HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s retail sales rose for a 14th consecutive month in January as tourism continued to improve, official data showed on Friday. Sales increased 0.9% year-on-year to HK$36.5 billion ($4.7 billion) in January, the Hong Kong government said. That compared with a 7.8% growth in December, 15.9% jump in November and …
Hong Kong January retail sales rise 0.9% as tourism perks up Read More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand is amending a law to allow foreign couples to seek surrogacy services in the country, a senior health official said on Friday. In 2015, Thailand introduced tough regulations to control surrogacy and banned the process for foreign couples after several high profile scandals that led to a crackdown on the country’s …
Thailand plans to legalise surrogacy for foreign couples Read More »
By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s newly-formed ruling alliance is yet to finalise its finance minister, the person who has to lead an immediate effort to negotiate a new International Monetary Fund bailout, sources familiar with the discussions said. The struggling $350 billion economy has a narrow path to recovery and the current IMF …
Race for new Pakistan finance minister heats up ahead of crucial IMF negotiations Read More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – The international community must take “targeted action” to restrict the Myanmar junta’s access to arms, jet fuel and foreign currency to prevent it from committing “atrocities” against its people, the U.N. human rights chief said on Friday. “I repeat my call to the international community to refocus its energy on preventing atrocities …
Myanmar junta’s access to arms, cash must be cut off, UN rights chief says Read More »
(Reuters) – At least 12 civilians were killed in Myanmar when artillery shells landed in a busy market in western Rakhine State, as the ruling military and anti-junta forces traded blame for the latest violence to rock the Southeast Asian country. The insurgent group Arakan Army (AA) operating in Rakhine State, which borders Bangladesh, said …
Artillery shelling kills 12 in Myanmar market, injures 80 – rebel militia Read More »
MANILA (Reuters) – The Taylor Swift craze has arrived in classrooms in the Philippine capital, with a premier university rolling out a celebrity studies course examining the singer and her impact on global pop culture. As the performer visits Asia this week, more than 300 students signed up for the elective course at the University …
TOKYO (Reuters) -Shohei Ohtani, the dual-threat Major League Baseball star and national hero in Japan, has announced via Instagram his marriage to a Japanese woman he did not identify. The post was made shortly before midnight in Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday. No other details about Ohtani’s spouse were given in the post, which said …
Baseball-MLB star Shohei Ohtani announces marriage, keeps bride’s name secret Read More »
By Gerry Doyle (Reuters) -Singapore will buy eight more F-35 stealth fighters, eventually replacing its older F-16s and putting the Singaporean air force “in the premier league” as regional threats grow, the city-state’s defence minister said this week. Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) would buy F-35As – …
Singapore’s air force to add more stealth fighters as it phases out older jets Read More »
(Reuters) – At least 44 people died and 22 were critically injured in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka after a massive blaze broke out in a biryani restaurant to rage through a six-storey building. Hundreds of people have been killed in similar fires or other accidents in buildings servicing the booming domestic industrial and commercial …
Factbox-What causes Bangladesh’s major industrial accidents? Read More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Friday improved ties with Japan were helping to combat threats from Pyongyang’s weapons developments and called for help from the international community to bring about unification with North Korea. Under Yoon’s conservative administration, Seoul has sought better ties with Tokyo which have been fraught …
South Korea’s Yoon says better Japan ties helping deter North Korea threat Read More »
