly after 9 am Washington time, is an opportunity for Biden to assess where Beijing stands on the war and how Xi views his country’s role, after some Chinese ...

Bloomberg China’s muted response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has hardened views within the Biden administration that President Xi Jinping may be moving closer to supporting Moscow as the conflict continues, according to several people familiar with the matter. Even as the Chinese government publicly voices some support for the Ukrainian people and calls for a peaceful solution, top American ...

Bloomberg Military commanders from Nato countries are working the phones with their Russian counterparts to make sure the US and its allies don’t get dragged into a war over a misunderstanding on the Ukrainian border. In the past 24 hours, Russian missiles landed near Lviv, the city in western Ukraine that has been a gathering point for people fleeing the ...

Bloomberg Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has driven commodity prices higher, dealing a double blow to global hunger: more people in need, and smaller portions to feed them. The attack on Ukraine, known as the breadbasket of Europe, has pushed already elevated crop prices to unprecedented heights. That’s accelerating food insecurity worldwide, including in Ukraine itself. With energy bills also accelerating, ...

  Bloomberg Bulgaria expelled 10 Russian diplomats in an unprecedented move that underscored strained relations with one of the Kremlin’s closest allies within the European Union. The diplomats were declared personae non gratae for carrying out activities that contradicted to the Vienna Convention governing diplomatic relations, the Foreign Ministry in Sofia said in a statement, without providing further details. They ...

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc promised to “phase down” its financing of the fossil fuel industry, sending a warning to oil and gas clients as the bank works toward its target of net-zero emissions. The step is in line with “what is required to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees celsius,” HSBC said. Like most of its top-tier ...

Bloomberg A further depreciation of the yen won’t be good for Japan’s economy and may prompt a shift in the central bank’s messaging, according to a former Bank of Japan (BOJ) official, speaking after the currency set a fresh low of more than five years. “The yen has already moved a lot compared with last year, so a further weakening ...

  Bloomberg Southeast Asian central bankers are keeping a cautious approach toward monetary tightening, as the fallout from the war in Ukraine stokes risks to global growth and inflation. Bank Negara Malaysia will continue gauging the “appropriate degree of monetary policy accommodation to make sure this economic recovery is much more durable,” Governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said in a ...