Asia Business

Sri Lanka is banking on vehicle import taxes to boost revenue and revive the island nation’s battered economy, leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s maiden budget showed on Monday.Vehicle imports were banned in 2020 to save foreign exchange but the move deprived authorities of a lucrative revenue stream, as cars were taxed at about 300 percent. Dissanayake …

Sri Lanka budget banks on car taxes to boost coffers Read More »

Chinese AI app DeepSeek will not be available to download in South Korea pending a review of its handling of user data, Seoul authorities said Monday.DeepSeek’s R1 chatbot stunned investors and industry insiders with its ability to match the functions of its Western competitors at a fraction of the cost.But a number of countries have …

DeepSeek removed from South Korea app stores pending privacy review Read More »

Kolkata locals cherish their city’s past, which is why many in the one-time Indian capital are mourning a vanishing emblem of its faded grandeur: a hulking and noisy fleet of stately yellow taxis.The snub-nosed Hindustan Ambassador, first rolling off the assembly line in the 1950s with a design that barely changed in the decades since, …

End of the road for Kolkata’s beloved yellow taxis Read More »

Japan’s economic growth slowed sharply last year, official data showed Monday, although the rate for the fourth quarter topped expectations.The figures come as Japanese companies fret over the impact of US President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies, including import tariffs, on the world’s fourth largest economy.Gross domestic product expanded 0.1 percent in 2024, well down …

Japan 2024 growth slows despite stronger fourth quarter Read More »

Asian markets mostly rose Monday as investors assessed the global economic outlook while Donald Trump pushes ahead with his trade war.Trading floors have been hit by uncertainty since the US president returned to the Oval Office last month announcing a series of tariffs against key trading partners.While some of the measures have been delayed for …

Most Asian markets start week on positive note Read More »

Chinese fans of blockbuster film “Ne Zha 2” packed into cinemas in Beijing on Sunday, snapping selfies and queueing up for movie posters and other merchandise.The animated film, now China’s highest-grossing movie of all time, was released overseas last week, sparking hopes among locals that it would gain the same acclaim abroad.The movie has broken …

Chinese cheer animated blockbuster’s release abroad Read More »

With Coldplay and Ed Sheeran among the superstars who have played to packed-out crowds in India recently, there is increasing talk that the world’s most populous nation could soon become a mainstay of the global touring schedule.However, a lack of world-class venues to host big-name events has left fans wanting, with complaints ranging from filthy …

Global stars eye India, but show needs fine-tuning Read More »

Smoke billows from chimneys as factories churn in South Korea’s steelmaking heartland, now under threat from Washington’s swingeing new tariffs on the port city’s largest export.The city of Pohang on South Korea’s east coast for decades pumped out the steel that fuelled the country’s breakneck economic rise.South Korea was the fourth largest exporter of the …

Trump tariffs loom large in South Korea’s ‘steel city’ Read More »

Stock markets diverged and the dollar dipped on Friday as traders tracked US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff announcement, economic data and earnings.Wall Street indices were mixed at the end of the session with the S&P 500 near flat.That came despite data showing that US retail sales fell by a more-than-expected 0.9 percent in January …

Global stocks buffeted by tariff threats and data Read More »