US funeral home owner who sold body parts pleads guilty to fraud

A former Colorado funeral home owner pleaded guilty on Tuesday (July 5) to a federal charge of defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting their family members' corpses and selling the body parts without permission, a practice exposed in a 2018 Reuters investigative report. Megan Hess, who operated a funeral home called Sunset Mesa and a...

Chinese data centre operator GDS sees Singapore as hub for its Southeast Asia expansion plans

Data centre management company GDS is following in the footsteps of its Chinese tech customers by expanding operations to Southeast Asia, while betting on Singapore as a regional data hub, according to its chairman and CEO. Founded in 2001, the Nasdaq and Hong Kong-listed GDS is a third-party data centre operator serving clients such as Alibaba...

Imminent heatwaves to scorch northern China

Heatwaves are predicted to sweep through northern China in the next two weeks, with more than 250 million people expected to grapple with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in some regions. For four to six days, the regions of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia, and the provinces of Hebei, Henan, Gansu and Shaanxi, will see temperatures...

Too high rents could result in vacant stalls for owners: Desmond Lee on multimillion-dollar coffee shop resale prices

The Housing Board regularly monitors the resale market for HDB coffee shop transactions, as well as the prices of food, and "will not hesitate to review its policies to address affordability concerns", said National Development Minister Desmond Lee. Mr Lee was replying via written response on Tuesday (July 5) to parliamentary questions on efforts to keep...

Hong Kong considers shorter Covid-19 quarantine for travellers: John Lee

Hong Kong will look into shortening Covid-19 quarantine requirements for travellers, while still aiming to curb the spread of the virus and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, the city's new leader John Lee said on Tuesday (July 5) Lee spoke at his first weekly news conference as the city's chief executive after being sworn in on...

Suspected North Korea dam water release prompts South Koreans to evacuate

North Korea appears to have released water from a dam near its border with South Korea, prompting vacationers in the neighbouring country to evacuate over rising water levels on the Imjin River, officials said on Tuesday (July 5). The water level at a bridge at the river in the South's border county of Yeoncheon surpassed 1m...

Australia floods worsen as thousands more Sydney residents evacuate

Torrential rains kept battering Australia's east coast on Tuesday (July 5), intensifying the flood crisis in Sydney as thousands more residents were ordered to leave their homes after rivers swiftly rose past danger levels. About 50,000 residents in New South Wales, most in Sydney's western suburbs, have been told to either evacuate or warned they might...

‘This shop is like my child’: Old-school bakery in Bedok sold for $4 million after a 3-year search for successor

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. After almost four decades, the owner of Borobudur Snacks Shop at 537 Bedok North Street 3 has decided to retire, citing old age and occupational injuries. The owner, a 74-year-old man surnamed Zheng, told Shin Min Daily News that he's selling his entire business — which includes...

In Shanghai, lockdown blues make way for Covid-19 testing gripes

A man has a swab collected at a nucleic acid testing site in Lujiazui financial district after the lockdown placed to curb the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak was lifted in Shanghai, China, on June 2, 2022.Reuters Shanghai residents' relief over the easing of a two-month Covid-19 lockdown is giving way to frustration as they face hours...