NEW YORK (Reuters) – The dollar held firm against its rivals on Friday and was poised for its first weekly gain in five weeks, boosted by optimism about trade talks between China and the United States. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discussed lifting some or all tariffs on Chinese goods and suggested offering a tariff […]
A US citizen of Bangladeshi descent has been arrested during a visit to his native country for allegedly committing “war crimes” during the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971 – a year when his family say he was only 13. Mohamed Jubair Monir, a New York based businessman, was arrested in a village on […]
BEIJING – Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on uncivilised behaviour on public transport, as the country’s largest annual migration of people fast approaches. Tens of millions of Chinese will be hitting the road to return to their home towns for the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, with most of them packing into […]
(Reuters) – Following are five big themes likely to dominate thinking of investors and traders in the coming week and the Reuters stories related to them. SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO? Another week closer to the date Britain leaves the European Union. Or are we? Given how crushingly Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit […]
MANILA (REUTERS) – Human rights groups expressed alarm at Sri Lanka’s leader on Friday (Jan 18) for praising Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his bloody war on drugs as an “example to the whole world”. Despite international condemnation of a crackdown that has killed thousands of Filipinos, visiting Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena told Duterte […]
JAKARTA (DPA) – An Indonesian Muslim cleric serving a 15-year jail sentence for terrorism will be released for humanitarian reasons, a presidential aide said on Friday (Jan 18). Abu Bakar Bashir, 80, has served eight years of his prison sentence but has sought an early release on the grounds of ill health. He was convicted in 2011 for inciting […]
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union is willing to discuss car tariffs but will not remove duties on farm products in free trade talks with the United States, its trade chief said on Friday, setting it on a possible collision course with Washington. The European Commission, which coordinates trade policy for the 28 member European […]
SURAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Mosaic art surrounding a statue on a major road in Surakarta, Central Java, has drawn ire from conservative Muslim groups, which have said that an aerial view of the art showed that the design resembled a Christian cross. Surakarta’s Muslim Troops (LUIS) has questioned the design and demanded […]
JOHOR BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Malaysian bus service provider Causeway Link has launched its new cross-border route between Malaysia and Singapore via the Second Link, making it easier for commuters in the two countries. Handal Indah Group of Companies (HIGC) deputy executive director Lim Chern Fang said the new route opened on Dec 31, […]
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia has denied approving the visit by the chief minister of Johor last week to a government vessel in waters it is claiming from Singapore. The Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Friday (Jan 18) that “upon learning of the planned visit from a Malaysian enforcement agency on the morning of 9 January […]