It is impossible to predict the evolution of China’s human H7N9 bird flu outbreak as researchers are still trying to understand the source of human transmission, the head of the World Health Organization said Monday. According to the latest official data, H7N9 avian influenza has infected 130 people in China, and killed 35, since it [...]
US President Barack Obama on Monday saluted Myanmar President Thein Sein for his leadership in pushing through startling political reforms, but warned that violence against Muslims must stop. As his guest became the first leader of his country in almost 50 years to visit the White House, Obama praised Myanmar’s journey away from brutal junta [...]
Indian police reported Monday that eight villagers, including three children, died in crossfire between security forces and Maoist rebels, but opposition politicians said the victims were “massacred”. A policeman also died in the incident on Saturday in the Edasmeta area of Bijapur district, 550 kilometres (341 miles) south of capital Raipur, the chief of anti-Maoist [...]
Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Chalerm Yubamrung, plans to introduce a contentious amnesty bill into parliament on Thursday that will stoke new political tensions three years after bloody street protests and a military crackdown exposed Thailand’s deep divisions. The so-called reconciliation bill would absolve all political offenders involved in protests since a 2006 coup and open [...]
President Barack Obama will hold his first summit with President Xi Jinping in California next month, with Sino-US relations rattled by alleged Chinese cyber spying and tensions in the Pacific. Obama will welcome Xi to the plush Sunnylands estate resort in Palm Springs on June 7-8, as Washington seeks Chinese help to subdue North Korean [...]
The Indian and Chinese premiers pledged on Monday to finally resolve a border dispute that has soured ties for decades, saying good relations between the two Asian giants were key to world peace. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, making his first foreign visit since taking office, said that Beijing was determined to build up trust with [...]
North Korea fired a sixth short-range missile into the Sea of Japan on Monday, defying warnings from UN chief Ban Ki-moon and South Korea after a flurry of similar tests at the weekend. The latest firing was confirmed by the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), who said it was unclear if the North was [...]
Taiwan fishing boat captain Hung Yu-chi says he was at the helm in quiet seas on the last morning of a six-day trip when he noticed a black dot on the horizon. Through binoculars, Yu-chi, 39, could see figures in orange on another boat, the color worn by both Taiwanese and Philippine officers as they [...]
The death toll from a mine tunnel collapse in eastern Indonesia has risen to 21, the US operator said Tuesday, as rescuers searched for another seven workers now also presumed dead. The accident happened on May 14 at Freeport-McMoRan’s Grasberg, one of the world’s biggest gold and copper mines in mountainous, remote Papua province, and [...]
A contentious territorial dispute between Taiwan and the Philippines is having nasty repercussions – and the US is caught in the middle. The trouble started earlier this month during a confrontation between the Philippine coast guard and a Taiwanese fishing boat in disputed waters. Although the circumstances are disputed, the incident culminated in the Philippines [...]
North Korea released 16 Chinese fishermen and their boat Tuesday, Chinese state media said, after reports that armed assailants had taken the sailors hostage fuelled strains between the neighbours. “All the fishermen with the boat are safe on their way back,” China’s Xinhua news agency said, citing a Chinese embassy official in Pyongyang it said [...]
China’s premier will pay his respects Tuesday to the family of an Indian doctor who died treating Chinese troops more than 70 years ago, becoming a rare symbol of friendship between the two nations. Li Keqiang, like Chinese leaders before him, will take time out of his busy India visit to meet relatives of Dwarkanath [...]
An Australian zoo said Tuesday the birth of a southern white rhinoceros was a “sign of hope” for the species given the escalation of poaching in Africa. Taronga Western Plains Zoo said the yet-to-be-named male calf was born to first-time mother Mopani in the safari-style animal park in Dubbo, 400 kilometres (250 miles) west of [...]
The most senior Catholic in the Australian state of Victoria on Monday admitted the church had been too slow to act on paedophile priests, but insisted things have changed. Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart was speaking at a state government inquiry into the handling of child sex cases by religious and non-government bodies after hundreds of [...]
No new human cases of the H7N9 virus have been recorded in China for a week, national health authorities said, for the first time since the outbreak began in March. One previously infected patient died in the week beginning May 13, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement late Monday, taking [...]
No new human cases of the H7N9 virus have been recorded in China for a week, national health authorities said, for the first time since the outbreak began in March. One previously infected patient died in the week beginning May 13, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement late Monday, taking [...]
A hospital in Tokyo said Monday that it stands ready to conduct preventive mastectomies and that several women have undergone the operation there in the past after developing cancer in one breast. St. Luke’s International Hospital said its ethics committee approved preventive mastectomy procedures in July 2011, allowing women who tested positive in genetic screening [...]
It is impossible to predict the evolution of China’s human H7N9 bird flu outbreak as researchers are still trying to understand the source of human transmission, the head of the World Health Organization said Monday. According to the latest official data, H7N9 avian influenza has infected 130 people in China, and killed 35, since it [...]
Asian shares were mixed yesterday, Tuesday May 21 2013 after a dip on Wall Street, ahead of a testimony from the US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke and a policy meeting of the Japanese central bank. Tokyo stocks rose 0.13 per cent or 20.21 points to 15,381.02, Sydney fell 0.56 per cent or 28.9 points [...]
Hong Kong shares fell from a 3-1/2-month high on Tuesday, while China markets looked set for their first loss in five days, hurt by a series of fund raising moves and Goldman Sachs’ exit from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. At midday, the Hang Seng Index was down 0.5 percent at 23,375.5 points after [...]
Asian shares rose yesterday, Monday May 20 2013 reflecting a bullish mood on Wall Street and extending their two-week rally, buoyed by better-than-expected US data. Tokyo stocks were up 1.47 per cent, or 222.69 points, to 15,360.81, and Sydney gained 0.54 per cent, or 28.2 points, to close at 5,209.0. Shanghai closed up 0.75 per [...]
The Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma received further backing from the White House on Monday in its campaign to be called Myanmar. Successive US governments have refused to acknowledge the name change made in the late 1980s by the country’s military rulers. The United States for years deliberately referred to the nation of [...]
Microsoft Corp is expanding its services for hosting and processing online data in Australia with the establishment of two new “cloud” computing data centers in the country. The world’s biggest software company said on Tuesday it was expanding its Windows Azure business to include a major new region in Australia. Data centers, renting out technology [...]
Australia seized a record 23 tonnes of illicit drugs in 2011-2012 with arrests at a 10-year high, data showed on Monday, as officials warned the country had become a key target for traffickers. The annual Australian Crime Commission report showed the amount caught was up 154 percent on the previous year, boosted by a single [...]
It was, the chief federal prosecutor in Manhattan said on Monday, “a case of inviting and paying for foxes in the henhouse.” Three researchers at the New York University School of Medicine who specialised in magnetic resonance imaging technology had been working on research sponsored by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. But, [...]
Goldman Sachs is selling the rest of its Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) stake, worth around $1.1 billion, in a move to exit an investment it made into the bank seven years ago. Goldman is selling the shares of China’s largest commercial banking group in the range of HK$5.47 to HK$5.50 each ($0.70 [...]
China’s Internet is brimming with disclosures of officials collecting bribes, homes and luxury accessories as casually as they do mistresses. But while the government tolerates such anti-corruption vigilantism, it is also extremely leery of the threat the Internet can pose to Communist Party rule. The Internet is the new tool in the fight against corruption [...]
Election 2013 demonstrated that Malaysia’s system of race-based politics is crumbling under the impact of urbanisation and the reality of Malay-majority rule, an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal suggested today. Datuk Seri Najib Razak is also considered more popular than Umno, and should help usher in “unstoppable” change and the move away from [...]
Malaysia Airlines has flown home a mother and her 14-month-old daughter who were prevented from boarding an AirAsia flight back home from Vietnam. Isan Suhaila Mohd Ali, 36, and her daughter, Mariam Sofea Mohd Reza, were held back by AirAsia staff at the Ho Chi Minh airport on Saturday night after the latter was suspected [...]
Malaysian authorities have completed their investigation into the entry into Sabah of armed followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, with the probe zeroing in on least three individuals, a Malaysian news site reported on Tuesday. The New Straits Times quoted Malaysian Home minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying the relevant documents [...]
The death toll from a mine tunnel collapse in eastern Indonesia has risen to 21, the US operator said Tuesday, as rescuers searched for another seven workers now also presumed dead. The accident happened on May 14 at Freeport-McMoRan’s Grasberg, one of the world’s biggest gold and copper mines in mountainous, remote Papua province, and [...]
Indonesia could see the inflation rate accelerating to 7 percent this year if the government raises fuel prices in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, the new finance minister said on Tuesday. At the end of 2012, the annual inflation rate was 4.3 percent. Muhamad Chatib Basri was sworn in as minister on Tuesday. Many economists believe [...]
An Indonesian tycoon who owns a big stake in a huge copper and gold prospect taken from Australia’s Intrepid Mines last year is willing to resolve the ownership dispute, he said in a letter to an investor looking to oust the company’s board. The dispute is over the Tujuh Bukit project, potentially holding 30 million [...]
Singapore recently played host to a showcase of fashion for one of the best known luxury brands in the world. Boasting the most millionaire households per capita in the world, designers are taking this once staid city far more seriously. And designer Carolina Herrera is also hoping to cash in on South East Asian interest [...]
No thanks to lower pharmaceuticals shipments. According to Maybank Kim Eng, EU, South Korea and Malaysia were the major disappointments. Goods headed for the EU registered its fifth straight declines as it fell by -13.4 percent YoY (March 2013: -16.2 percent YoY) mainly on lower shipments of pharmaceuticals, IC’s and parts of PC’s. It reported [...]
Singapore’s domestic wholesale trade fell 7.3 per cent in first quarter 2013 compared to a year ago, the Department of Statistics Singapore said on Monday. The drop was partly attributed to a decline in domestic sales of petroleum & petroleum products. Excluding petroleum, domestic wholesale trade decreased by a smaller 2.1 per cent compared to [...]
Sunday marked the third anniversary of the culmination, with 89 deaths, of what has become known in Bangkok as “savage May.” Although an estimated 26,000 people assembled at a rally Sunday in Bangkok to mark the occasion, Thailand has calmed down from the long stint of political turmoil and violence. “We all have little things [...]
Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Chalerm Yubamrung, plans to introduce a contentious amnesty bill into parliament on Thursday that will stoke new political tensions three years after bloody street protests and a military crackdown exposed Thailand’s deep divisions. The so-called reconciliation bill would absolve all political offenders involved in protests since a 2006 coup and open [...]
Thailand’s economy shrank 2.2 percent in the three months to March from the previous quarter – the first contraction in more than a year – as manufacturing output fell, official data showed on Monday. The decline followed a blistering year-long recovery from devastating floods in late 2011 that hit major factories north of the capital [...]
A contentious territorial dispute between Taiwan and the Philippines is having nasty repercussions – and the US is caught in the middle. The trouble started earlier this month during a confrontation between the Philippine coast guard and a Taiwanese fishing boat in disputed waters. Although the circumstances are disputed, the incident culminated in the Philippines [...]
The Philippines has approved three wind farm projects that will generate 208 megawatts, enough to power more than 40,000 middle-class homes, an energy official said. The wind projects will be the first to benefit from an incentive scheme which aims to ensure half the country’s energy comes from renewable sources by 2030, compared with about [...]
The Philippine central bank will further limit access to special deposit accounts, stepping up efforts to curb inflows and reduce costs of managing liquidity. Starting 2014, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will ban so-called investment management activities, a type of account in banks’ trust departments, from SDAs, according to a memorandum posted on its website today. [...]
South Korean soldiers were guilty of abusing women in wartime, Osaka’s mayor said in comments reported Tuesday, days after provoking a storm by labelling sex slaves a military necessity. In a remark likely to fuel outrage and further stoke tensions in an already uneasy relationship, Toru Hashimoto said the South Korean military used women for [...]
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to provide low-interest loans to companies that borrow residential rooftop space for solar power generation, the Nikkei newspaper reported today. The ministry plans to make loans available through government financial institutions such as Development Bank of Japan Inc., the newspaper cited Trade minister Toshimitsu Motegi as saying. [...]
Japanese Finance minister Taro Aso said on Tuesday that he wants the Bank of Japan to have a thorough dialogue with markets in the wake of volatility in the government bond market. “Governor Kuroda is communicating with the market in a thorough way and I expect the bank to continue to do this,” Aso said [...]
North Korea released 16 Chinese fishermen and their boat Tuesday, Chinese state media said, after reports that armed assailants had taken the sailors hostage fuelled strains between the neighbours. “All the fishermen with the boat are safe on their way back,” China’s Xinhua news agency said, citing a Chinese embassy official in Pyongyang it said [...]
South Korea’s GS Engineering & Construction said on Tuesday it had received an order worth 1.16 trillion won ($1.04 billion) from Turkey to build a refinery plant. It said in a regulatory filing that Italian firm Saipem, Spanish oil engineering firm Tecnicas Reunidas and Japanese company Itochu were also part of the joint construction project. [...]
When the Justice Department began investigating possible leaks of classified information about North Korea in 2009, investigators did more than obtain telephone records of a working journalist suspected of receiving the secret material. They used security badge access records to track the reporter’s comings and goings from the State Department, according to a newly obtained [...]
Hong Kong on Monday launched a ten-year plan to reduce waste by 40 percent per person as part of efforts to catch up with other leading Asian cities and avert a looming environmental crisis. With a population of more than 7 million, the city currently sends 1.27 kilogram (2.8 pounds) per person per day to [...]
Hong Kong saw its first electric taxis hit the streets on Saturday in a step towards reducing the city’s high levels of roadside pollution. The 45 bright red cars were launched by Chinese electric vehicle producer BYD, which is partly backed by US investment titan Warren Buffett. Called the BYD e6, the five-door crossover sedans [...]
Art lovers, collectors and gallerists will gather on Thursday for Hong Kong’s inaugural edition of Art Basel, sealing the city’s status as an international art hub and Asia’s leading art destination. The four-day annual show is the world’s premier art fair and has until now only been held in Switzerland and the United States each [...]
A contentious territorial dispute between Taiwan and the Philippines is having nasty repercussions – and the US is caught in the middle. The trouble started earlier this month during a confrontation between the Philippine coast guard and a Taiwanese fishing boat in disputed waters. Although the circumstances are disputed, the incident culminated in the Philippines [...]
Taiwanese, who are bound for Boracay resort island, have started cancelling their hotel reservations causing worry to the stakeholders. Percy Malonesio, head of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) at the Kalibo International Airport (KIA), announced Tuesday that several airline companies had notified cancellation of flights to and from Taiwan beginning May 22. [...]
A Mirage 2000 jet fighter crashed into the sea yesterday morning, but its two crewmembers managed to eject to safety and were rescued. It was the second air force jet fighter to be lost in less than a week after an F-16 crashed into the sea on Wednesday. Its pilot was also rescued. All of [...]
* May 30 is the ex-dividend date of Cotec Construction JSC (CTD) to receive dividend of the second round 2012 in cash at a rate of 10 percent. The final registration day is June 3. The payment date is June 17. * May 30 is the ex-dividend date of CNG Vietnam JSC (CNG) to receive [...]
The government’s report on May 20 has shown that it will be very difficult to achieve a 5.5 percent GDP growth rate in 2013 amid the current challenges. The issue was discussed at the 5th session of the 18th National Assembly. In 2012, Vietnam recorded GDP growth of 5.03 percent. The growth rate was lower [...]
A business exchange programme was held in Hanoi on May 20 with the aim of helping Vietnamese and India businesses to seek investment and trade opportunities. The event was co-organised by the Indian Embassy in Vietnam, the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). In his [...]
