Singapore

Police beacon prototypes on trial to enhance SPF operations in secluded areas
19Dec By Desk TeamNo Comments
Singapore, World

Police beacon prototypes on trial to enhance SPF operations in secluded areas

SINGAPORE: Authorities are rolling out trials for new standalone devices that allow people to contact the police remotely. Known as police beacons, two prototypes will go on trial for a year from this month, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) said in a joint news release on Friday (Dec 11). The prototypes will be deployed at the Punggol Waterway Park Connector and the Sengkang Riverside Park Connector. “The police beacon aims to enhance police presence, increase accessibility to emergency services and improve police response to those in need of police assistance in locations that are quieter and more secluded,” SPF and HTX said. The new police beacon is being trialled at Punggol Waterway Park Connector and Sengkang Riverside Park Conn...
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Singapore revises growth outlook again as Q3 GDP shrinks at slower 5.8% amid COVID-19
18Dec By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Market, Singapore, World

Singapore revises growth outlook again as Q3 GDP shrinks at slower 5.8% amid COVID-19

SINGAPORE: The Singapore economy is expected to shrink between 6 per cent and 6.5 per cent this year, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Monday (Nov 23) in another revision to its 2020 outlook after growth data confirmed a smaller-than-expected contraction in the third quarter. Its previous estimate, announced in August, was for the economy to contract between 5 per cent and 7 per cent amid the blow from the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers also offered for the first time a glimpse of their economic forecast for 2021 – a recovery into positive growth territory, with the economy envisaged to expand between 4 per cent and 6 per cent next year partly on the back of a low base. For the third quarter, Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 5.8 per cent on a y...
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Don’t chase India’s market rally — the good news is ‘already priced in,’ HSBC says
18Dec By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, Market, Singapore, World

Don’t chase India’s market rally — the good news is ‘already priced in,’ HSBC says

A pedestrian speaks on a mobile phone as he looks at share prices on a digital broadcast outside the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in Mumbai on November 10, 2020. SINGAPORE — India's markets may have rallied to historic levels, but investors may want to stay away from chasing the rally for now, says HSBC Private Banking, which is currently underweight on India. "Our view at this stage is that a lot of the good news is already priced in to the Indian market as of now," James Cheo, chief market strategist for Southeast Asia at the firm, told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Monday. As of Friday's close, both the Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex sat close to all-time highs that were touched on Nov. 25, according to Refinitiv Eikon. India's markets were closed on Monday for a holiday. The recent ral...
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US slams China for charging Jimmy Lai under National Security Law
13Dec mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, Singapore, World

US slams China for charging Jimmy Lai under National Security Law

The United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has slammed China for charging Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai under its draconian National Security Law and demanded that charges must be dropped.Taking to Twitter, Pompeo said: “Hong Kong’s National Security Law makes a mockery of justice. @JimmyLaiApple’s only “crime” is speaking the truth about the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarianism and fear of freedom. Charges should be dropped and he should be released immediately.”Jimmy Lai is set to appear in West Kowloon Court on Saturday after being charged with colluding with foreign powers under the Beijing-imposed national security law, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.Earlier, Lai, the founder of the Apple Daily newspaper was reported to have been charge...
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China bails out Pakistan to pay Saudi debt again
13Dec mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, Singapore, World

China bails out Pakistan to pay Saudi debt again

Pakistan is saved yet again as China has agrees to immediately provide $1.5 billion financing line to Islamabad to repay the $2 billion Saudi Arabia debt.Now, out of $2 billion, Pakistan is set to return the $1 billion on Monday, said sources in the finance ministry and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). “The remaining $1 billion is due in January,” they added.“However, this time, China has not given the loan from its State Administration of Foreign Exchange, commonly known as SAFE deposits, nor has it extended a commercial loan,” said the sources.Instead, both the countries have agreed to augment the size of a 2011 bilateral Currency-Swap Agreement (CSA) by an additional 10 billion Chinse Yuan or around $1.5 billion, the sources said. This has increased the size of the overall trade facili...
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Pakistan, China Began Joint Air Exercise Shaheen (Eagle)-IX in Sindh
10Dec mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China, Singapore

Pakistan, China Began Joint Air Exercise Shaheen (Eagle)-IX in Sindh

With an aim to deepen practical cooperation and improve the actual-combat training level, the air forces of Pakistan and China on Wednesday commenced a joint exercise "Shaheen (Eagle)-IX" at an operational air base of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in Sindh province.“A contingent of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), comprising combat pilots, air defence controllers and technical ground crew, participated in the exercise,” the PAF said in a statement.The opening ceremony of the exercise was jointly witnessed by Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Operations) Air Vice Marshal Waqas Ahmed Sulehri and Assistant Chief of Staff, PLAAF, Major General Sun Hong, it said."The joint exercise will improve the actual level of combat training and strengthen practical cooperation between the two air f...
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Chinese embassy in US retweets Trump’s election fraud claim, blames hackers
10Dec mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, Singapore, World

Chinese embassy in US retweets Trump’s election fraud claim, blames hackers

In a major blunder, the Chinese embassy in the US retweeted President Donald Trump's tweet, in which he accused the Democrats of cheating in the presidential election. However, later the embassy said that its official Twitter account was hacked.Taking to Twitter, Trump wrote, "If somebody cheated in the Election, which the Democrats did, why wouldn't the Election be immediately overturned? How can a Country be run like this?"The post carrying a Twitter warning that the claim of election fraud is "disputed" was retweeted by the official account for the Chinese government's presence in the US.The embassy then tweeted saying: "The Chinese Embassy twitter account was hacked this afternoon and we condemn such an act. For clarification, the Embassy didn’t do any retweeting on Dec.9."This comes d...
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What you need to know about the latest travel restrictions for Japan
10Dec By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, Singapore, World

What you need to know about the latest travel restrictions for Japan

As the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan is cautiously relaxing its strict border control policy to start allowing more foreign nationals to enter the country. With the latest revision to its travel restrictions, which came into effect earlier in November, the government has changed some procedures for new arrivals from abroad. While preparing for next year’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, authorities are also working toward easing the restrictions further for visitors planning to attend the sporting extravaganza. The government has implemented separate sets of rules for travelers from regions placed at Level 3, the second-highest under the nation’s travel advisory system and under which all travel is warned against, while exempting from mandatory testing those from...
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Despite hopeful signs, Tokyo and Seoul miles apart on wartime labor
10Dec By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Singapore, World

Despite hopeful signs, Tokyo and Seoul miles apart on wartime labor

Over the past few weeks South Korea has dispatched high-ranking government officials and lawmakers to Japan, seeking a breakthrough in a bilateral relationship characterized by some to be in its worst state since 1965 when diplomatic relations were normalized. South Korea and especially President Moon Jae-in seem eager to patch up the fractured relations, seizing changes in leadership in Japan and the United States and a summit scheduled to be hosted by Seoul as a golden opportunity to score diplomatic points and boost popularity. But Japan has remained unmoved by South Korea’s passionate overtures, with the issue of compensation over wartime labor being a sticking point between them. The two sides have been at a stalemate for years over court proceedings to seize and liquidate Japanese...
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Hong Kong Police arrest 8 more pro-democracy legislators
9Dec mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, Singapore

Hong Kong Police arrest 8 more pro-democracy legislators

The Hong Kong police on Tuesday arrested eight more pro-democracy legislators over their role in an unauthorized protest last summer.According to media reports, while the police have only said that the arrested people were of age between 24 and 64, local media has said that former pro-democracy legislators and veteran activist Leung Kwok-hung, known as Long Hair, was among them.Meanwhile, a Twitter post of former legislator Eddie Chu said he too had been arrested.“Chu Hoi Dick was arrested and searched by the police at 0640am this morning,” the post read. “He was charged with two crimes related to July 1st: holding or organizing an unauthorized assembly, and knowingly participating in an unauthorized assembly,” the post added.The arrests came less than a week after police sentenced three o...
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