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SINGAPORE: The near-decade high in the average room rate for Singapore hotels reflects pent-up demand for travel resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, but affordable options remain available, industry experts told CNA. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) released data earlier this month showing that the average room rate rose to S$259 in July. This was the highest since September 2012, when the average room rate was S$261.66, and almost 70 per cent higher compared with a year ago. Hotels here are getting a "flood of enquiries" from overseas visitors and are seeing a "desperation" for rooms, said tourism consultant Christopher Khoo. "Our international markets (are) opening up and they are starting to do their forward bookings or negotiating rates ... and hoteliers are starting to feel comf...

BEIJING: Twenty-seven people died en route to a COVID-19 quarantine facility when their bus crashed in southwest China on Sunday (Sep 18), local authorities said, in the country's deadliest road accident this year. The crash took place on a highway in rural Guizhou province when the vehicle carrying 47 people "flipped onto its side", Sandu county police said in a statement on social media. Twenty people were being treated for injuries and emergency responders were dispatched to the scene in remote Qiannan prefecture, police said. The Guizhou government confirmed later Sunday that the vehicle had been "transporting people linked to the epidemic to quarantine" from the provincial capital of Guiyang, and that the accident occurred around 2.40am. "At present, on-site rescue work is basical...

Younger investors should focus on passive investing instead of short-term strategies with unrealistic expectations that have risen in popularity amid the meme stock frenzy, said David Booth, executive chairman of Dimensional Fund Advisors. "You have to be smarter than the market to beat the market," said Booth, during an interview with CNBC's Bob Pisani at the Future Proof Conference on Tuesday. "And it turns out the market is smarter than I am and it's smarter than any individual investor." According to Booth, younger investors have unrealistic expectations, often focusing on short-term strategies rather than long-term objectives. Although more boring in nature, passive funds could have a better payoff in the long run than active trading when taking into account the added fees, Booth said...

A research assistant prepares a PCR reaction for polio at a lab at Queens College on August 25, 2022, in New York City. Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images When a young adult in a New York City suburb visited an emergency department in June after experiencing weakness in their lower legs, the shocking diagnosis would lead local officials to declare a health emergency in New York and put authorities across the U.S. and around the world on a state of alert. The individual, a resident of Rockland County, had suffered from a fever, a stiff neck, back and abdominal pain as well as constipation for five days. The patient was hospitalized and tested for enterovirus, a family of pathogens that in rare cases can cause weakness in the arms and legs. New York state's Wadsworth Center and the Centers f...

These promotions, which are seeing rates being revised every month, come as global central banks go on a rate-hike race to combat soaring inflation. “As the concern on inflation is pressing, the speed of increase (in interest rates) has been quick as well, hence you can observe how fast the banks are keeping up,” said Mr Tan Chin Yu, a senior client adviser at wealth advisory firm Providend. While banks make swift adjustments to their borrowing rates, they also have to remain competitive in the space of deposits. “Previously when interest rates globally were low, banks were lending out at low rates so they have no room to raise interest rates when it comes to fixed deposits … But now, they can raise rates to attract more depositors and bring in more funds,” Mr Tan added. Foreign banks ...

Two of our core tech holdings hosted annual launches this week, revealing ample room for business growth. Amazon (AMZN) unveiled a series of new and updated smart home devices. In a separate event, Alphabet 's (GOOGL) Google announced new features to enhance its search engine and improve user experience. Following these events, in separate research notes, Citi praised the mega caps for being two of the best positioned companies in the internet sector. As shareholders of both, we agree. Here's an in-depth look at these two fall events along with Wall Street's take and ours, too. Amazon's hardware event Amazon hosted its annual September hardware event on Wednesday, showcasing new gadgets as part of its interconnected smart home ecosystem driven by Alexa A voice assistant capabilities, inclu...

DITIONAL SUBSIDIES AND USING MEDISAVE An additional subsidy tier will be added to the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) for common chronic drugs and drug price limits. This is to level the significant price difference of drugs between GP clinics and polyclinics, so that residents will be encouraged to stick with the family doctor of their choice. All enrolled Singaporean CHAS card holders, including Pioneer Generation and Merdeka Generation card holders, will be able to benefit from this. Mr Ong pointed out that the price will not be able to equalise "down to the last cent" as the basis of calculating subsidies at Polyclinics and for CHAS are different. However, the current difference in drug prices between Polyclinics and private GP clinics will be "substantively" removed, he sai...

But when the pandemic struck, people in his neighbourhood feared that he could potentially spread the coronavirus. His sickly father - who is in his 80s - locked him up again as he lives alone and is unable to keep an eye on his son. Made is currently under the supervision of psychiatrist I Gusti Rai Putra Wiguna. “It is very difficult to eliminate shackling during the pandemic because the families are mentally stressed. “There is also the stigma that people with mental health illness are hard to manage according to COVID-19 health protocols,” Wiguna said. According to a Mediacorp survey, 36 per cent of people in Indonesia (out of a sample size of 1,000) said that their mental health has deteriorated as a result of the pandemic. Among those who mentioned that their mental health has ...

NATIONAL MOURNING The government has declared a period of national mourning which would continue until the state funeral, and an online book of condolence was opened. At the remote Balmoral Castle in Scotland where she died on Thursday and where her family gathered, people also arrived to pay their respects. "She was amazing. She was like everyone's granny. She always managed to capture the mood with her words," said Kay McClement, 55, who came with a friend to leave flowers at the castle. Some shed tears as they laid flowers outside the black railings of Buckingham Palace, the queen's home in central London. "I brought my young daughter here, because even though she won't remember it, we can tell her she was here as history was happening," said railway worker Liam Fitzjohn, 27. "She'...

NEW DELHI : India's annual retail inflation rate accelerated to 7 per cent in August, driven by a surge in food prices, putting more pressure on the central bank to hike interest rates again later this month. The monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the benchmark repo rate by 140 basis points since May to 5.4 per cent, including 50 basis points last month, aiming to curb consumer demand. The government imposed curbs on rice exports last week after restricting exports of wheat and sugar earlier, to cool local prices as it is worried that the shortage of rainfall in some parts of the country could drive up food prices. The annual consumer price index-based inflation rate of 7.00 per cent in August snapped a three-month downward trend, data released...