Boyu, Hillhouse, others vie for HK-based medical device firm Quasar -sources

By Kane Wu and Yantoultra Ngui HONG KONG (Reuters) – Private equity firms Boyu Capital, Hillhouse Capital and BPEA EQT are among bidders vying for Longreach Group’s Hong Kong-based medical device maker Quasar, three people with knowledge of the matter said. Longreach, an Asia-focused private equity firm, is targeting a valuation of as much as…

Read More

North Korea constructing satellite launch pad with ‘new urgency’ – report

By Josh Smith SEOUL (Reuters) – Construction at North Korea’s satellite launching station has hit a “new level of urgency,” most likely in preparation for a launch, a U.S.-based think tank said in a report citing commercial satellite imagery. North Korea says it has completed its first military spy satellite, and leader Kim Jong Un…

Read More

Indonesia, Malaysia to visit Brussels over concern about EU deforestation law

JAKARTA (Reuters) – The world’s two biggest palm oil producers Indonesia and Malaysia will send top officials to the European Union next week to voice concern over a new deforestation law they believe could be detrimental to small farming businesses. Indonesia and Malaysia accounts for about 85% of global palm oil exports and the EU…

Read More

South Korean ammunition headed to Ukraine via U.S. -WSJ

By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of South Korean artillery rounds are on their way to Ukraine via the United States, after Seoul’s initial resistance toward arming Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The Journal, citing unnamed sources, said Seoul had reached a “confidential arrangement” with Washington to transfer the…

Read More

US State Department’s top China policy official to step down

By Michael Martina and Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. State Department’s top China policy official Rick Waters is set to step down at a time of fraught relations between Washington and Beijing. Waters, deputy assistant secretary of State for China and Taiwan who leads the department’s recently created China House policy division, will leave…

Read More

Despite promises, automakers lack ‘concrete actions’ to decarbonise steel – Greenpeace

TOKYO (Reuters) – Automakers, including Toyota and Volkswagen, should decarbonise their steel supply and cut back on the material’s consumption by reducing the size of vehicle models, Greenpeace said on Thursday. As a transition to battery-powered cars brings down the amount of greenhouse gases that are released during the usage of a vehicle, a growing…

Read More

Republicans, White House see progress in US debt ceiling talks

By David Morgan, Andrea Shalal and Moira Warburton WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Negotiators for Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy held what both sides called productive talks on Wednesday to try to reach a deal to raise the United States’ $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avoid a catastrophic default. After a four-hour White…

Read More