LONDON (Reuters) – The euro rose slightly in early trading on Thursday after Italy said it would cut its budgetary spending plans in a row with the European Union, although traders were in a cautious mood ahead of the European Central Bank’s monetary policy meeting. Global markets were mostly positive at the start of the […]
TOKYO (AFP) – Japan is planning to tighten regulation of tech giants like Google and Facebook after an expert panel called for better oversight on competition and privacy, an official said Thursday (Dec 13). Japan has followed in the footsteps of other countries in scrutinising the dominant role played by the world’s largest information technology […]
An SMRT worker had his right foot amputated yesterday after it was crushed in an accident involving a maintenance vehicle on the MRT tracks near Joo Koon station. How the accident happened is unknown, but The Straits Times understands that the employee – a man in his late 50s – was injured by a track […]
SINGAPORE – An SBS Transit bus driver driving his vehicle along Jalan Boon Lay ploughed into a woman who was crossing the road last year, resulting in her death. The court heard that Malaysian Tan Meow Hiang, 46, who was killed in the accident, had not been jaywalking. Deputy Public Prosecutor Senthilkumaran Sabapathy said there […]
Experts weighing in on Singapore’s plans to introduce a new landing system for Seletar Airport said that this will not affect the current height restrictions for planes coming in. Neither will it hamper the development of Johor’s Pasir Gudang Port. The main change from introducing an Instrument Landing System (ILS) is that pilots will be […]
KUALA LUMPUR – Umno is having a very bad time this week. Five of its six MPs in Sabah, nine out of 10 assemblymen in the state along with two Senators on Wednesday (Dec 12) quit Malaysia’s once-mighty party. The defections have effectively caused the collapse of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) in the […]
LONDON (Reuters) – A United Nations plan to boost global development is at risk of failing to reach its goals because of poor data and target-setting by companies, the world’s biggest bond investor said. The plan, known as the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aims to cut poverty, inequality and environmental degradation globally by 2030. […]
TAIPEI (AFP) – As Taiwan’s economy stagnates, claw crane arcades where customers lower a grabber to try to pick up a prize from a glass box are booming as affordable entertainment, while operators see them as a way to make a fast buck. According to official figures, there is one claw crane outlet for every […]
COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s legislature voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday (Dec 12) to demand the reinstatement of prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, as a bitter power struggle headed for a government shutdown within weeks. Members of Mr Wickremesinghe’s party and their allies voted 117-0 asking President Maithripala Sirisena to restore the status quo prior to Oct […]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. borrowers filed the most loan requests to buy a home and to refinance one in two months as some 30-year borrowing costs declined to their lowest levels since September, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday. The Washington-based group’s seasonally adjusted index on mortgage applications increased 1.6 percent to 346.0 […]