SeaPRwire

US jobs gain signals return to normalcy, but variant fears linger

elean
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - After gyrating between fears over the increasing worldwide Covid-19 outbreaks and euphoria over signs of a sequential economic recovery, the market surged towards the end of last week, buoyed by a strong US jobs report. All three major Wall Street indexes ended the week higher, bolstered by the higher-than-expected 850,000 non-farm payroll increase last month - significantly more than the 559,000 chalked up in May. The big board's Dow Jones index gained 1 per cent to 34,768.35 points, while the broader S&P 500 hit a new record as it rose 1.7 per cent for the week to 4,352.34 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a weekly gain of 1.9 per cent to close at a new high of 14,639.33 points. In Singapore, the Straits Times Index (STI) went through a 60-point swing between last Tuesday's low and Thursday's high before ending with a modest 0.2 per cent gain at 3,128.95 points as banks and blue chips seemed to lose some steam. Fears of a United States Federal Reserve taper seemed to ease somewhat as the 10-year yield remained muted at below 1.5 per cent. At a June 16 meeting, the Federal Reserve had indicated that interest rate hikes would likely kick in by 2023, but assured the m...

SeaPRwire

Investors over the age of 50 take a shine to robo-advisers

elean
1 minute

SINGAPORE - Investors over the age of 50 are taking a greater liking to robo-advisers, which have tended to be more popular among younger folk. It helps that these digital investment platforms are becoming more mainstream and making it easier for people to invest in higher-yield assets like equities amid the low interest rates now prevailing, Mr Kelvin Goh, head of wealth advisory at OCBC Bank, told The Straits Times. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

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Washington Companies Pays for Bridge Destruction Caused by Their Negligence

indie
3 minutes

LAS VEGAS, NV, Jul 4, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - In a recent document, made public under the Washington State Public Records Act (PRA), the Washington Attorney General's Office has provided the results of a lawsuit settlement agreement pertaining to a 2016 bridge strike accident. The public document reveals the details of the settlement between Modern Machinery, a Dennis R. Washington company, and others, regarding a bridge strike of the Chamber Way overpass on Interstate 5.The settlement was due to a lawsuit filed by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) against Modern Machinery, a division of Washington Companies and other unrelated firms, involving a tragic and highly preventable bridge strike on July 22, 2016. The State of Washington chose to utilize mediation to free up the backed-up court system. All parties to the lawsuit agreed to mediate the case to reach a palatable dollar amount to pay for the damages to the WSDOT infrastructure based on the different party's contribution to the bridge damage.One of the bases for the WSDOT lawsuit against Washington Companies was the negligence shown while loading two pieces of equipment for transport b...

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Morning Briefing: Top stories from The Straits Times on July 4

aseanpr
2 minutes

Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Sunday, July 4. Business travel scheme suspension in S'pore stretches on The scheme was suspended on May 28 during phase two (heightened alert) of Covid-19 measures. READ MORE HERE Empty beaches, eager hotel staff: First 'Phuket Sandbox' tourists roam resort island Before the pandemic, tourism accounted for a fifth of Thailand's economy and more than 90 per cent of Phuket's. READ MORE HERE More Singapore firms set to cut office space in coming months amid Covid-19 Companies are looking at how they can reduce office space and save on rent - one of the main costs of running a business. READ MORE HERE Slow vaccination, fast reopening: How Asia and Europe are fuelling surge in Covid-19's Delta variant A surge in infections threatens to stall plans to gradually reopen Europe. Meanwhile, Indonesia and Malaysia are seeing record cases. READ MORE HERE Residents appeal for new redemption leaflets for Temasek Foundation's free oximeter They said they had thrown theirs out by mistake, and missed the instructions which say it must be used to claim the device. READ MORE HERE Covid-19 vaccine passport may boost leisure travel but other ch...

SeaPRwire
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Seniors less receptive to telemedicine and uncomfortable with AI interpreting medical results: S’pore survey

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - When security officer Joseph Mathew was asked by Ng Teng Fong General Hospital last year to consult his specialist about his varicose veins over a video call, he declined, preferring instead to keep his appointment at the hospital. "Suddenly switching to telemedicine, videoconference and Zoom is very new to me, and I'm not ready for it," said Mr Mathew. Although the 59-year-old has attended meetings on Zoom, he finds it tough. "There are certain things the doctor has to examine in person... And I'm not very tech-savvy," he added. He is not the only one who feels that way. A survey by the Singapore Eye Research Institute (Seri) during the circuit breaker last year found that about 55 per cent of 520 people aged 60 and above were unlikely to use digital medical services if the Covid-19 pandemic continues. Although half the respondents agreed that telemedicine would be helpful in reducing non-essential contact in clinics and hospitals, 77 per cent of them said they were uncomfortable with artificial intelligence (AI) interpreting their medical results. But the study, which was conducted during the circuit breaker when telemedicine services became more common, found that se...

SeaPRwire

Business travel scheme suspension in S’pore stretches on

aseanpr
1 minute

SINGAPORE - A pilot initiative to allow for international business meetings in Singapore amid the Covid-19 pandemic is indefinitely suspended, extending an initial two-week suspension that started in late-May. The Connect @ Singapore initiative, which was announced in December last year, was meant to facilitate global business exchanges, as well as to support the revival of Singapore's air hub. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

SeaPRwire

‘We played football with inmates’: Former prison officer, as Singapore Prison Service marks 75 years

aseanpr
1 minute

SINGAPORE - When Mr A. Muthucumarasamy was a prison officer in the 1970s, he played football with inmates and even started music bands for them. Those activities fostered bonds between inmates and distracted them from their gang affiliations, he said. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

SeaPRwire

S’pore tour firms sell durian, host virtual tours amid Covid-19 lean times

aseanpr
1 minute

SINGAPORE - With Covid-19 putting the brakes on tourism, local agency WTS Travel has been selling food, such as durian, on its e-commerce platform PinGo since last June. During the current durian season, it is selling Mao Shan Wang durian from $35 for a 400g box. It sells 500 to 600 boxes a week, with delivery slots almost fully booked. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

SeaPRwire

More firms in Singapore set to cut office space in coming months amid Covid-19

elean
1 minute

SINGAPORE - More office space is expected to be freed up or vacated in Singapore in the coming months as companies here review their workplace needs in light of changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the past year, real estate consultancy firms have seen a significant uptick in the number of companies rethinking - many for the first time - their office work arrangements. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

SeaPRwire

Sydney firm bucks hybrid work trend, adds more space and piano to get staff back

elean
3 minutes

(BLOOMBERG) - It is literally music to the bosses' ears. Canadian investment giant Brookfield Asset Management is bucking the hybrid work trend by introducing a slew of creative measures, including putting a grand piano in the office lobby for executives to have a go at it. In the Asia-Pacific headquarters of the world's second biggest office landlord in Sydney, 90 per cent of staff have been coming in for close to a year, according to Ms Sophie Fallman, managing partner and head of Australia real estate. And she's betting that office life isn't dying any time soon, echoing sentiments of Brookfield chief executive officer Bruce Flatt, who has said he's planning to add to his US$210 billion (S$283 billion) real estate portfolio. "We are an office-based culture, it's best when we are together," Ms Fallman said in an interview. "It's a value known and understood throughout our firm. That doesn't mean people don't realise that everyone has a life outside the firm, we're all adults about it." It is a very different scenario from many workplaces globally and even in Australia, where strict early lockdowns have kept the virus at bay while allowing for the opening of most big cities. Wall ...

SeaPRwire

Hybrid working: Why it isn’t ideal

elean
5 minutes

(REUTERS) - Hybrid working is often presented as a flexible compromise that secures the best advantages of office-based and remote work, but the reality is likely to be the worst of both worlds. Commercial real estate owners, with large investments in central city office buildings, as well as their bankers, have been the strongest promoters of the blended work model. For them, the advantages are obvious, since hybrid work would minimise the reduction in central office utilisation after the pandemic. For other employers and employees, as well as public transport operators and service businesses, hybrid work is likely to prove expensive and inefficient. Employers' expenditure on central office space will remain high while employees need larger and more expensive accommodation to work from home, much of which is used only some of the time. Travel costs and commuting times will remain high, borne by either employers or employees. Public transit operators will face a cut in the number of journeys, capacity utilisation and fare income, which will be challenging financially given their relatively high share of fixed costs. Centrally located service businesses depending on office workers w...

SeaPRwire

When investors own over 100 homes

elean
4 minutes

(BLOOMBERG) - In Canada, a home is no longer just a home - it is an investment. The country now has one of the world's hottest real estate markets and its residents are snapping up more homes than they can ever live in. Take Mr Brady McDonald, who owns more than 100 houses. "My net worth has obviously gone up a lot, just based on what's happened this year, because the market's gone berserk," said the former arborist who started acquiring single-family homes in the small city of Barrie, Ontario, in 2015, and now says he has a net worth "in the millions". "We have a housing crisis here," he said from Barrie, where prices have gone up almost 40 per cent in the last year. "The demand for housing is not going down. So there's always opportunity." But in a country that faces one of the world's most acute housing shortages, investors like him are coming under increased scrutiny. Concern is growing that the professionals are crowding out first-time buyers and would be quick to sell if property values start to slide, which could threaten the economy. Investors account for about a fifth of new mortgages in Canada - the same share that prompted a crackdown in Britain, and roughly five times t...

SeaPRwire

The big money in the secretive world of art

elean
6 minutes

(NYTIMES) - The federal agents who raided a drug dealer's house in a suburb of Philadelphia found marijuana and, to their surprise, US$2.5 million (S$3.4 million) in cash stashed in a secret compartment beneath a fish tank. But they were even more surprised to discover so much art - 14 paintings on the walls and another 33 stacked in a storage unit a few kilometres away from the home of the dealer, Ronald Belciano. The artists included Renoir, Picasso and Salvador Dali. "That jumped out at us," said Mr Brian Michael, special agent in charge at Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia. "That amount of artwork was not something you come across in every investigation." It turned out that Belciano used the art to launder some of his drug cash, purchasing the works from an established gallery near Philadelphia's Museum Row. In 2015, he was sentenced to more than five years in prison for dealing drugs and for laundering the illicit proceeds by taking advantage of one of the art market's signature features - its opacity. Art worth billions of dollars changes hands every year with little or no public scrutiny. Buyers typically have no idea where the work they are purchasing is coming ...

SeaPRwire

About 40 residents evacuated from Tampines block after second reported fire at HDB flat in a week

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - About 40 residents were evacuated after a fire broke out at Block 395 in Tampines Avenue 7 on Saturday morning (July 3). In a Facebook post on Saturday, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fire around 9.40am. Upon arrival, SCDF firefighters wearing breathing apparatus made a forced entry into the "smoke-logged" unit on the 10th floor, said the post. The SCDF also rescued an occupant through the window of the affected flat. The occupant was assessed by a paramedic and refused to be taken to hospital. The fire, which engulfed a bedroom of the flat, was extinguished with one water jet. About 40 people from flats on the ninth to the 12th floor were evacuated by the police as a precautionary measure. A resident from the eleventh floor fell during the evacuation and was taken to Sengkang General Hospital. SCDF is investigating the cause of the fire. This is the second reported fire at a Housing Board block of flats in a week. On Tuesday morning, 10 people, including a police officer, were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation after a fire erupted at Block 141 in Yishun Ring Road. About 100 residents living in units up to the 10th floor in the ...

SeaPRwire

Man who allegedly made racist remarks, attacked undergrad to be charged with public nuisance

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - The police will be charging on Saturday (July 3) a man who allegedly shouted racist remarks and attacked a university student at East Coast Park on Friday morning. In a statement on Saturday morning, the police said the 33-year-old Singaporean will be charged with the offence of public nuisance, with "a view to seek an order from the court to remand the man for psychiatric assessment". At 1.50am on Friday, the police received a call about the incident at East Coast Park Carpark F2. The police said preliminary investigations revealed that a man allegedly shouted racist remarks at two different groups of Chinese men and assaulted one of the men. When officers arrived, the suspect was no longer at the scene, but was later arrested for the offence of public nuisance when the Indian Singaporean's identity was established. A 21-year-old man was subsequently taken to Singapore General Hospital while conscious and was not hospitalised. On Friday, Madam Eileen Lee told The Straits Times that her 21-year-old son, who is a first-year undergraduate at a local university, was punched and kicked by the 33-year-old. The housewife in her 50s said the man was not provoked and directed r...

SeaPRwire

14-year-old among 334 suspected scammers and money mules investigated for loss of over $9m

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - A 14-year-old is among 334 people who are being probed by the police for scams that led to victims losing more than $9.23 million. In a statement on Saturday (July 3), the police said 225 men and 109 women are being investigated for their suspected involvement in 872 reported scams as scammers or money mules. This comes after a two-week islandwide operation between June 19 and Friday by officers from the Commercial Affairs Department and seven police land divisions. The suspects are alleged to be involved in a wide range of scams, including the impersonation of business e-mails, tech support, government officials and China officials, as well as Internet love scams, e-commerce scams, investment scams, job scams, fake gambling platform scams and loan scams. The suspects, aged between 14 and 72, are being investigated for the offences of cheating, money laundering or providing payment services without a licence. Those found guilty for the offence of cheating under the Penal Code can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined. Under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, people convicted for money laundering can be imprisoned f...

SeaPRwire
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Morning Briefing: Top stories from The Straits Times on July 3

aseanpr
2 minutes

Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Saturday, July 3. Moving from Covid-19 pandemic to endemic: Singapore's strategy and how it can unfold Most restrictions in Singapore are expected to be lifted before the year ends. Is the timing right? READ MORE HERE MOM will investigate employers who fire staff who decline to be vaccinated, or threaten to do so The SNEF said that implementing a Covid-19 vaccination requirement as a company policy "carries with it additional obligations". READ MORE HERE Man arrested over racist remarks, attack on undergraduate at East Coast Park The incident left the victim, a Singaporean, with bruises on his face and abdomen. READ MORE HERE More on this topic Related Story ST newsletters: Get alerts on the latest news Singapore start-ups making inroads into South Korea, Japan South Korea and Japan are markets that are notoriously tough to crack. READ MORE HERE Half of S'pore worry over job prospects; 7 in 10 identify as working or lower-middle class The unemployed and those who were studying were the most concerned, a study found. READ MORE HERE NEA asks for tray return ambassador job listings to be taken down This comes after cleaning and...

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Opening up the S’pore economy: Just how far and fast to do so?

aseanpr
9 minutes

SINGAPORE - With its extensive flight links to 160 cities, cosmopolitan workforce and strategic position in Asia, Singapore has long banked on its connectivity and reputation for openness to attract investments, jobs and tourism dollars that have buttressed its economy. But this has been tested in Covid-19 times, with flight links, for instance, down to 70 as at end-May. While it still holds on to its standing as a premier business hub at the moment, the quicker pace of reopening in developed Western economies that have attained high vaccination rates has prompted some to question if Singapore's comparatively more cautious approach to reopening would risk eroding its competitiveness in the long run. Already, fatigue is starting to set in as firms here grapple with the long-term impact of tight border controls and other restrictions that have severely affected Singapore's links to the rest of the world. Foreign employees are unable to travel home as they fear not being allowed to return as a result of border controls, and this has taken a toll on their mental health. Disruptions to supply chains and business operations have also affected cash flow, leading to investments being put o...

SeaPRwire

Founder of crypto firm Torque faces $12m lawsuit from Greek investor

elean
1 minute

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean businessman dealing with the failure of his cryptocurrency trading firm now finds himself entangled in a US$9 million (S$12 million) lawsuit relating to a company he worked for. Greek investor Georgios Baizanis has accused Mr Bernard Ong of breaching a corporate guarantee for millions of dollars in investments placed with the firm Snap Innovations. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

SeaPRwire

Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq end at records after solid US jobs data

elean
3 minutes

NEW YORK (AFP) - US stocks finished the week with a flourish on Friday (July 2), with all three major indices posting records after a solid jobs report that was not seen as accelerating a monetary policy shift. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4 per cent to close at 34,786.35 for its first all-time high since early May. The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 0.8 per cent to end at 4,352.34, its seventh straight record, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.8 per cent to 14,639.33. Wall Street was in positive territory the whole day after the Labour Department reported the US economy added a higher than expected 850,000 jobs in June. Analysts however said the much-anticipated monthly data was not uniformly outstanding, noting that unemployment ticked up to 5.9 per cent. The market viewed the data as a “Goldilocks"-type outcome in reference to the fairy tale character, who famously preferred her porridge at the right temperature, not too hot or too cold. Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare characterised the data as “okay.” The report “tabled any kind of concern that the report would stir the Fed to action faster than expected,” he told AFP in an interview. Most large ...