Latest Asia Pacific News
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Slaying China’s zombies and righting the economy
Recent signs show that the Chinese economy, which has maintained double-digit growth for three decades, is slowing down. China recorded its last double-digit growth in 2010. But since then, the annual growth rate has fallen roughly 20 percent (from 10 to 8 percent per annum). The GDP data for the first quarter of 2013, if anything, have raised fresh worries. Instead of expanding at the expected ...
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Nikkei slumps 3.7 pct on weak China data 10-yr JGB prices turn higher
Reset TOKYO (May 23): Japan's Nikkei stock average tumbled 3.7 percent on Thursday, in a dramatic turnaround from a 5-1/2-year high hit in morning trade and was on track for its biggest daily drop in two years, as weak Chinese factory activity data rattled investors. The sharp turnover in the Japanese stock market prompted investors to seek safety in government bonds, with the ...
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Bomb kills at least two in Quetta in southwest Pakistan Police
QUETTA, Pakistan: At least two people were killed and more than a dozen wounded when a bomb tore through a vehicle used by security forces in Pakistan's troubled southwest on Thursday, police said. The incident took place on the outskirts of the city ...
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Manila tells China vessels to clear off
(10 mins ago) Philippines vowed to ';defend what is ours’’ as part of a stand-off over a Chinese warship circling a South China Sea reef occupied by Filipino marines. This week Manila objected to the ';provocative and illegal presence'' of the warship near Second Thomas Shoal, but China brushed off the complaint. Philippine foreign affairs department spokesman ...
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China domestic demand softens in May raising risks to growth
(2 hrs 5 mins ago) Manufacturing activity in China contracted in May for the first time in seven months, HSBC said, in another sign of the weakness of recovery in the world's second-largest economy. The British bank's preliminary purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 49.6 this month from a final 50.4 in April, putting it below the 50 mark that indicates contraction. A reading ...
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Justice Carpio pessimistic on PH case vs China but…
MANILA, Philippines--The Philippines' only recourse in the territorial dispute with China is to appeal to world opinion even if the country has already taken the issue to an arbitral tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), a senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court said. Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, speaking before the law graduates at ...
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Will U.S. Yield Follow Japans Higher
Is the chart of Powershares DB 3x Inver Jap Gov Bond ETN (JGBD) Yield reflecting incipient inflation concerns by Japanese bond investors? Of course, inflation is exactly what the BOJ wants, but that does not preclude an investor exodus from the bond market, which by definition will drive up interest rate costs for the Japanese government. Does the relentless climb in JGB Yield suggest that the ...
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China HSBC flash PMI hits 7-month low fans growth fears
The high current account deficit will persist as long as we live in a world of low growth - that hurts our exports - and easy global liquidity, which pumps up the oil import ...
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Rinehart loses $7B but still Australia’s richest
This image taken on June 9, 2010 shows Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart speaking during a rally in Perth. The world’s richest woman Gina Rinehart is believed to have increased her holding in Australian media group Fairfax to more than 15 percent, reports said on June 15. AFP / Tony ASHBY SYDNEY--Mining magnate Gina Rinehart had Aus$7 billion (US$6.8 billion) wiped off her fortune ...
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Kerry confront China on human rights
"No nation has more opportunity to advance the cause of democracy, " said then-Sen. John Kerry at his recent confirmation hearing to become U.S. secretary of state. "And no nation is as committed to the cause of human rights as we are." This weekend, ...
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Man hacked to death in London attack heightens terror fears
London military barracks and one then went on video to explain the crime - shouting political statements, gesturing with bloodied hands and waving a meat cleaver. Soon after, arriving police shot and wounded the unidentified assailants and took them into custody. The brutal daylight attack galvanized this city and raised fears that terrorism had returned to London. Authorities did not identify ...
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N. Korea may deploy new multiple rocket launchers this year Yonhap
North Korea may be able to deploy its new multiple rocket launchers within this year after test-firing short range missiles over the weekend, a senior Seoul official said Thursday. North Korea fired six rounds of short-range rockets from its east coast for three days from Saturday, putting a damper on hopes for inter-Korean talks to ease tensions after months of bellicose rhetoric from ...
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New Zealand investigates cheating service for Chinese students
An investigation has uncovered a well-organised commercial cheating service for Chinese-speaking students in New Zealand. The long-standing business uses a network of tutors, some outside New Zealand, to write original assignments ordered by Chinese-speaking students attending New Zealand universities, polytechnics and private institutions. The tutors are paid by assignment and have specialist ...
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Park apologizes over alleged sexual misconduct by ex-spokesman
South Korean president Park Geun-hye attends a weekly meeting with senior secretaries on Monday. At the meeting, Park apologized over the sexual misconduct allegations by her former spokesman Yoon Chang-jung.(Photo:Agencies) South Korean president Park Geun-hye apologized Monday over allegations of sexual misconduct by her now-fired spokesman, as she struggled to bring growing public outrage ...
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Far-right Japan Restoration Party defends wartime abuse of “comfort women”
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, a leader of the far-right Japan Restoration Party (JRP), set off a firestorm in Asia and within Japan last week, by declaring that the Japanese army's policy of keeping thousands of women as sex slaves throughout Asia during World War II was necessary. At a May 13 press conference, Hashimoto declared: "If you want them [troops fighting a war] to have a rest ...
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Ford to halt car production in Australia in 2016
MELBOURNE (AFP) - Ford announced Thursday it would cease making vehicles at its unprofitable Australian plants in 2016 and axe 1,200 jobs, ending an era that began in 1925 with the firm's first local car.Ford Australia chief executive Bob Graziano made the announcement as he revealed losses of Aus$141 million (US$136 million) after tax in the last financial year and Aus$600 million over the ...
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UPDATE 1-Brent weakens towards $102 on gloomy China data strong dollar
Thu May 23, 2013 12:47am EDT * Weak PMI casts doubt on China's recovery, oil demand * Dollar at 3-year high, QE3 uncertainties also weigh * Coming Up: Euro zone PMI; 0758 GMT (Adds quote, details) By Ramya Venugopal CHENNAI, India, May 23 (Reuters) - Brent crude futures slipped towards $102 a barrel on Thursday as fresh data from China cast doubt on the strength of recovery in the ...
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UPDATE 1-Chinas Lenovo buys and diversifies to outshine PC rivals
Thu May 23, 2013 12:45am EDT * Q4 net nearly doubles, fastest pace in seven quarters * Lenovo No.2 in China in smartphones and media tablets By Lee Chyen Yee and Umesh Desai HONG KONG, May 23 (Reuters) - Lenovo Group Ltd's bold acquisitions in its flagship PC business, a foray into mobile gadgets, and a relatively light debt load are setting it apart from PC rivals as industry shipments ...
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Ford grows in America shrinks in Australia
Ford Motor Co. is adding production, and 3,500 jobs, in North America as it tries to keep up with Americans’ appetite for new cars and trucks. But the automaker will end production in Australia, cutting 1,200 jobs by 2016, as high costs left it unable to ...
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Australias invisible migrant workers
In a recent post for The Conversation which appeared on the SBS World News Australia website, Dr Shanthi Robertson highlighted the long-term but temporary, 'invisible' group of workers made up of backpackers and international students. She groups them together as Australia's 'other migrant workers', and is calling for more political and public recognition of this ...
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As yen tumbles Japans gain isnt South Koreas pain
Thu May 23, 2013 12:41am EDT * Yen down 20 percent vs dollar over past year, won up by a third against yen * Weaker yen won't necessarily undercut South Korea's competitiveness * Currency fluctuations don't immediately translate into market share By Wayne Arnold and Vikram Subhedar May 23 (Reuters) - South Korea's economic problems aren't made in Japan. That isn't the way ...
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NBI team’s trip to Taiwan on hold
MANILA--The trip to Taiwan by a team of probers from the National Bureau of Investigation has been put on hold due to a disagreement over the presentation of evidence collected by both sides. A reliable source privy to the negotiations told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview that the disagreement involved ';the turnover of a video to the Taiwanese investigators taken by ...
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Australia launches security campaign against chemicals abuse
Australian government has launched a new campaign to prevent terrorists from accessing chemicals that can be used to manufacture explosives, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced on Thursday.The National Security Campaign includes a new chemical security website and a range of information materials for consumers and retailers of chemicals that are of concern to authorities. It calls on all ...
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Senao expanding retail chain in eastern China
Senao International, a Taiwan-based IT and consumer electronics retail chain, plans to expand its retail network in eastern China from 40 stores currently to 100 by the end of 2013, and to 800-1,000 by the end of ...
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China Labor Day LCD TV sales surge by double-digit percentage says IHS
Sales of LCD TVs during China's Labor Day holiday rose 18% in 2013 compared to a year earlier, as consumers were lured by attractive promotional pricing and a government subsidy program, according to research firm ...
Singapore Featured
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Singaporean expansion of MRT leads to disruption
Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit System (MRT) is not very big in comparison to Shanghai, Beijing or Tokyo, but proportionate to the size of Singapore and the city-state’s population, it is an extremely successful and extensive public transport system and one that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) plans to grow even further.
Singapore has a population of around 5 million, which is important when placing the MRT in context, it has a daily ridership of 2 million, giving it a commuter penetration of at least 40%, which does not take into account the fact that not all 5 million Singaporeans commute on a daily basis or use public transport. Read more
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