From wellness workshops to dinner with a celebrity chef and flights to nowhere, Asia’s big international airlines are working hard to keep their most lucrative customers engaged as the pandemic-related travel halt stretches beyond 18 months. 

Oil prices rose more than $1 on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous session, as rise of demand in Europe and the United States outweighed concerns over a rise of Covid cases in Asian countries.

Once brimming with combat boots, flak jackets and other war paraphernalia, the smugglers’ markets in Pakistan are being forced to rethink their business model as foreign troops exit Afghanistan and contraband dries up.

Under pressure from businesses and public sectors facing a worker shortage that policymakers fear will fuel inflation, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is due to unveil plans this week to reopen the country’s borders.

Risks don’t come much longer term than climate change, so you might expect sovereign wealth funds to be all over it, as investment giants with decades in their sights. 

Private equity firms are rethinking their strategies in China as a widening regulatory crackdown on some of the country’s hottest sectors forces investors to scout for bets in other industries that they hope will be less vulnerable to sudden policy changes.

Oil prices fell more than 3 per cent on Monday, extending last week’s steep losses on the back of a rising US dollar and concerns that new coronavirus-related restrictions in Asia, especially China, could halt a global recovery in fuel demand.

China’s factory gate inflation in July rose at a faster clip from the previous month and exceeded market expectations, adding to strains on an economy losing recovery momentum as businesses struggle with high raw material costs. 

Exxon Mobil Corp was suspended from advocacy group Climate Leadership Council (CLC) that looks to make policies to address climate change, the CLC said on Friday.

Energy giant Saudi Aramco’s second quarter profits for 2021 have bounced back to pre-pandemic levels due to higher oil prices, nearly quadrupling compared to the same period last year.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Saturday said many of its businesses are enjoying strong recoveries from the early depths of the coronavirus pandemic, fueling rebounds in profits and revenue.

Oil prices declined towards $70 a barrel on Thursday as more countries imposed fresh movement restrictions to counter a surge in Covid-19 cases, though Middle East tensions offered support. 

From an office in Shenzhen’s sprawling electronics district, an engineering team is prototyping a bioreactor that will one day produce “cultivated meat”, discussing component sizes in a video call with scientists sitting in kitchens and bedrooms in the UK.

US crude oil stockpiles rose, while gasoline inventories fell, in a signal of steady demand for fuel, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Crude inventories rose by 3.6 million barrels in the week to July 30 to 439.2 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3.1 million-barrel drop.

Tesla Inc chair Robyn Denholm sold more than $22 million worth of shares in the electric-car maker after exercising stock options, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Uber on Wednesday reported a profit in second quarter on one-time gains and  said its pandemic-stalled ride-hailing business was showing signs of  recovering.

Beijing’s ability to balance its virus response and economic growth is facing a big test.

World stocks eased from the previous session’s record highs while the dollar reached its highest in eight days on Thursday, after hawkish remarks from a senior US Federal Reserve official. 

Activity in Britain’s construction industry grew last month at its weakest pace since February due to shortages of building materials and contractors, adding to signs of post-Covid bottlenecks in the economy.

US President Joe Biden was scheduled to sign an executive order on Thursday setting a target to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles and propose new vehicle emissions rules to cut pollution through 2026, the White House said.