Author: viking

Perched on the foothills of the Zabarwan mountains and overlooking the scenic Dal Lake, the lavish Centaur Lake View Hotel seems an unlikely place to find political prisoners. Until recently, the four-star establishment offered luxurious rooms with panoramic views, including executive, deluxe and presidential suites costing up to US$357 a night. The hotel, spread across 13 acres of land in the Kashmir Valley, also boasted round-the-clock protection with “three tiers” of security, including the…

Thailand’s Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s relationship with China goes back almost four decades. Over that time, her work to promote Sino-Thai relations – particularly in diplomacy and the arts – has earned her much recognition on the mainland. In 2009, the princess was voted one of the “Ten Best International Friends of China” for her contribution towards cultural exchanges and friendly ties between the two countries. Next month, as the People’s Republic of China celebrates its 70th…

Mitsubishi Corp said a rogue oil trader at its Singapore unit lost US$320 million in unauthorised transactions disguised as legitimate hedges for customers.The employee, a Chinese national working at Petro-Diamond Singapore, has been fired and reported to the police, Mitsubishi said in a statement, declining to name him.The trader, hired in November 2018 to handle oil business with China, “repeatedly” engaged in the unauthorised deals since January, disguising them to “look like hedge…

Singapore’s prime minister-designate Heng Swee Keat on Friday said divides along class, generational and political lines posed the biggest risk to the city state’s vaunted prosperity and stability, amid rising talk that his ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) could call snap polls in months.Heng, the deputy prime minister and finance minister, was speaking to top business leaders attending the Singapore Summit, an annual business forum usually held in conjunction with the country’s Formula One…

Police in Japan are investigating a series of incidents in which famous racehorses had lengths of their manes carefully cut off. On Sunday, staff at a farm in the town of Hidaka, in Hokkaido Prefecture, reported to police that parts of the manes of two thoroughbreds were missing. An employee of Kimura Farm noticed that about 15cm of mane had been cut from racehorses Taiki Shuttle and Rose Kingdom. Before retiring, Taiki Shuttle was the winner of a number of Grade One races in Japan and abroad…

A trio of canoodling couples were publicly flogged in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Thursday, charged with breaking local Islamic law that outlaws public displays of affection.Despite international condemnation, whipping is a common punishment for a range of offences in the deeply conservative region on Sumatra island, including gambling, drinking alcohol, and having gay or premarital sex.Aceh is the only region in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country that imposes Islamic law.Millions may…

Thousands of schools were closed across Malaysia and Indonesia on Thursday, affecting at least 1.7 million pupils, officials said, as toxic haze from rampant forest fires sent air quality plummeting.Nearly 2,500 schools were ordered to shut their doors in Malaysia – including nearly 300 in the smog-hit capital Kuala Lumpur – over soaring health concerns sparked by toxic haze from out-of-control blazes in Indonesia’s Sumatra and Borneo islands.Indonesia said hundreds of schools in hard-hit Riau…

Thailand’s ubiquitous tuk-tuk, the noisy, colourful three-wheeled taxi that has been belching exhaust fumes on local roads for almost a century, is getting a cutting-edge makeover to help carry the local auto industry into the future.Beginning in November, a public-private partnership will test the nation’s first self-driving tuk-tuk in an effort to nudge Thailand toward the forefront of developing autonomous-vehicle technology in Southeast Asia. Start-up Airovr, investor Siri Ventures and the…

Australia’s coalition government will face its biggest test regarding investment from mainland China since its May re-election with at least two corporate buyouts likely to require approval from a regulatory body increasingly vigilant against security risks.Beijing-backed Mengniu Dairy on Monday offered US$13.25 per share to buy Bellamy’s, valuing the infant milk powder producer at A$1.5 billion (US$1.03 billion).The deal has been recommended by Bellamy’s directors but still requires approval…

Malaysian ruling party leader Anwar Ibrahim, who cut a deal to become the country’s next prime minister ahead of last year’s election, said he should take power around May 2020.“There’s an understanding that it should be around that time, but I don’t think I should be too petty about the exact month,” Anwar said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday, when asked whether the transition would happen two years after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad took power.“But there is this…