TOKYO (WASHINGTON POST) – Japan’s Cabinet approved a climate change adaptation plan on Tuesday (Nov 27) that is aimed at countering the dangers caused by global warming, including disasters and the impact on farm produce, among other problems. The adaptation plan – a revision of an earlier plan drawn up in 2015 – was compiled […]
DHAKA (REUTERS) – An octogenarian former comrade of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s father in the country’s independence struggle is now the face of an embattled opposition seeking to end her decade-long rule increasingly tainted by accusations of authoritarianism. In a general election due next month, Ms Hasina’s ruling Awami League will be fighting to […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States will finance single-family home mortgages as high as $484,350 across much of the country next year, according to the regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance companies that are owned by taxpayers. The new loan limit means more large homes are eligible for backing by Fannie […]
When a vivacious Miss Thailand strutted on stage in an outrageous tuk tuk costume – complete with headlights and handlebars – during the Miss Universe pageant in 2015, netizens responded with derision and laughter. But Ms Aniporn “Nat” Chalermburanawong had the last laugh when she went on to bag the Best National Costume prize at […]
SINGAPORE – Indonesia’s presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto has vowed to push reforms for a clean, non-corrupt government to attract businesses. The “rampant and massive corruption” in the country is “like cancer that has reached Stage 4”, he told business leaders at The Economist’s The World in 2019 gala dinner held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel […]
SINGAPORE – A maid was barred from having dinner at the Singapore Cricket Club (SCC) last Friday (Nov 23), sparking a discussion on the policies of private clubs here, some of which do not allow domestic helpers on their premises. On Monday (Nov 26), freelance actor Nicholas Bloodworth recounted in a Facebook post how his […]
SINGAPORE – A technical officer with national water agency PUB abused his position and duped it into awarding 718 contracts worth almost $2 million to companies registered under his wife’s name. Mohamed Sa’ad Mohamed Ali, 43, who has been suspended from his duties since August 2012, was sentenced to three years and nine months’ jail […]
HONG KONG — When the members of Bottlesmoker, an “indietronic” band from Indonesia, landed in Vietnam last Thursday, they were looking forward to their set at Quest Festival, an annual event billed as a “wondrous, wild wonderland of nature, art and eclectic entertainment.” But just after 11 p.m. on Friday — after bands and fans […]
BUENOS AIRES – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will make his first working visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, from Wednesday (Nov 28) to Saturday (Dec 1), during which he will attend the Group of 20 (G-20) Leaders’ Summit. The visit, made at the invitation of Argentinian President Mauricio Macri, will focus on strengthening economic cooperation between […]
SHANGHAI (REUTERS) – More than 100 scientists, most of them in China, have condemned as “crazy” and unethical a geneticist’s claim that he altered the genes of twin girls born this month to create the first gene-edited babies. In an open letter circulating online, the scientists said the use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology to edit the […]