March, 2021

• 25 March

  Businesses are losing their Covid-19 lawsuits

  Remember last year’s kerfuffle over whether providers of business interruption insurance would have to pay when local Covid-19 rules forced proprietors to close? The verdict is now in … and it hasn’t gone well for business owners. In fact, according to the University of Pennsylvania Law School, which has developed a tool to track Covid-related litigation, the insurers have overwhelmingly ...

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• 25 March

  World Bank sees $6b wasted on plastics in Southeast Asia

  

  Bloomberg Southeast Asian countries lose out on as much as $6 billion a year as most of their single-use plastics are thrown out rather than recovered and recycled, the World Bank said in a new study. More than 75% of recyclable plastics in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines are left to waste, representing a “significant untapped business opportunity” in the ...

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• 25 March

  China’s $2.3 trillion hidden debt could climb even further

  

  Bloomberg China’s local governments had 14.8 trillion yuan ($2.3 trillion) of hidden debt last year, and the figure could climb even further this year, according to a government-linked think tank. Local governments were under pressure to increase infrastructure investment and shore up growth through pandemic, leading to a 6% rise in off-budget borrowing from a recent low of 13.9 billion ...

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• 25 March

  India’s government considers to resume fresh bankruptcy filings

  

  Bloomberg India’s government is considering resuming fresh bankruptcy filings after the current suspension expires on March 25, people with knowledge of the matter said. The lifting of the halt would come even as a resurgence in virus cases threatens the nascent economic recovery. It could spark a wave of new insolvencies, pent up from last year when businesses were hurt ...

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• 25 March

  Singapore eases work-from-home rules

  

  Bloomberg Singapore will relax workplace measures to allow more people to return to offices and permit larger gatherings for various activities, as the city-state gets its virus situation under control. At offices, the government’s stance will shift from working-from-home as a default to a more “flexible and hybrid way of working”, where up to 75% of staff can be at ...

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• 25 March

  Chip shortage turns repair of Japan factory into national effort

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s government and businesses are racing to bring a fire-damaged automotive chip plant back online, underscoring how important the component has become in a supply chain already under strain because of booming demand for semiconductors. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is mobilising to help Renesas Electronics Corp., one of the top providers of chips used in car ...

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• 25 March

  N Korea fires cruise missiles in first such test since July

  

  Bloomberg North Korea fired off a pair of cruise missiles on the heels of an Asian trip by top US officials, putting a fresh spotlight on Biden administration deliberations over how to resolve a key security dilemma. The two missiles were fired from South Pyongan province and flew over the sea between the peninsula and China, the South Korean Defense ...

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• 25 March

  South Korea supports Biden’s hate crimes fight, says minister

  

  Bloomberg South Korea’s top diplomat said the US ally will stand by Washington’s side in its fight against hate crimes. “We will continue to actively support the efforts of the US government to fight against hate crimes, and stand firmly by its side against hatred and violence,” South Korea’s Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said in a text message to reporters ...

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• 25 March

  Paraguay says offers of Chinese vaccine tied to dumping Taiwan

  

  Bloomberg Like many nations, Paraguay faces an uphill battle to procure coronavirus vaccines. But its quest is being complicated by fraught relations between China on one side, and Taiwan and the US on the other. The Paraguayan government has been approached with offers of Chinese-made vaccines in exchange for breaking ties with Taiwan, the country’s foreign ministry said in statement ...

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• 25 March

  Lula judge was biased, Brazil’s top court says

  

  Bloomberg Brazil’s Supreme Court found that the judge who presided over corruption cases against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was biased, a ruling that could unravel the landmark Carwash anti-graft probe. A panel of justices voted 3 to 2 that former judge Sergio Moro, who spearheaded the operation, was prejudiced in convicting Lula of money laundering and corruption ...

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