Former Chinese president Hu Jintao was among the few prominent figures absent from Tuesday’s (Dec 7) state funeral for his predecessor Jiang Zemin. The previous day he had joined Xi Jinping and dozens of other top officials in bidding farewell to Jiang. An official source said Hu and some other party elders did not attend Tuesday’s funeral...
Indonesia has passed into law a controversial criminal code that human rights activists and civil groups say could potentially send the world's third-largest democracy back to authoritarian rule. Articles viewed as problematic include bans on insulting the president, vice-president and state institutions, views that contradict the state ideology Pancasila, protests without a permit, sex outside marriage...
Morocco dumped Spain out of the World Cup in a last-16 penalty shootout on Tuesday with Spanish-born Achraf Hakimi scoring the decisive spot-kick after Spain squandered all three of their attempts, following a 0-0 draw over 120 minutes. Hakimi, a product of the Real Madrid youth system, calmly slotted his penalty past Unai Simon in...
Japan striker Ritsu Doan said he was particularly delighted with Wednesday's (Nov 23) stunning victory over Germany at the World Cup after being forced to endure patronising comments before he headed to Qatar. Eight members of the Japan squad play their club football in Germany and it was goals from Freiburg's Doan and VfL Bochum's Takuma Asano...
On the main road to billionaire Gautam Adani's planned Vizhinjam mega port on the southern tip of India, a shelter built by the coastal region's Christian fishing community blocks the entrance, preventing further construction. The simple 1,200 square-feet structure with a corrugated-iron roof has since August stood in the way of ambitions for the country's...
A public discussion about sex education in China has been kicked off by a mother in eastern China who told the media it shocked her to find a condom in her teenage son's schoolbag. The single mother from Zhejiang province said she saw a suspicious object at the bottom of her son's schoolbag when she...
More than 78 per cent of employees in Singapore will consider changing jobs in 2023 if their pay increment is lower than the inflation rate, according to a survey by recruitment firm Robert Walters. The rising cost of living and concerns over a possible recession will spur many employees to request, and expect employers to...
A Russian TV presenter apologised on Monday (Oct 24) for calling for Ukrainian children to be drowned, as Russia's state Investigative Committee said it was probing his remarks. In a show last week on state-controlled broadcaster RT, presenter Anton Krasovsky said Ukrainian children who saw Russians as occupiers under the Soviet Union should have been...
Some time ago, we mentioned a possible loophole that HDB flat landlords might use to drive out tenants. That’s especially worrying in the current high rental environment, where some landlords may feel “stuck” with a cheaper lease signed a year or two before. It also doesn’t help when you see your neighbours renting out for much...
Over a period of six months, a woman abused her Indonesian domestic helper by punching her repeatedly and using a clothes hanger to hit her eyes, causing her to permanently lose sight in both eyes. Ummi Kalsum Ali, 43, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to six charges, including voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a maid and...
