World

SINGAPORE: Just one day after employing a domestic helper, a woman jabbed the maid's head and punched her when she could not understand an instruction. These acts of abuse continued over almost a year, culminating in a final, sustained assault when the woman repeatedly kicked the maid's head and tried to drag her out of the flat. Bai Yihong, 34, was on Wednesday (May 25) jailed for eight months and six weeks after pleading guilty to two charges of voluntarily causing hurt and one charge of attempting to obstruct the course of justice. Another four charges were considered for sentencing. Bai, previously a Chinese language tutor, was unemployed and living with her mother, Hai Yulan, in a second-floor flat in Hougang at the time of the offences. Hai, then 57, was in December last year fi...

Even if you don't know what K-beauty — short for Korean beauty — is, chances are, you've seen the jade rollers, sheet masks and snail mucin creams promising radiant, mirror-like skin on your Instagram feed or the shelves of your local drugstore. Since its introduction to U.S. markets in 2011, K-beauty has become a mainstay of the global beauty industry, and it appears that people's obsession with it won't fade anytime soon: By 2029, the global K-beauty products market is projected to reach about $31.6 billion in sales, according to Prophecy Market Insights, a market research firm. One of the brands leading the Korean skin-care movement is Glow Recipe. Its founders and co-CEOs, Christine Chang and Sarah Lee first created Glow Recipe in 2014 as a curation of other K-beauty products imported ...

SINGAPORE: An Indonesian preacher who was denied entry to Singapore on Monday (May 16) said he will not give up trying to visit Singapore, describing the country as Malay land similar to Riau where he is from. In a YouTube video on Wednesday, Abdul Somad Batubara said people in Riau see Singapore as part of their land because Singapore was part of the Temasek Malay kingdom. "To say that I'm tired of going to Singapore is the same as saying I'm tired of going to Minangkabau. This is because Singapore is a Malay land. My grandmother has brothers, children and grandchildren who live in Singapore,” he added. Somad said his intention in visiting Singapore recently was to have his wife and children get to know their ancestors. Somad and six people who travelled with him arrived at Tanah Mera...

PARIS: French Open night sessions will remain despite the reservations of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic whose epic quarter-final clash ended at 1:15 Wednesday (Jun 1) morning in front of thousands of shivering fans, many of whom were huddled in blankets to keep out the biting cold. "Night sessions will stay, but obviously we are going to see whether we move the starting time or not," admitted tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, a two-time major winner and former world number one. Nadal's four-set win over defending champion Djokovic was one of 10 matches scheduled at 9pm at this year's French Open under an agreement with broadcaster Prime Video. Nadal, the 13-time champion, had wanted to play in the daytime and repeated his opposition to taking part in clay court tennis after dark. ...

SINGAPORE: Several eateries that specialise in chicken dishes said they will be heavily impacted by Malaysia's ban on exports of the poultry as they brace themselves for a shortage in supply of fresh chickens and a price hike. While business owners that sell dishes such as chicken rice and fried chicken said they are looking for alternative sources, they may have to turn to frozen chicken instead of fresh ones. This is likely to affect the quality of their food, they added. Mr Bernard Tay, director of Jinjja Chicken Singapore, said that all of the approximately 500kg of chicken sold across the company's five outlets are fresh chicken from Malaysia. “Since the first day we opened, we have committed to using only fresh and never frozen chicken wings. This is our promise to our customers ...

SHANGHAI: Shanghai's COVID-19 lockdown is wreaking havoc on companies' dividend-payment paperwork and bankers say it is delaying summertime dollar buying as some firms are unable to collect the signatures and company seals needed to process FX contracts. Offshore-listed Chinese firms usually have to buy dollars to pay overseas shareholders from June to August, and typically start buying in May. Delays this year will relieve pressure on the yuan and some traders say it is providing a cushion, preventing the currency from falling at an even faster pace. While some payments could be extracted from company balance sheets, many still need to go through banks to buy foreign exchange and three banking sources said COVID-19 mobility restrictions in Shanghai, China's financial and commercial hub,...

HONG KONG: China's property market, a key pillar of the world's second-largest economy, has weakened sharply in the past year as a result of a government clampdown on excessive borrowings by developers, and a COVID-19-induced economic slowdown. So far this year, more than 100 cities have taken steps to boost home purchase demand via cuts in mortgage rates, smaller down payments, and subsidies. However, the outlook remains bleak as the government enforces strict COVID-19 curbs in dozens of cities, weighing on consumer confidence. China's property market problems are likely to worsen this year, with no growth in home prices seen for the full year, according to the latest Reuters poll. Analysts said the national housing inventory is at a high level, particularly in tier-three and four citi...

KATHMANDU: A small passenger plane with 22 people on board went missing in cloudy weather in Nepal on Sunday (May 29) and authorities suspended a search in difficult terrain as night fell. "The search operation has been suspended for today because of the darkness," police spokesperson Bishnu Kumar KC told Reuters. "We could not make any progress. The search will resume early tomorrow." Officials said bad weather and mountainous terrain had hampered their efforts to locate the plane, a De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter operated by privately owned Tara Air. The plane took off in the morning for a 20-minute flight but lost contact with the control tower five minutes before it was due to land, government officials said. The plane departed from the tourist town of Pokhara, 125km west...

P said Wednesday morning that U.S. companies added a much weaker-than-expected 247,000 jobs in April, as employers continue to struggle to find workers to fill open positions. The P data has not been the greatest indicator of the government's monthly payrolls number, which comes Friday. (CNBC) * Weekly mortgage demand rose for first time since early March, but it won't last (CNBC) The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield on Wednesday ticked higher but traded below the prior session's push above 3% for a high back to December 2018. The Fed's May meeting ends at 2 p.m. ET and Chairman Jerome Powell holds his typical post-meeting news conference 30 minutes later. (CNBC) Respondents to the May CNBC Fed Survey expect the central bank to hike rates by 50 basis points again next month. The market ex...

NEW DELHI: Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has alleged its top executives faced threats of "physical violence" and coercion during questioning by India's financial crime fighting agency, according to a court filing seen by Reuters. Officials from the Enforcement Directorate warned the company's former India managing director, Manu Kumar Jain, current Chief Financial Officer Sameer BS Rao, and their families of "dire consequences" if they did not submit statements as desired by the agency, Xiaomi's filing dated May 4 stated. The Enforcement Directorate did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Xiaomi has been under investigation since February and last week the Indian agency seized US$725 million lying in the company's India bank accounts, saying it made illegal remittances a...