Latest Southeast Asia News
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Singapore shrouded in fire smog
Officials in Singapore are urging people to remain indoors amid unprecedented levels of air pollution after a smoky haze caused by forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia worsened ...
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Chinese medical team treats people in Brunei
/enpproperty--> A Chinese medical team on Wednesday continued to deepen cooperation with its international counterparts and to treat people in Brunei. The team is taking part in the first ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and Military Medicine Exercise. Thirty-five Chinese joined a field hospital as part of the joint exercise being held ...
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Firms line up for Myanmar
/enpproperty--> As senior decision-makers from around the globe descended on Myanmar's capital of Naypyidaw for the World Economic Forum on East Asia recently, multinational companies were lining up to explore the huge commercial opportunities in the country. At Standard Chartered, we're seeing strong, and growing, interest in Myanmar from clients across the globe and across all ...
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Top firm to invest in Sri Lankas multi-million property project
After Sri Lanka's government attracted US$500 million from Hong Kong based Shangri-La to develop the country's first ever seven-star hotel in Colombo, the country's Board of Investment (BOI) is in the process of finalising a $640 million mixed-development project in the heart of the country's commercial capital. Minister of Investment Promotion Lakshaman Yapa Abeywardena ...
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Shoring up power in Pakistan
After a week of high level meetings with representatives from the United States and China to discuss Pakistan's energy crisis, Pakistani officials appear to be making headway. A delegation of USAID met with Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Asif in Islamabad last Wednesday and indicated that $853 million would be provided to power companies for the purpose of capacity building. The ...
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Bangladesh should not let Grameen Bank be snatched away from the poor Yunus
The Grameen Bank Commission is going to organise a workshop at BIAM Auditorium on July 2 to discuss its recommendations for legal changes to the Grameen Bank structure. It has been announced that Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith will deliver his valuable comments about his experience in this regard. There will be a discussion with experienced and distinguished persons of the country at the ...
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ICC Champions Trophy Buoyant India all set to take on Sri Lanka in semifinal
High on the spirits after their unbeaten performance in the Champions Trophy, Men in Blue are all set to take on Sri Lanka in the second final at the Sophia Gardens today. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday said that Sri Lanka were a dangerous side and it was not possible to focus only on their two frontline batsmen " Mahela Jayawardene or a Kumar Sangakkara" during the ...
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Jakarta takes dig at whinging Singapores childish noises over pollution
Indonesia accused Singapore of ';behaving like a child'' by complaining about severe haze from raging forest fires on Sumatra island that has cloaked the island. ';Singapore should not be behaving like a child and making all this noise,'' Agung Laksono, the minister who is coordinating Indonesia's response to the haze crisis, told reporters in Jakarta. ...
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Intrepid Mines board survives coup over lost Indonesia mine
IAU.AX ) backed their board and its attempt to reclaim rights to a $5 billion copper and gold project in Indonesia, defeating a plan by a private equity investor to oust the board on ...
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Diplomacy demands Abbott put Indonesia trip on standby
Julie Bishop has indicated.In a recent interview with Guardian Australia, Bishop said that, given Australia would hold the council's rotating presidency when the UN's annual "leaders week" starts on 16 September, there was a strong expectation that whoever was elected prime minister on 14 September should attend."I have spoken to other foreign ministers about it and they ...
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Southeast Asia e-tailer Lazada raises $100M in funding
(Credit: Lazada) Lazada, an online retail sales business focusing on Southeast Asia, announced Wednesday it has raised another $100 million from investors apparently confident of the region's growth potential. The e-commerce site, which bills itself as the "Amazon of Southeast Asia," was launched in early 2012 by Germany's Rocket Internet, which specializes in ...
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Royal Bangkok in St. Paul serves good food at great prices REALLY...
At Royal Bangkok, all this food costs only $3.99 at lunch on weekdays. (Pioneer Press: Jess Fleming) Royal Bangkok is hidden in the back of a building full of mostly empty storefronts in a mall of sorts on St. Paul's University Avenue. It looks closed, but numerous signs assured us that it was "Open for Business!" and "Now Open!" We pressed on, and we were glad we ...
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Myanmar welcomes ILO decision to lift restrictions
International Labor Organization to lift all remaining restrictions on the formerly isolated nation will help accelerate trade and foreign investment. The UN agency initially imposed restrictions - which recommended its 185 member nations limit relations - just over a decade ago because of the military regime's use of forced labor. The decision on Wednesday cited progress by President Thein ...
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Thick haze sweeps through Singapore
Smoke from forest fires in Indonesia has choked Singapore, prompting authorities here to take precautionary measures following the worsening pollution level in the ...
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Singapore haze at worst yet Malaysia schools shut
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singapore urged people to remain indoors amid unprecedented levels of air pollution Thursday as a smoky haze wrought by forest fires in neighboring Indonesia worsened dramatically. Nearby Malaysia closed 200 schools and banned open burning in some ...
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Singapore demands urgent Indonesia action on smog
SINGAPORE (AFP) - Singapore on Thursday demanded "definitive" action by Indonesia on forest fires raging in Sumatra as the two neighbours prepared for emergency talks to ease the severe smog enveloping the city-state.Singapore's air pollutant index was again hovering around the "hazardous" level of 301 at midday, close to the all-time high of 321 set the night before. ...
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Rupiah shows worsening performance in the NDF market
, the rupiah rate in the NDF market dropped by 2.8 percent to Rp 10,533 per US dollar at 9.34 AM on Thursday. During the previous transaction, rupiah even hit Rp 10,566 per US dollar, the weakest performance since August 2009.Compared to the rate at the spot market, the rupiah value in the NDF market has weakened by six percent. At the spot market, rupiah exchange ratehas weakened by 0.2 percent ...
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Haze update Muars 200 schools to close temporarily from this afternoon
JOHOR BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - All afternoon session schools in Muar have been directed to temporarily close following hazardous air pollutant index (API) readings recorded in the area on Thursday. State education director Mohd Nor A. Ghani said that the API reading had hit 337 and a directive had been issued for schools to close if the reading surpassed 300. He said, however, that ...
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Philippines financial district bans plastic bags
MANILA – The Philippines financial capital banned disposable plastic shopping bags and styrofoam food containers on Thursday, as part of escalating efforts across the nation’s capital to curb rubbish that exacerbates deadly flooding. After a widespread publicity campaign leading up to the ban, Makati city environment protection officers began handing out fines of 5,000 pesos ($115) ...
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Vietnam ships nearly 3 mln tons of rice in H1
As of June 13 this year, Vietnam shipped nearly 3 million tons of rice abroad, earning over $1.3 billion, according to the Vietnam Food Association on Thursday.Specifically, in the first five months, 2.86 million tons of rice worth over $1.26 billion was sold abroad, a year-on-year increase of about 10 percent.Major import markets of Vietnamese rice included China ( accounting for 38.7 percent ...
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UPDATE 1-Hazardous air murky skies in Singapore from Indonesian fires
Thu Jun 20, 2013 1:45am EDT * Air in Singapore, parts of Malaysia "hazardous" * Singapore tells Indonesia it wants action * Indonesia says investors from Singapore partly to blame By Kevin Lim SINGAPORE, June 20 (Reuters) - Singapore's air quality deteriorated to "hazardous" levels on Thursday as smoke from forest fires in Indonesia obscured skies over the wealthy city-state ...
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STOCKS NEWS INDONESIA-Index slips on regional drop US Fed move
Thu Jun 20, 2013 1:30am EDT Indonesian shares fell 2.94 percent to 4,665.24 by midday, tracking a fall in regional stocks, after the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank would start to reduce its stimulus measures later this year. Asian shares tumbled to nine-month lows on Thursday as slowing Chinese manufacturing activity exacerbated sentiment already unnerved after ...
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The Asian stock markets plunged in line with the US markets
The appetite for risk remained subdued in the Far East after imploding late Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve maintained its bond-buying program, but Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted that the FOMC plans to moderate purchases later this year. The foreign currencies remain under pressure after tanking. The Asian stock markets plunged in line with the US markets. The short-term outlook for the ...
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UK issues travel advice for Singapore
UK government has issued new travel advice for Singapore. The warning was prompted by high levels of pollution from land clearance fires in Indonesia. "Since 17 June Singapore has been experiencing high levels of pollution ("haze") from land clearance fires in Indonesia. We advise all travelers and British residents in Singapore to monitor carefully the Pollutant Standards Index ...
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Singapore from Bilingualism to Biculturalism
Singapore's bilingual policy has been the cornerstone of its development "from third world to first." However, as global power shifts from the West to Asia, especially with regards to China, it may be time for Singapore to upgrade its bilingual policy to biculturalism. Singapore's bilingualism refers to the use of English and one of the three commonly heard ethnic languages, ...
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