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Vikas Pershad of M&G Investments says expanding AI and automation are reshaping employment and manufacturing across Asia, driving an IT hiring slowdown in India and automating factory floors. (Source: Bloomberg)
Rio Times · Asia Intelligence Brief September 30, 2026 — China's official manufacturing PMI rose to 50.1 and the private RatingDog reading hit 52.1, a five-month high; Seoul demanded North Korea stop border fortification work and Pyongyang answered through KCNA, calling the mine investigation a farce; the UN Command found an armistice violation; Beijing accused Taipei of desecrating the martyrs; the Nikkei rose 2.1 per cent inside a 4.7-per-cent quarterly fall while the CSI 300 closed its worst quarter since the pandemic. The post Asia Intelligence Brief — Wednesday, September 30, 2026 appeared first on The Rio Times.
Heatwaves and wildfires helped expose 34 percent of the world’s population to “extremely poor” ozone air quality in the first eight months of 2026, according to a European Union report published Wednesday. Asia recorded the highest exposure, while ozone pollution remained difficult to curb despite decades of progress in reducing other harmful emissions.
Rio Times · Asia Intelligence Brief September 29, 2026 — South Korea names North Korean mines as the DMZ culprit and invokes the armistice; Malaysia deports around 1,500 Myanmar nationals over UN objections; Vietnam announces terrorism arrests with two Western passports, made at the Cambodian crossing; Bank Indonesia defends the rupiah at its weakest since August; Beijing's counter-cyclical pledge moves the tape faintly; Korea's export streak is forecast to reach sixteen months. The post Asia Intelligence Brief — Tuesday, September 29, 2026 appeared first on The Rio Times.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) plans to double its annual financing to about US$20 billion by 2030 as the Beijing-headquartered multilateral lender enters its second decade, its president said on Monday. Announcing the target at the opening of the bank’s 11th annual meeting in Doha, Qatar, AIIB President Zou Jiayi said member economies had voiced a “remarkably consistent” need for greater project funding. “They need more infrastructure and more financing to build it,” Zou told...
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. What Trump and Xi revealed in the body language with their wives 2. Australia just changed its visa rules. So what about its bespoke Hong Kong pathway? 3. Thailand has had enough of foreign tourists behaving badly 4. Why US chip controls took a back seat at the Xi-Trump summit 5. Chinese...
Asia Intelligence Brief — Friday, 25 September 2026 Ceremonial guards in Bangkok. Thailand spent the week under a rain warning covering forty-eight provinces while its election commission was picketed from the reformist left and the nationalist… The post Asia Intelligence Brief — Friday, September 25, 2026 appeared first on The Rio Times.
Israel hopes to redirect goods from illegal Israeli settlements towards markets in Asia and South America.
For millions of Indians, buying a cup of chai or groceries from roadside vendors has come to mean reaching for their phones rather than wallets – a habit made possible by a system that has so far charged consumers nothing for such everyday transactions. Now, a decade after the government launched the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India is asking some merchants to pay for the hugely popular system – raising questions over whether it can preserve the low-cost model that drove its mass adoption...
Insight with Haslinda Amin, a daily news program featuring in-depth, high-profile interviews and analysis to give viewers the complete picture on the stories that matter. The show features prominent leaders spanning the worlds of business, finance, politics and culture. (Source: Bloomberg)
As heatwaves become more frequent and intense across Asia, the region faces a dangerous power paradox. Soaring demand for air conditioning threatens to push electricity grids closer to failure just as extreme heat puts the infrastructure under greater strain, raising the risk of cooling disappearing when people need it most. That risk has been visible across the region this summer. In South Korea, President Lee Jae Myung called a record heatwave a “national disaster” in August after the death...
Asia Intelligence Brief — Friday, September 18, 2026 A crude tanker passing storage tanks at an oil terminal. Saudi Arabia offered extra cargoes to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers off Oman’s Sohar port, and Brent settled… The post Asia Intelligence Brief — Friday, September 18, 2026 appeared first on The Rio Times.
Asian economies heavily dependent on imported energy are facing an even sharper squeeze after the shutdown of Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline removed a key escape route from the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, deepening an energy shock that has already pushed crude oil above US$100 a barrel. Analysts said the loss of that bypass would hit Asian refiners first before feeding through to inflation, currencies and economic growth across the region. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil...
Singapore Airlines was awarded the title of world’s best airline in the annual rankings by Skytrax, taking the top spot from Qatar Airways in a year that saw Middle Eastern carriers come under significant pressure from the ongoing war in Iran. The award, which is based on a survey of almost 25 million travellers, was announced in London on Friday, with a list dominated by Asian carriers. Only one European airline – Air France-KLM – made the top 10, and not a single US company, despite their...
Asian Games organisers in Japan accidently play North Korea's anthem ahead of South's hockey match with Bangladesh.
We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China launches Pinglu Canal, slashing transit time to Southeast Asia China officially opened its landmark Pinglu Canal to navigation on Wednesday, creating a new maritime gateway for the country’s southwestern hinterland and providing...
Severe weather disruptions will amplify food security risks in Asia, potentially triggering civil unrest and political instability in vulnerable countries such as India, Indonesia and the Philippines, according to consultancy Verisk Maplecroft. The warning comes as the war in Iran has already disrupted fuel and fertiliser supplies, both of which are key agricultural inputs. Now, weather extremes linked to a powerful El Nino are further threatening crops across the region. Indonesia, the world’s...
Severe weather disruptions will amplify food security risks in Asia, potentially triggering civil unrest and political instability in vulnerable countries such as India, Indonesia and the Philippines, according to consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.
Asian software and platform stocks have quickly gained favor with investors, emerging as the region’s most attractive AI trade after ranking near the bottom just a month ago, according to a Bank of America Corp. survey.
Hong Kong has retained its status as Asia’s top financial hub for a fourth consecutive edition of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), even as many of the world’s leading centres saw their scores slip slightly amid rising geopolitical headwinds. The city also ranked third globally in the 40th edition of the twice-yearly report, released on Wednesday amid a remarkably tight race at the top of global finance. Hong Kong scored 756, just one point behind London on 757 and a point ahead of...
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Brics members find common ground on AI, trade and de-dollarisation push 2. China urges US to ‘stop all’ spying activities, slams ‘gangster logic’ 3. Police freeze HK$30 million in account of man who refused to share Mark Six prize 4. India-Pakistan water row deepens after Hague court ruling 5....
The loss of a fifth of liquefied natural gas supply due to the US-Iran war is blowing out costs for Asia’s developing markets, and forcing a rethink of the fuel’s long-term future in the region.
Rio Times · Asia Intelligence Brief September 13, 2026 Asia Intelligence Brief — Sunday, September 13, 2026 Key Facts The declaration. BRICS leaders adopted the New Delhi Declaration on the opening day of their summit in India's capital, with Narendra Modi pressing for equal participation in global rule-making and Security Council reform. The reset. Modi and Xi Jinping used the summit to pursue a reset of India–China ties. The ferries. The Philippine ferry fire's toll rose to seventy-six dead with thirteen unaccounted for by Sunday. The capsize. A ferry capsized off Java in bad weather; CNA reports six dead and more than one hundred twenty missing. The rerouting. More South Korean semiconductors now reach American buyers through Southeast Asian plants than through China, a Bank of Korea report finds. The post Asia Intelligence Brief — Sunday, September 13, 2026 appeared first on The Rio Times.
South Korea’s main stock exchange is extending into evening sessions, breaking with Asia’s trading-hour norms to tap what it hopes will be sustained demand from global investors.
"Bloomberg: The Asia Trade" brings you everything you need to know to get ahead as the trading day begins in Asia. Bloomberg TV is live from Tokyo and Sydney with Shery Ahn and Haidi Stroud-Watts, getting insight and analysis from newsmakers and industry leaders on the biggest stories shaping global markets. (Source: Bloomberg)
We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Beijing tells Manila to ‘stop lying’ after minister exposes South China Sea note China has accused Philippine officials of “grandstanding and lying” after Manila’s defence secretary publicly read aloud a Chinese diplomat’s note on the...
An unusually active typhoon season is disrupting shipping operations across Asia, with Shanghai particularly hard hit by snarled traffic and vessel delays.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is developing a new platform to pool capital from institutional investors, aiming to roughly quadruple the private capital it mobilises for infrastructure projects across Asia, according to a senior officer. The mechanism will allow insurers, pension funds, and other institutional investors to co-invest in infrastructure debt alongside the bank across its 111 member countries on a programmatic basis, rather than negotiating deal by deal. Kim-See...
The index has recorded muted daily moves for 25 straight sessions, the longest such run this year.