Author: admin@primenews

Traveling through one of the world’s best airports is set to get even smoother next year. Starting in 2024, officials say Singapore’s Changi Airport will introduce automated immigration clearance, which will allow passengers to depart the city-state without passports, using only biometric data. “Singapore will be one of the first few countries in the world to introduce automated, passport-free immigration clearance,” Communications Minister Josephine Teo announced during a parliament session on Monday, during which several changes to the country’s Immigration Act were passed. Biometric technology, along with facial recognition software, is already in use to some extent in Changi Airport at automated…

South Korean police are investigating 17 US soldiers and five other people who allegedly smuggled or used synthetic marijuana via military mail. This follows raids in at least two US army bases in May, including Camp Humphreys, its largest overseas base. A Filipino and a South Korean have been arrested, while prosecutors review the cases against all 22 suspects. A tip from the US Army’s enforcement arm had sparked a four-month investigation by Korean authorities. It was one of the largest in recent years involving American soldiers, US media reported citing Cha Min-seok, a senior detective in South Korea. Joint…

Toshiba, one of Japan’s oldest and biggest firms, is set to end its 74-year stock market history as a group of investors have bought a majority stake. The company has announced that a consortium led by private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) has purchased 78.65% of its shares. Owning more than two-thirds of the firm allows the group to complete a $14bn (£11.4bn) deal to take it private. The firm’s roots date back to 1875, as a maker of clocks and mechanical dolls. Under the deal its shares could be taken off the stock market as early as the end…

One of Ukraine’s staunchest allies, Poland, has announced it will no longer supply weapons to the country as a diplomatic dispute over grain escalates. The nation’s prime minister said it would instead focus on arming itself with more modern weapons. The move comes as tensions between the two nations rise. On Tuesday, Poland summoned Ukraine’s ambassador over comments made by President Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN. He said some nations had feigned solidarity with Ukraine, which Warsaw denounced as “unjustified concerning Poland, which has supported Ukraine since the first days of the war”. Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, announced the…

It has been just over a week since the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave their nods to updated Covid-19 vaccines, which they have urged Americans to get without delay as the nation sees an uptick in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. “Those vaccines are now available. They are out there in pharmacies, doctor’s offices, health centers around the country,” Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the CDC, said Saturday on CNN. The agency has recommended that everyone ages 6 months and older get one of the new shots. It has made the…

At any given moment, if you want to know what the Federal Reserve is most likely to do at any of its meetings through the end of 2024, you can head to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group’s FedWatch Tool page. There, you will find a bar chart plotting the share of traders predicting a rate hike, cut or no change in interest rates at an upcoming meeting. These traders don’t have a secret ear into the Fed’s private meetings nor a crystal ball, and yet their consensus predictions have a tremendous track record. Perhaps that’s also because Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who has made it…

The threat of a strike at one competitor and the bankruptcy of another proved beneficial for FedEx this summer. Overall, adjusted earnings for FedEx’s fiscal first quarter were $4.55 a share, up from $3.44 a share this time last year. The company raised its earnings-per-share guidance for fiscal 2024 to a range of $17.00 to $18.50 from $16.50 to $18.50, though on a call with analysts, FedEx’s chief customer officer, Brie Carere, said overall demand is “muted” and the macroeconomic picture “is a little bit softer.” “We came into the quarter determined to provide excellent service to our customers. Despite…

Amazon’s Alexa is about to bring generative AI inside the house, as the company introduces sweeping changes to how its ubiquitous voice assistant both sounds and functions. The company announced a generative AI update for Alexa and, subsequently, of all Echo products dating back to 2014, at a press event Wednesday at its new campus in Arlington, Virginia. Alexa will be able to resume conversations without a wake word, respond more quickly, learn user preferences, field follow-up questions and change its tone based on the topic. Alexa will even offer opinions, such as which movies should have won an Oscar…

Even though the Federal Reserve didn’t hike its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday, it didn’t lower it either. So it remains at its highest level in 22 years. Given that the Fed influences — directly or indirectly — interest rates on financial accounts and products throughout the US economy, that means savers and people with surplus cash still have many opportunities to get a far better return on their money than they’ve had in years — and even more importantly, a return that outpaces the latest readings on inflation. Here are low-risk options to get the best yield on funds you…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Wednesday evening in Manhattan with Wall Street CEOs and business power players to discuss efforts to rebuild his war-torn country and its economy, a person familiar with the matter tells CNN. The roundtable, convened by JPMorgan Chase, included former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, billionaire Mike Bloomberg, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and billionaire Barry Sternlicht, the source said. The meeting comes just a day after Zelensky’s dramatic UN speech where he called for global unity in the face of Russian aggression. Zelensky is scheduled…