Sunday, 20 Jul 2025

Asia

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China police smash $30m fake Lego ring

BEIJING (AFP) – Chinese police have dismantled a ring accused of manufacturing some US$30 million (S$40.86 million) worth of counterfeit Lego sold across the country, authorities said. Police earlier this week raided the premises of Lepin – a Chinese toymaker manufacturing Lego knockoffs in the southern city of Shenzhen – arresting four people, Shanghai police […]

China's first private high-speed rail project gets $4 billion financing: Xinhua

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s first privately-controlled high speed railway project signed a loan contract for 28.1 billion yuan ($4.18 billion) on Friday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Xinhua said China Development Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and two others will provide the loan for the […]

Sri Lanka troops kill four suspected ISIS gunmen

COLOMBO (AFP) –  Sri Lankan security forces exchanged fire with suspected  Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-affiliated militants and killed at least four of them in the east of the country, police and the military said on Saturday (April 27).  Gunmen opened fire on troops when they attempted to storm a house in the town of Kalmunai, […]

European shares get a lift from strong earnings, U.S. GDP

(Reuters) – European shares finished higher on Friday as some strong earnings and data showing U.S. economic growth in the first-quarter beat expectations helped cut losses from earlier in the session. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up 0.2 percent, led by drugmaker Sanofi and aero engine maker Safran, on upbeat earnings, while a turnaround […]

Abraaj founder's extradition case adjourned again: court official

LONDON (Reuters) – A London court case to extradite Arif Naqvi, founder of collapsed private equity firm Abraaj Group, to the United States on fraud charges was adjourned until May 24, a court official said on Friday. Naqvi was remanded in custody until that date, the official said. A former managing partner of Dubai-based Abraaj, […]

Myanmar to lift ban on sending domestic workers to Singapore

YANGON – The Myanmar government has lifted a ban on sending the country’s domestic helpers to work in Singapore, nearly five years after it imposed the restriction amid concerns of ill-treatment and abuse, the Myanmar Times reported on Friday (April 26). The report cited an employment agency association as saying that the Labour Ministry had […]

Trump says he told OPEC to lower oil prices

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he called the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and told the cartel to lower oil prices. “Gasoline prices are coming down. I called up OPEC, I said you’ve got to bring them down. You’ve got to bring them down,” Trump told […]

Shattered glass panel at Chinatown MRT platform replaced, says SBS Transit

SINGAPORE – One of the glass panels at the platform of Chinatown MRT station on the North-East line that shattered on Thursday (April 25) was replaced on Friday. SBS Transit senior vice-president of corporate communications Tammy Tan confirmed the incident, and said that the panel was replaced during engineering hours early on Friday morning. She […]

Investors bolster oversight in emerging-market private equity after Abraaj collapse

LONDON (Reuters) – Investors in private equity funds that focus on emerging markets are tightening oversight after the collapse of a Middle East buyout firm, a survey has found. Many investors said they planned to put more money into such funds over the next two years, but also to install extra checks and balances, suggested […]