MANILA (REUTERS) – A Philippine province has cancelled its award of a US$10 billion (S$13.25 billion) airport deal south of the capital, among the biggest projects involving a Chinese firm under President Rodrigo Duterte who has pursued warmer ties with Beijing since taking office in 2016. China Communications Construction Co (CCCC) and Philippines company MacroAsia […]

LONDON/HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) – HSBC Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn said the bank had no option but to close an exiled Hong Kong lawmaker’s account as he defended the lender against accusations it had become a tool of the Chinese authorities. Facing questions from UK lawmakers Tuesday (Jan 26), Mr Quinn said HSBC’s […]

SINGAPORE – If material put out by a government agency has been translated but not vetted, public officers must assume that the work is not ready to be shown to the public, said Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Sim Ann on Tuesday (Jan 26). She gave this assurance of the efforts being […]

SINGAPORE – DBS Bank has rolled out additional measures to reduce long queues outside its pop-up ATMs for new dollar notes ahead of the Chinese New Year. These include putting up end-queue signage to cap queue numbers, deploying on-site safety ambassadors to enforce safe management measures, and updating the estimated waiting times for the various […]

NEW DELHI — Thousands of protesting farmers poured into New Delhi on Tuesday as they used their tractors to pull barricades apart, prompting the police to fire tear gas and throwing into chaos an event that posed a direct challenge to the government. The farmers protesting India’s new farm laws had been expected to start […]

KUALA LUMPUR – Long before 1MDB hogged the headlines, there was PKFZ – the Port Klang Free Zone multibillion-dollar scandal involving Malaysia’s busiest sea port. It was arguably the country’s most well-publicised case of mismanagement of public funds, with alleged corruption greatly inflating the costs of building a free trade zone within the Port Klang […]

SINGAPORE – Singapore has taken another step in its long-term plans to improve its recycling rates and capabilities, particularly its ability to recover more plastic waste. On Tuesday (Jan 26), the National Environmental Agency (NEA) awarded the tender for the feasibility study and design of a pilot plastic recovery facility to engineering firm HTP GmbH […]

BANGKOK (REUTERS) – Thailand’s health minister called for understanding on Tuesday (Jan 26) and sought to explain the country’s coronavirus vaccine procurement plan, following criticism that the government has lacked transparency and been too slow in securing supplies. The strategy came under scrutiny last week when banned opposition politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said the government had […]

A top human rights watchdog in South Korea has released a report confirming that the former mayor of Seoul, who went missing in July only to later be found dead, had sexually harassed and verbally humiliated a secretary. The National Human Rights Commission led an investigation into the allegations against the former mayor, Park Won-soon, […]

MANILA (REUTERS, NYTIMES) – The Philippines has confirmed domestic transmission of the new, highly contagious British variant of the coronavirus, prompting President Rodrigo Duterte to abandon a plan to allow some minors to go outside their homes. “Right now, we have local transmission where this individual or these cases with the variant have already infected […]