NEW YORK: At Sansan Chicken in Long Island City, Queens, the cashier beamed a wide smile and recommended the fried chicken sandwich. Or maybe she suggested the tonkatsu – it was hard to tell, because the Internet connection from her home in the Philippines was spotty. Romy, who declined to …

KUCHING: Regulating short-term rental accommodation and online travel agencies is not within the purview of Sarawak’s Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Ministry, its minister says. Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said licensing of accommodation providers came under local government, while travel agencies were licensed by the federal Tourism, …

SHANGHAI: Chinese state fund Central Huijin Investment bought blue-chips worth at least $41 billion in the first quarter in a bid to shore up the sliding stock market, funds’ latest quarterly reports show. The sovereign fund bought at least 300 billion yuan ($41.42 billion) of exchanged-traded funds (ETFs) in the …

LONDON (Reuters) – Automakers from General Motors to Volvo Cars, alongside utilities and charging app operators are calculating their financial cut as EVs that allow their owners to sell power back to grids become a more realistic prospect. Bidirectional, or vehicle-to-grid (V2G), charging lets EV owners charge at overnight off-peak …

When Kevin Wood’s local utility started offering customers money in exchange for using less electricity, the father of one had a battle on his hands. Wood, who lives in Hampshire in southern England, was keen on realising savings while alleviating peak energy demand. But some things – like teenagers – …

KUALA LUMPUR: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) is targeting to onboard 20,000 new-to-bank customers by next year with its newly-launched Maybank Goal-Based Investment platform on top of the nine million customers who are already using the bank’s digital platform. Maybank Goal-Based Investment is a beginner-friendly digital retail investment tool that allows …

PUTRAJAYA: The overall mental health of Malaysian youths is moderately satisfactory, a study by the Institute for Youth Research Malaysia (IYRES) has found. The Malaysian Youth Mental Health Index 2023 (MyMHI23) report said the average score for those aged between 15 and 30 was 71.91. This served as a valuable …

Issei Yamamoto became one of Japan’s best-known developers of artificial intelligence when his algorithm defeated the top-ranked player of Japanese chess. Now, he’s pursuing an even more challenging task of human emulation: achieving a fully self-driving automotive system. The 38-year-old is returning to the public eye with the backing of …

KUALA LUMPUR: Plogging, or picking up trash while exercising, commonly practiced in Sweden, could have a positive impact on the country’s environmental sustainability if widely adopted, says Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad. The Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister said this activity could also cultivate a sense of unity and appreciation …

TOKYO: Asian stocks recovered some losses on Monday and bond yields rose as fears of a wider Middle East conflict ebbed, with investors gravitating back towards riskier assets. Gold and the safe-haven dollar eased back from near their peaks, and crude oil prices declined as the potential for a major …