SINGAPORE – The European Parliament has given the green light to a landmark trade agreement with Singapore that is set to remove nearly all customs duties between the two jurisdictions. Following a majority vote in favour of the European Union-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) on Wednesday (Feb 13) in France, the pact can be ratified […]
BEIJING — A Cultural Revolution-era film by a celebrated Chinese director has been withdrawn from the 69th Berlin Film Festival, where it was set to show in the festival’s main competition. A statement posted Monday on the film’s official Weibo account said the film by Zhang Yimou, “One Second,” had been pulled for “technical reasons,” […]
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone industrial production fell more than expected in December, official estimates showed on Wednesday, pulled down by a drop in the output of capital goods, used for investment. The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said industrial output in the 19-country currency union fell 0.9 percent month-on-month for a 4.2 percent year-on-year […]
SINGAPORE – Four drivers have been fined for providing illegal chauffeured services using unlicensed vehicles, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a statement on Wednesday (Feb 13). The drivers have each been convicted of using a vehicle as an unlicensed public service vehicle, and driving a vehicle without valid insurance. They were each fined […]
LONDON (Reuters) – European shares edged up on Wednesday as optimism about Washington and Beijing trade talks lifted global markets and data showed earnings growth forecasts for Europe are stabilizing after steep downward revisions. The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3 percent at 0943 GMT, with Germany’s trade-sensitive DAX up 0.2 percent. Asian bourses and […]
JAKARTA (DPA) – Instagram has taken down an account that featured comic strips about a Muslim gay man’s daily struggles after Indonesia demanded its removal, an official said on Wednesday (Feb 13). Indonesia’s Communication and Information Technology Ministry said it had sent a letter to Instagram requesting that the account, called #alpantuni, be taken down […]
WELLINGTON (AFP) – Chinese telecom giant Huawei took a light-hearted dig on Wednesday (Feb 13) at New Zealand’s decision to ban it from the rugby-mad nation’s 5G infrastructure development, leaving officials in Wellington unimpressed. “5G without Huawei is like rugby without New Zealand,” the company said in full-page advertisements published in major newspapers. The unusual […]
SINGAPORE – Families earned more from work last year, and their combined incomes, when divided among each household member, also grew. This was especially the case for those in the 71st to 90th percentiles, who saw their real incomes rise by 4.0 per cent for each household member. Those in the bottom 70 per cent […]
The Ministry of Health (MOH) has reached out to 2,400 of the 3,500 Singaporeans affected by the HIV Registry data leak who are diagnosed with HIV and are still alive, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong told Parliament yesterday. But it was not able to reach everyone on the HIV Registry, which dates back to 1985, […]
SEOUL (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – A long-delayed commencement ceremony was held on Tuesday (Feb 12) for 250 Danwon High School students who died in the Sewol ferry disaster on April 16, 2014. The students were on a school trip to Jeju Island when the ferry carrying 476 passengers sank off the south-western coast […]