The United Nations on Monday pushed for urgent action to prop up Afghanistan’s banks, warning that a spike in people unable to repay loans, lower deposits and a cash liquidity crunch could cause the financial system to collapse within months.

China’s economy showed signs of stabilising in October, according to data on Monday, with retail sales and factory output beating expectations as a power supply crisis appeared to ease.

China’s cyberspace regulator on Sunday proposed requiring companies pursuing share listings in Hong Kong to apply for cybersecurity inspections if they handle data that concerns national security.

China’s aviation regulator has told airlines it is satisfied that design changes Boeing Co proposed for its 737 MAX plane could resolve safety problems, in a sign it is closer to lifting a more than two-year flight ban in Chinese skies.

Thailand plans to reopen its borders to workers from neighbouring Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, a government official said on Tuesday, in a bid to ease a labour shortage that is hurting its export and tourism-dependent economy.

Taiwanese chip giant TSMC will partner with Sony on a new $7 billion plant in Japan, the firms announced Tuesday, as an ongoing global semiconductor shortage squeezes the production of everything from cars to TVs and gaming consoles.

Japan is considering an economic stimulus package worth more than 30 trillion yen ($265 billion) aimed at easing the pain from the Covid-19 pandemic, a plan that would require issuing new debt, Kyodo news reported.

Asian markets were mixed Monday as long-running concerns about inflation offset forecast-busting economic data out of the United States and China, while tourism-linked firms rallied on optimism about the global reopening after Pfizer said its pill to treat Covid was highly effective.

China’s meat imports in October fell from a year ago to their lowest in 20 months, customs data showed on Sunday, as cheap domestic pork cut demand for overseas supplies.

Oil prices rose on Monday on the back of positive signs for global economic growth, supporting energy demand, while Saudi Arabia’s state-owned producer Aramco raised the official selling price for its crude.

US electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc sold 54,391 China-made vehicles in October, including 40,666 for export, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said on Monday.

China’s daily coal output hit 11.67 million tonnes on November 2, rising around one million tonnes from early October, close to a record high this year amid a raft of measures to ramp up production, according to the country’s state planner.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government announced a ban on the use of foreign currencies on Tuesday, threatening further disruption to an already ailing economy.

Taiwan will seek support for its bid to join a trans-Pacific trade pact when it attends a meeting of economic leaders of the Asia-Pacific group APEC next week, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday.

Against a backdrop of global calls to phase out fossil fuels to help reduce global greenhouse emissions, Vietnam wants to boost domestic coal production as it grows more reliant on imports.

HSBC is emerging from its coronavirus and restructuring troubles to become more reliably profitable, boss Noel Quinn said Monday as he announced the start of a $2 billion share buyback.

The United States has barred imports from a Malaysian latex glove maker over alleged labour abuses, the latest firm from the country to face such a ban.

Afghanistan’s economy is set to contract up to 30 per cent this year and this is likely to further fuel a refugee crisis that will impact neighbouring countries, Turkey and Europe, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

The international community must find ways to inject cash directly into Afghanistans economy to avert its total collapse as a growing humanitarian crisis impacts half the population, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday.

Military-appointed authorities in Myanmar are making progress in addressing its currency crisis, with the kyat stabilising and efforts underway to keep prices under control, a senior central bank official said.