After starring in the West End production of Miss Saigon in London, Filipino performers Rachelle Ann Go, Eva Noblezada and Jon Jon Briones moved to New York City this week to begin rehearsals for the Broadway revival of the hit musical, which will return to the stage there on March 1. Noblezada, 20, will reprise the lead role of Kim, while Go will play Gigi Van Tranh. […]
Thursday 02.10 GMT Overview Asian equities regained upward momentum after comments from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen gave wings to a broad recovery for the dollar, weakening regional currencies. Hot topic The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of peers, was up 0.4 per cent after the Fed chair warned that if the US waited too long to continue raising rates, it risked […]
Blockchain has moved on from its Bitcoin past and is being touted as an effective and inexpensive way to safeguard data, with one Singapore-based vendor launching its first blockchain-based authentication tool. Because it provides a shared replicated “immutable” ledger, blockchain can facilitate a “single source of truth” and a secure, tamper-proof system of record, according to Alan Lim, Asean practice lead for IBM Blockchain and Bluemix Garage. […]
SYDNEY (AP) — Three nations shelled out around $160 million and years’ worth of work on the underwater search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The result: No plane. The only tangible — and arguably most important — clues into what happened to the aircraft have come courtesy of ordinary citizens, who bore the costs themselves. The deep-sea sonar search for the vanished Boeing 777 was suspended […]
New Zealand is pressing to finalise a stalled free trade deal with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that includes two of the Middle East’s largest economies, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Trade Minister Todd McClay visited the UAE and Kuwait this week in an effort to promote the deal with the GCC, his country’s sixth largest trading partner. The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, the […]
Members of the new Hydrogen Council at the Davos World Economic Forum on January 17, 2017. Major industrial groups have decided to join forces to promote hydrogen as a source of energy, with the focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions Over a dozen leading European and Asian firms have teamed up to promote the use of hydrogen as a clean fuel and cut the production of harmful […]
As smartphones and data plans became more affordable in India, the South Asian nation swept aside the U.S. and Brazil to become the world’s top consumer of Google Play applications last year. In terms of the number of times people in India downloaded apps from the store, which is part of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, India outpaced both the U.S. and Brazil who were above it the year before, […]
By Charlotte Greenfield | WELLINGTON WELLINGTON New Zealand cherry producers are flying helicopters low over their orchards to dry off raindrops and protect thousands of tonnes of their product headed to Asia to feed rapidly growing demand from Chinese New Year revelers. China has grown to become the second largest destination for New Zealand cherries after Taiwan in the past seven years. Together they take about 60 […]
By Saikat Chatterjee | HONG KONG HONG KONG Asian stock markets held near three-month highs on Wednesday as investors scooped up exporter shares after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump expressed concerns over a stronger dollar. In Asia, MSCI’s ex-Japan Asia-Pacific shares index .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.3 percent, just shy of a three-month high hit last Thursday. Stock markets in Hong Kong .HSI and China .SSEC led the gains. “Trump’s […]
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, meets with Filip Vujanović, President of Montenegro, on Tuesday. Wam Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, meets with Luis Solís, President of Costa Rica, on Tuesday. Wam Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, meets with Horacio Cartes, President of Paraguay, on Tuesday. Wam Sheikh Hamdan, Crown Prince of Dubai, […]
Cambodia is to scrap an annual joint military exercise with the US in the latest shake-up in security co-operation between Washington and Southeast Asian capitals. The cancellation comes as Beijing and Washington battle for influence in Southeast Asia amid signs that president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration could take a tougher line over China’s maritime territory claims in the region. Countries including the Philippines and Malaysia have already […]
Wednesday 02:20 GMT Overview Currency movements once again dominated trading in Asia as markets reacted to UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit blueprint and unexpected criticism of the dollar’s strength from US president-elect Donald Trump. Hot topic The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of peers, was up 0.1 per cent at 100.470. It fell 0.8 per cent on Tuesday after comments from […]
BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Thai transgender activist Nada Chaiyajit completed her undergraduate studies in August, and two months later, school officials told her 12 classmates – all men – that their graduation certificates were ready. But her college, the University of Phayao in northern Thailand, would not issue her documents because she submitted a photo in which she looks like a woman, even though her identity […]
Images of skeletal sun bears in a zoo in Indonesia that show the animals being forced to eat their own faeces and begging visitors for food have sparked online petitions to save them, media reports say. A video taken by animal welfare group Scorpion at Bandung zoo on the island of Java showed one emaciated animal in a small dirty pen, reported 9news.com.au. The footage, reportedly shot […]
The cruise map is ever expanding and 2017 will see new ports of call make their mark. We look at some of the most unusual and alluring of them. newslide Doha and the UAE The Arabian Gulf cruising market is still relatively young compared to most established destinations such as the Caribbean and Mediterranean, but it’s quite clear that Qatar wants a piece of the action. Doha […]
The US has sued Qualcomm over the way it licenses its technology for mobile phones, hitting at the business that generates most of the US chip company’s profits. The case follows an investigation begun in 2014, but which was accelerated in recent weeks as the Federal Trade Commission moved towards filing a high-profile antitrust case just days before a new administration takes control in Washington. Qualcomm’s shares […]
As we observed in yesterday morning’s market wrap, while US market were taking the day off for the MLK holiday, China was busy defending an accelerating selloff across its stock markets. During Monday trading, having traded quietly lower for the past few days, Chinese stocks tumbled in early trading on the mainland and in Hong Kong’s offshore market amid weakness in Asian equities. The Shanghai Composite Index […]
A senior member of Donald Trump’s team insisted that the president-elect was committed to globalisation, open trade and Nato despite recent comments that unsettled America’s allies. Anthony Scaramucci, Mr Trump’s newly appointed public liaison official, told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday that the European and American elite had misunderstood Mr Trump and would change their views when he took office. In particular, he argued […]
Jordan has awarded Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power a contract to develop a 61.3 megawatt peak (MWP) photovoltaic project, which will generate enough electricity for 12,000 households, the Saudi firm said on Monday. ACWA Power gave no value for the contract but said in a statement the 42 fils per kilowatt hour it submitted was the lowest for solar energy ever presented for a Jordan-based project. MWP is […]
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, The Eastern Establishment fears and loathes Outsiders, and seeks to destroy them, usually via the mainstream media. Political agnostics who are skeptical about Big Government “solutions,” left or right, view the current hullabaloo about the Trump presidency with some detachment. What’s remarkable to us is the extremism, not just of those bitter about Clinton’s loss, but by insiders who are […]
In PwC’s 20th annual survey of CEOs worldwide, 38% (2016:35%) are very confident about their company’s growth prospects in the next 12 months while 29% (2016:27%) believe global economic growth will pick up in 2017 In PwC’s 20th annual survey of CEOs worldwide, 38% (2016:35%) are very confident about their company’s growth prospects in the next 12 months while 29% (2016:27%) believe global economic growth will pick […]
By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil dipped on Tuesday on lingering concerns over global fuel oversupply due to rising U.S. output and doubts that OPEC and other producers would adhere to commitments to cut output in an effort to balance markets and prop up prices. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $55.55 per barrel at 0643 GMT, down 31 cents from […]
SINGAPORE: Kim San Leng Food Centre, a popular coffee shop located next to the Bishan bus interchange, will be suspended on Friday (Jan 20) after accumulating 16 demerit points for offences such as failing to keep the premises free from rats. According to a suspension notice on the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) website posted on Monday, the food centre’s main operator accumulated four demerit points for failing […]
By Noah Barkin | DAVOS, Switzerland DAVOS, Switzerland Chinese President Xi Jinping will defend globalisation in the face of mounting public hostility in the West on Tuesday in a speech at the World Economic Forum that will underline Beijing’s growing global role. Xi’s appearance, a first for a Chinese leader at the annual meeting of political leaders, CEOs and bankers in Davos, comes as the part the […]
