SEOUL (REUTERS) – Japan should avoid aggravating historical tensions in a diplomatic row over South Koreans forced to work for Japanese firms during World War Two, South Korea’s foreign ministry has warned. South Korea’s top court ruled last month that Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp must compensate four South Koreans for their forced […]

SYDNEY (AFP) – A surfer fought off a shark with his board after being bitten in the leg on Wednesday (Nov 7) on Australia’s east coast, authorities said, just days after a swimmer died in another attack. The 43-year-old was surfing off popular tourist spot Shelly Beach in Ballina some 750km north of Sydney, when […]

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Graft-busters have questioned former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Muhammad Ibrahim over the central bank’s controversial RM2 billion (S$659.04 million) land purchase from the Finance Ministry in January. A highly placed source in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said other BNM officials were also questioned regarding […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar was down against the euro and yen on Wednesday on investor caution as traders awaited U.S. midterm election results for implications on Washington’s broader economic and political agenda. The U.S. currency has outperformed most of its key rivals this year, benefiting from a robust domestic economy and higher interest rates. […]

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has left the door open to calling a general election next year, as Singapore celebrates the 200th year since Sir Stamford Raffles’ arrival. He was asked by Bloomberg News editor-in-chief John Micklethwait last night if the bicentennial might be a reason to bring forward the general election, which must be […]

SINGAPORE – A man’s body was found floating in the Kallang River on Tuesday afternoon (Nov 6). The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that it responded to a call for assistance at 3.35pm and later retrieved the body of the man, who was in his 20s. He was declared dead at the scene by […]

SINGAPORE – The leaders of the United States and China have to work out how to resolve their trade disputes, and ensure ongoing tensions do not harm the broader relationship between them, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday (Nov 6). “The leaders of two countries need to decide what they want to do […]

China massively increased security spending in 2017 in the far-western region of Xinjiang, where hundreds of thousands of Muslims are alleged to have been detained, a new report says. Spending in areas “that explain nearly all security-related facility construction” rose by 213% between 2016 and 2017, said the US-based Jamestown Foundation. Satellite data shows a […]

Child suicides in Japan are the highest they have been in more than three decades, the country’s education ministry says. In the fiscal year 2016/7 up to March, 250 children from elementary to high school age were recorded as having taken their own lives. The number is five more than last year, and the highest […]

SHANGHAI – The Chinese are quietly confident on dealing with the fallout of the ongoing trade war with the United States, said Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing. “It is still early days, I’m quite sure the Chinese are doing the necessary preparations to make sure they insulate their own economy from any […]