SEOUL, June 30 — South Korea said on Thursday the Minimum Wage Commission agreed on a minimum hourly wage increase of 5 per cent to 9,620 won (RM33) for next year, in its first such decision since President Yoon Suk-yeol took office in May.

The pay hike will affect up to 3.4 million South Korean workers, the commission said, adding it put the country's growth, inflation and employment outlook into consideration when deciding it.

Former labour-friendly President Moon Jae-in had raised the minimum wage by 16.4 per cent in July 2017 in his first year of presidency, while the country saw a combined 41.6 per cent hike in the hourly minimum wage during his five-year term. — Reuters

NEW YORK, June 30 — Printer maker Xerox Holdings Corp XRX.N said on Wednesday Chief Executive Officer John Visentin has died due to complications from an ongoing illness.

Steve Bandrowczak, Xerox’s president and chief operations officer will serve as interim CEO, the company added.

Visentin, who was also the vice chairman of the company, joined Xerox as its CEO in 2018. — Reuters

NEW YORK, June 30 — Lille have appointed Paulo Fonseca as their new coach with the Portuguese signing a two-year contract, the Ligue 1 club said on Wednesday.

Fonseca, 49, coached Italian side AS Roma before leaving the club in May last year. He had previously coached Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, who he led to three consecutive league titles, as well as Portuguese side Porto.

“Becoming the new coach of Lille is a source of pride and a great honour for me,” Fonseca said in a statement.

“I am aware that having been chosen to join this great French club, with its rich history and impressive track record, also gives me a great responsibility.” Lille parted ways with manager Jocelyn Gourvennec earlier this month after a disappointing season in which the 2020-21 Ligue 1 champions finished 10th in the standings. — Reuters

LONDON, June 29 — Norway’s number three seed Casper Ruud was unable to reproduce his French Open heroics at Wimbledon as he was bundled out 3-6 6-2 7-5 6-4 in the second round by world number 112 Ugo Humbert today.

Frenchman Humbert turned up for the match without any rackets and struggled in the first set but his high-risk approach started to pay off as the ratio of winners to unforced errors moved in his favour and he impressively took the next two.

Ruud, who lost to Rafa Nadal in the French Open final three weeks ago, fought back in a high quality fourth set but Humbert, who reached the last 16 at Wimbledon in 2019, produced an excellent game to break for 5-4 before serving out to love. — Reuters

LONDON, June 29 — The World Health Organisation said "sustained transmission" of monkeypox worldwide could see the virus begin to move into high-risk groups, like pregnant women, immunocompromised people and children.

WHO said today it is investigating reports of infected children, including two cases in the United Kingdom, as well as following up reports in Spain and France. None of the cases in children have been severe.

The virus has now been identified in more than 50 new countries outside the countries in Africa where it is endemic. Cases are also rising in those countries, said WHO, calling for testing to be ramped up.

"I'm concerned about sustained transmission because it would suggest that the virus establishing itself and it could move into high risk groups including children, the immunocompromised and pregnant women," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. — Reuters

WASHINGTON, June 29 — Global exports of semiconductors to Russia have plummeted by 90 per cent since the United States and allies slapped export controls on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said today.

Raimondo, speaking at an annual Commerce Department conference, also doubled down on threats to "shut down" China's top chipmaker SMIC if it is found to be supplying chips to Russia. — Reuters