BEIJING (CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – The Winter Solstice marks the arrival of the coldest season in the year, yet it is also an important time of the year to the Chinese. As the ancient Chinese saying goes: “The Winter Solstice is as significant as the Spring Festival.” The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the […]
KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysia’s national school curriculum will be overhauled, as Islamic subjects are given heavy emphasis now rather than getting students to master subjects, such as the English language, that could land them good jobs later. “They are all learning about the religion of Islam and not learning anything […]
SINGAPORE – National water agency PUB said on Friday (Dec 21) that it is not possible for worms to be present in tap water. The agency’s comments came after reports that a worm had dropped into a baby bottle along with the running water from a kitchen tap in Ang Mo Kio on Dec 6. At […]
WASHINGTON — President Trump has enacted a law that requires the State Department to punish Chinese officials who bar American officials, journalists and other citizens from going freely to Tibetan areas in China’s far west. By some measures, those areas, though sparsely populated, make up one-quarter of China’s territory, and they have been the site […]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Speculators’ net long bets on the U.S. dollar rose in the latest week, according to calculations by Reuters and Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday. The value of the net long dollar position was $29.72 billion in the week ended Dec. 18, up from $28.48 billion the previous week. […]
SINGAPORE – Two Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers who were filmed allegedly hitting a truck driver on Friday (Dec 21) have been taken off operational duties pending police investigations. Footage circulating on social media shows two men in fluorescent vests seemingly confronting a man who is sitting on the ground beside a road. At […]
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan maintained its ultra-loose monetary policy on Thursday and reaffirmed its view the economy is on a solid footing, even as fears of slowing global growth jolt markets and lowered prospects for hitting its 2 percent inflation target. Investors are focusing on BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s post-meeting briefing for […]
Huge death tolls that would once have made headlines are becoming commonplace in Afghanistan, as the Taliban and other militant groups flex their muscles daily against a US-backed military struggling to cope. There remains no clear end in sight for a war that has turned into a bloody stalemate, as the BBC World Service’s Dawood […]
NEW DELHI (REUTERS) – India’s drugs regulator has ordered Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to stop manufacturing its Baby Powder using raw materials in two of its Indian factories until test results prove they are free of asbestos, a senior official said on Thursday (Dec 20). The official at the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), […]
Temperatures records tumble as heatwave grips Australia. High temperatures and giant hailstones have pummelled parts of eastern Australia. Extremely hot air from central parts of the country extended into New South Wales today, sending the temperatures soaring. The northwest of the state saw the most extreme heat, with Bourke Airport reporting 47.3C, the highest temperature […]