(Reuters) - Police in Wisconsin on Tuesday were interviewing friends and family and examining the online presence of a 15-year-old girl to determine what drove her to open fire in a school classroom, killing a fellow student and a teacher before taking her own life. The shooter, identified by police as Natalie Rupnow who also went...
HONG KONG: China announced on Tuesday (Dec 17) a relaxation of its visa-free transit policy, extending the permitted stay for eligible foreign travellers to 240 hours, or 10 days, from the original 72-144 hours, as authorities aim to lure more foreign visitors. The measure, which is effective immediately, was announced by the National Immigration Administration (NIA)...
TOKYO: Japan’s Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry plans to cover tuition and living expenses for select international students from Asia studying at medical schools in Japan. This is the first time that the ministry is attempting such an initiative, which it is undertaking with the aim of contributing to the international community and expanding the use...
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng are taking legal action against Bloomberg and other media outlets for publishing statements concerning their property transactions, which they consider libellous. The statements were first published in a Dec 12 Bloomberg article on good class bungalow transactions in Singapore...
JAKARTA (Bloomberg): Indonesia’s largest party has officially expelled former President Joko Widodo after he spurned the party’s own candidate in February elections and backed Prabowo Subianto’s successful campaign to become leader of South-East Asia’s biggest economy. Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle Chairwoman, known as PDI-P, Megawati Soekarnoputri made the decision to expel Jokowi, as the former...
PETALING JAYA: A proposed surge in insurance premiums could severely impact businesses, particularly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), says the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF). Its president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman said any cost increase could greatly strain working capital, hinder cash flows, and discourage crucial investments in digitalisation, tech adoption and operational expansions. "Such...
KUALA LUMPUR: The Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) has announced that the suspension of the 80:20 employment ratio requirement for the manufacturing sector will continue until the Multi-Tiered Levy Mechanism (MTLM) is fully implemented. The 80:20 policy refers to the employment condition that mandates a ratio of 80% local workers and 20% foreign workers in...
PETALING JAYA: Several Malaysian states, including Selangor, Johor and Sabah, are forecast for thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds, according to the Malaysia Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia). The weather warning was issued on Monday, Dec 16 and is effective until 6pm. Based on the warning, adverse weather conditions are expected in Perak (Kuala Kangsar, Kinta, Kampar and Batang...
OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unexpectedly resigned on Monday over a policy clash with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, dismissing his plans for increased spending as "political gimmicks". Freeland quit just hours before she was due to present a fall economic update to parliament, a document widely expected to show the minority Liberal government had...
SINGAPORE: Authorities in Singapore do not have sufficient evidence that a Singapore-based Chinese fugitive who was arrested in Indonesia had committed money-laundering offences, the local police said, explaining why his detention occurred in Batam rather than within the city state. The police’s comments were in reference to the case of Yan Zhenxing, a Chinese national in...
