JAKARTA — Indonesian President and G20 chairman Joko Widodo will visit counterparts in Ukraine and Russia next week and press for a peaceful resolution to their conflict, his foreign minister said on Wednesday, the first such trip by an Asian leader.

The recent rise in the number of COVID cases is a not-so-gentle reminder that the pandemic is far from over. While it may seem that almost everything is back to the way they were pre-pandemic, the fact of the matter is, COVID-19 continues to put people in hospitals and in graves. Along with the case count, the death count is also on the uptick.

THE WORLD has an obsession with Japan’s shrinking population. Each year, news that the country is a little bit smaller can reliably be called upon for column inches, which tend to examine it as a Japanese mystery — one of those inherently Oriental concepts that foreigners could not possibly penetrate, like wabi-sabi or the bushido code of samurai warriors.

Several days ago, the controversial Saudi Public Investment Fund-financed LIV Golf Invitational Series crowned its first winner, 37-year-old South African Charl Schwartzel.

THE PHILIPPINES posted its largest monthly balance of payments (BoP) deficit in 15 months in May, mainly due to the National Government’s foreign debt payments, the central bank said on Tuesday.

IT MAY TAKE two to three years for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to accept new applications for digital banks as it still needs to boost its capacity to regulate these kinds of lenders, according to its incoming chief.

THE DOMESTIC tourism sector is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels by 2024, although near-term challenges such as high inflation may affect demand, according to industry stakeholders. 

PROPERTY developer Cebu Landmasters, Inc. (CLI) announced that it plans to offer and issue peso-denominated fixed-rate bonds worth up to P8 billion.

PHILIPPINE ports and gaming tycoon Enrique Razon, Jr. on Tuesday launched an up to P28-billion ($515 million) initial public offering (IPO) for his infrastructure and energy holding firm, according to a corporate filing.

BRUSSELS — When coronavirus forced some of France’s busiest museums to close their doors in 2020, it was a rare chance for reflection.

LISTA Technologies Pte. Ltd., which operates a financial management platform for small business owners and individuals in the Philippines, announced on Tuesday that it had raised more than $5.1 million in its latest fund-raising round to accelerate the expansion of its services.

HONG KONG — Bryan Ong has made it his mission to preserve items that tell the story of Hong Kong’s British colonial past even as Beijing increasingly shapes life in the city that is firmly back in the fold of the mainland.