Month: February 2018

The Chinese believe that during Lunar New Year, rice jars should not be left empty, lest this should lead to barren and starving days ahead.
Singapore seems to be following this notion, at least in regards to its government coffers. The country’s Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat made it clear during the annual budget that he has no intention of allowing funds to run out any time soon.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, he gave advance notice that the goods and services tax (GST) will…

The Japanese government will fund from April the travel costs of storytellers, both within Japan and abroad, who will share the testimonies given by ageing victims of America’s nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The cities, devastated by the 1945 bombings in the final phase of the second world war, began training such storytellers 2012 and have dispatched them to other areas in Japan with recipient entities covering the costs.
To alleviate the financial burden, the Health, Labour…

Three bombs exploded in different locations around Rakhine’s state capital Sittwe early on Saturday morning, including at the home of a high-ranking official, Myanmar police told AFP, adding that no deaths were reported.
It is the latest violence to hit Rakhine, which is festering with ethnic tensions and has been roiled by communal violence in the north against the Rohingya and insurgencies in other parts of the state.
Bombings in the state capital are rare however.
“Three bombs…

Carillion employees should not benefit from the full protections provided for under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE), a UK minister has said.

A new Infrastructure Office will be set up in Singapore, giving local and international firms a dedicated place to obtain advice and expertise about regional investment opportunities.

The monthly cap on the number of skilled worker visas issued by the UK to workers from outside the EU has been reached for the third month in a row.

Almost no one jumps on rainy days. They jump when the sun returns and the masses step outside, reminding them of their misery. They jump during financial crises and in the early spring, when Japanese schools open and the pressures of life converge.
Yukio Shige’s routine, though, is the same regardless of the weather.
Nearly every day, he clambers across the high basalt columns of the Tojinbo cliffs, the Sea of Japan thrashing 80 feet below. He peers into binoculars, seeking hunched…

Malaysian police said a popular ethnic Chinese rapper has been detained over complaints that his latest music video featuring dancers wearing dog masks and performing “obscene” moves insulted Islam and could hurt racial harmony.
It was the second time in two years that Wee Meng Chee, popularly known as Namewee, has been investigated over his music videos.
Police said in a statement that Wee was detained Thursday after they received four public complaints that his video marking the…

The way that proposed new driverless car laws have been worded in the UK would lead to “trench warfare” over liability for accidents involving such vehicles, a UK peer has warned.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said a court order that barred former premier Nawaz Sharif from leading the ruling party and placed the timing of Senate elections into question hinders democracy and relieved past “dictatorial decisions”.
The Senate ballot will go ahead as scheduled on March 3 after the Supreme Court nullified decisions made by Sharif in his capacity as president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, including candidate tickets in his name, Abbasi…