BEIJING (REUTERS) – China has opened the door to imports of rice from the United States for the first time ever in what analysts took to signal a warming of relations between the world’s two biggest economies after a frosty year marked by tensions and tit-for-tat tariffs. The green light from Chinese customs, indicated in […]
BERLIN (Reuters) – Inflation in Germany’s most populous regions slowed in December, just as the European Central Bank ended a crisis-fighting bond purchase scheme after four years and as global markets slumped. The annual inflation rate in Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, slowed to 1.8 percent in December from 2.4 percent a month earlier, […]
SINGAPORE – Five industrial sites will be made available for tender in the first half of next year after the confirmed list under the Industrial Government Land Sales (IGLS) programme was revealed on Friday (Dec 28). Another seven sites will be made available for application under a reserve list, the Ministry of Trade and Industry […]
The number of North Korean defectors to South Korea has fallen since Kim Jong-un came to power seven years ago, a South Korean lawmaker has said. Park Byeong-seug, citing data from the South’s unification ministry, said there had been 1,127 defections last year – compared with 2,706 in 2011. Mr Park said tighter border controls […]
SINGAPORE – The court has sentenced a young offender diagnosed with a paedophilic disorder to a year in the Reformative Training Centre (RTC), where he can receive help in a psychological programme. Those found guilty of outraging the modesty of someone under 14 can be jailed up to five years, fined and caned. Jeremy Low […]
BEIJING (AFP) – A dozen students from a top Chinese university staged a protest on Friday (Dec 28) after the school removed the president of an on-campus Marxist group amid an ongoing crackdown on student activists this year. The students gathered in an open area in front of the science department where they held up […]
JAKARTA (AFP) – The number of people evacuated after Indonesia’s deadly tsunami has nearly doubled to some 40,000 while more than 7,000 were injured in the disaster, officials said on Friday (Dec 28), as they trimmed the official death toll. The authorities said 426 people had been killed – down from a previous tally of […]
China has responded to a report that the United States is considering an executive order to bar American companies from using telecommunications equipment from Huawei or ZTE Corp because they pose significant national security risks. While its Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said she did not want to comment on the order directly as it […]
SINGAPORE – A 55-year-old taxi driver suffered injuries to his ankle after he was involved in an accident with another taxi driver in Taman Jurong in the wee hours of Friday (Dec 28). The police were alerted to the accident between the two taxis in Corporation Road, in the direction of Yung Ho Road, at […]
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s move to drop the “neutral” description of its monetary settings from a key economic work conference last week signals adjustments in policy measures but the changes will be marginal, a central bank newspaper said on Friday. While China’s “prudent” policy stance has not changed, the tweaks are a response to domestic […]