Australian business conditions showed ongoing resilience to higher interest rates and elevated price pressures, while consumer confidence fell further into “deeply pessimistic” territory, highlighting the divergent responses of the corporate and household sectors to tighter policy.
Accor SA is on track to sign a record of about 125 hotel partnership projects in China this year, doubling down on its expansion in a country where tourism has become one of few bright spots amid an economic downturn.
Australia’s richest woman has amassed a stake in lithium producer Albemarle Corp.’s A$6.6 billion ($4.3 billion) takeover target Liontown Resources Ltd., and suggested she may push for a board seat.
South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. is considering an expansion of its production in the US in a bid to triple sales from energy storage systems, according to a senior executive.
Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India closed its fifth and biggest fund at $541 million to back startups in the region, defying a slowdown in the global technology sector during a tumultuous year.
Alabama asked the US Supreme Court to reinstate a Republican-drawn congressional map, saying the state doesn’t have to create a second near-majority Black district even after losing a high court ruling earlier this year.
Russia is unlikely to be able to mount a significant offensive operation this year as its armed forces lack the necessary munitions and troops, according to a senior NATO official.
Senator Elizabeth Warren is demanding an investigation into SpaceX after Elon Musk acknowledged he had blocked Ukraine from extending the private Starlink satellite network for an attack on Russian warships near the Crimean coast.
If the UK doesn’t significantly ramp up renewables investment at a time when oil and gas is in decline, as many as 95,000 potential offshore energy jobs will be at risk, according to Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University.
A selloff that’s made Philippine stocks the worst across Asia’s emerging markets may have further room to go, as concerns about a hawkish central bank keep foreign investors on the sidelines.
