Sunday, 29 Sep 2024

Asia

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Kreta Ayer community gallery to focus on local cultural art forms

SINGAPORE – For nearly 200 years, Kreta Ayer has been the vibrant heart of Chinatown. When the area south of Boat Quay was designated by Sir Stamford Raffles as a Chinese enclave in 1821, Kreta Ayer was where people came to eat, drink at its teahouses while listening to nanyin, enjoy its theatres and visit […]

S&P Global rates China domestic issuer in first by foreign agency

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The Beijing-based unit of S&P Global on Thursday became the first international credit rating agency to rate a domestic issuer in China, a long-awaited step in the development of the country’s $13 trillion bond market. Chinese bond investors hope that ratings by international agencies will help to shake up domestic counterparts which […]

Group of Myanmar nationals held here for backing armed violence

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has arrested a group of Myanmar nationals working here for using Singapore to mobilise support for armed violence against their government. Their actions in support of the Arakan Army (AA), an armed group that has conducted violent attacks in Myanmar, are “inimical to Singapore’s security”, MHA said in a […]

US diplomat David Stilwell keen to discuss Iran, North Korea with Japan officials

NARITA, JAPAN (REUTERS) – The top US diplomat for East Asia said on Thursday (July 11) he was looking forward to talking with Japanese officials about subjects including Iran and North Korea, in his first trip to the region since taking up his post last month. “I look forward to building on the (US-Japan) alliance […]

Mainlanders among Hong Kong protesters, though many stay away

HONG KONG (AFP) – As Hong Kong was rocked by political chaos, Chinese mainlander Briony Lin found herself joining the mass protests, an act that would be unthinkable under the authoritarian regime back home. The huge rallies and clashes coursing through the international finance hub are the latest outburst of anger by Hong Kongers who […]

North Korea calls South Korea's F-35 jet purchases 'extremely dangerous action'

SEOUL (REUTERS) – South Korea’s acquisition of American F-35 stealth fighter jets will force North Korea to develop and test “special armaments” to destroy the new weapons, North Korea’s state media said on Thursday (July 11), citing a government researcher. South Korean authorities are “impudent and pitiful” for “talking loudly about reconciliation and cooperation between […]

Railway companies in Japan go high-tech to beat the summer heat

TOKYO (THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Railway companies are stepping up their efforts to beat the heat, in response to a series of passengers suffering heatstroke in trains and stations. With the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics set for next summer, railway companies operating in the Tokyo metropolitan area are using cutting-edge technology such as […]

Domestic airfares soar in Indonesia despite government price cap

JAKARTA (REUTERS) – When Ms Resti Novita Sari booked a ticket to fly from Jakarta to her hometown of Padang to visit family for the Eid holiday, airfares were 40 per cent to 60 per cent higher than she had paid in previous years. “It made me think twice about buying airplane tickets,” she said, […]

Why female suicide in Afghanistan is so prevalent

“I didn’t want to live any more. That’s why I tried to kill myself with poison.” Jamila (not her real name) attempted suicide after she felt abandoned and betrayed by her fiancé – who decided, after a six-year-engagement, that he no longer wanted to marry her because she was “not a young woman any more”. […]