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SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore said Monday it would impose a carbon tax from next year to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and make companies more competitive as global agreements on climate change take effect. Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said the tax would be levied on all facilities producing 25,000 tons or more of greenhouse gas emissions a year. The tax, to be applied to all sectors, will be Sg$5.0 ($3.8) per ton of […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) – China’s continued reclamation in the South China Sea has eroded trust among claimants and could raise regional tensions, Southeast Asian foreign ministers said Tuesday. The ministers from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) did not mention China by name in their statement after a one-day meeting in Singapore, current chair of the grouping. Beijing claims nearly all of the waterway and has been turning reefs and islets into islands and installing military […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — A pilot was slightly injured when a South Korean aircraft taking part in the Singapore Airshow skidded off the runway and caught fire Tuesday while taking off, authorities said. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said the aircraft from the South Korean air force’s aerobatic team Black Eagles “skidded and crashed into the grass verge” at the side of the runway and caught fire. The accident happened as the plane was taking […]
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore will amend a law that allowed a megachurch pastor to escape a harsher prison term for fraud despite funnelling millions in church funds into his wife’s music career, a senior official said Monday, following a public backlash. In a case that fascinated Singapore with a heady mix of religion, showbiz and fraud, Kong Hee and five other church leaders were convicted in 2015 of spending Sg$24 million ($19.8 million) from a […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — From clampdowns to a warm embrace, regulators in Asia have taken very different approaches to dealing with the bitcoin phenomenon. Here are the developments in a few key markets: Chinese clampdown In mid-September, China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), told virtual currency trading platforms based in Beijing and Shanghai to cease market operations. Authorities also clamped down on ethereum and any other electronic units that are exchanged online […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — A Singapore bar that bills itself as the world’s highest cryptocurrency club is offering a New Year’s Eve package that includes a limousine pick-up and butler service — but it’ll cost you a whole bitcoin. Skyline, on the 45th floor of a skyscraper overlooking the city-state’s glittering waterfront, is promising partygoers a luxury-filled night out, with champagne and oysters and caviar. But it won’t come cheap, with the price of bitcoin […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Four Singaporean men were Friday charged over a scandal involving contracts for the metro worth almost Sg$10 million ($7.4 million), the latest problem to hit the financial hub’s train network. The prosecution of the group, which included former and current employees of metro operator SMRT, came after a series of breakdowns on the train system and a collision that injured dozens. The accidents have caused anger in the city-state where public […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Foreign and local journalists jailed for flying a drone near Myanmar’s parliament could be released from prison in early January after police dropped additional charges that carried at least three more years behind bars, their lawyers said Tuesday. Lau Hon Meng from Singapore and Mok Choy Lin from Malaysia, who were on assignment for Turkish state broadcaster TRT, were detained late October along with Myanmar journalist Aung Naing Soe and […]
SINGAPORE (AFP) — An Australian, a Briton and two New Zealanders have been jailed for four weeks each in Singapore for selling forged tickets to an Ed Sheeran concert. The Australian, 56-year-old Paul Cosgrove, was sentenced Wednesday after admitting that he abetted Briton Martin Keane in a scheme to sneak fans into the British singer-songwriter’s sold-out concert in the city-state using the fake tickets. Keane, 60, was jailed last month after pleading guilty to his […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Singapore is increasingly using harsh laws to severely restrict freedom of speech and assembly, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday, urging authorities to let people publicly debate matters of national interest. A report from the New York-based rights group said that while the financial hub was an economic success, it was time to relax tough regulations which are not in line with international human rights standards. “Singapore promotes itself as a modern nation […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore’s economy beat expectations to grow at its fastest pace in nearly four years during the third quarter, data showed Thursday, boosted by a surge in global demand that has buoyed Asia in the face of brewing protectionist fears. The forecast-beating performance for the island-state follows similarly strong readings from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan, all of which have benefited from a pick-up in world trade. The trade […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Driverless buses will appear on some roads in Singapore from 2022 as part of plans to improve mobility in the land-scarce city-state, its transport minister said Wednesday. Singapore has so far avoided the massive traffic jams that choke other Asian cities like Manila and Jakarta by imposing road tolls, spending massively on public transport and becoming one of the world’s most expensive places to own a car. It now plans to […]
