Bloomberg India’s draft e-commerce rules to prevent creation of “digital monopolies” and aid local startups may raise costs and stymie expansion plans at companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. The draft rules seek to prescribe a code of conduct for online retailers and define cross-border flow of user data, according to a note titled Draft Ecommerce Policy. Prime ...

Bloomberg China’s home prices grew at the fastest pace in six months in February, as a lower supply of projects during a holiday season added to a fear of missing out among buyers. New home prices in 70 major cities, excluding state-subsidised housing, rise 0.36% last month from January, when they gained 0.28%, National Bureau of Statistics figures showed on ...

Bloomberg The Philippines’ renewed surge in coronavirus infections will have limited impact on the economy as authorities impose localised lockdowns and as vaccinations pick up, Economic Planning Secretary Karl Chua said. The Southeast Asian nation, which will likely remain in recession this quarter, has to manage the spike in cases without reinstating stricter movement curbs which will hurt jobs, Chua ...

Bloomberg Singapore home sales fall in February after speculation about property curbs dampened buyer appetite. Purchases of new private apartments fall 60% to 645 last month, Urban Redevelopment Authority data showed on Monday. That compares with 1,632 in January, which exceeded a two-year high. Singapore’s property market rallied even amid the pandemic, seeing a spike among private apartments, shophouses and ...

Bloomberg Indonesia, a top supplier of a key battery metal, will aim to boost sales of electric vehicles with a new regulation that will cut tax breaks for hybrid cars. Battery-powered electric vehicles will retain their 0% luxury tax rate, while plug-in hybrid vehicles will see their tariff increase to 5% from 0%, according to a draft regulation issued by ...

Bloomberg Myanmar’s junta on Monday extended “full martial law” to additional areas in Yangon following a weekend of nationwide protests that left at least 50 people dead in the wake of a brutal crackdown by security forces. Coup leaders first imposed the measure in two townships after the Chinese Embassy asked authorities to guarantee the safety of Chinese investments and ...

Bloomberg Libya’s first unified government in seven years was sworn in, as a political reconciliation that seeks to end almost a decade of conflict in the Opec member gathers pace. Officials took the oath of office on Monday at the parliament in Tobruk, eastern Libya. The new cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, is set to take ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson moved to ease tensions over police handling of a vigil to support a woman who was murdered in London, after a second day of protests that drew hundreds of people despite the coronavirus lockdown. The UK prime minister’s effort is a response to controversy over the death of 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah Everard, who disappeared on March ...

Bloomberg Republican members of Congress are trooping to the US-Mexico border to put a spotlight on a surge of migrants at the frontier that they say is the result of President Joe Biden’s shift from the hardline immigration policies of his predecessor. Less than two months into Biden’s term, both parties are already framing their messages on immigration — a ...

Bloomberg Ugandan police returned opposition leader Bobi Wine to his home and encircled the property hours after arresting him during a protest over human-rights abuses by security agents against his supporters. The politician — whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi — was “arrested as he led MPs and other leaders in a peaceful protest against the abduction, torture and murder ...