#Automotive

by Andrew BEATTY / with Daniel de Carteret in Gosford Toxic haze blanketed Sydney Tuesday triggering a chorus of smoke alarms to ring across the city, as “severe” weather conditions fuelled deadly bush blazes. Fire engines raced office-to-office in the city centre with sirens blaring, as inland bushfires poured smoke laden with toxic particles into commercial […]

Even though it may be heartbreaking, Malaysian singer Fish Leong is moving on from her recent divorce with wine merchant Tony Chao. The singer’s agency has announced that the Malaysian songstress will be going on a world tour next year. On Tuesday, a promotional poster of her upcoming tour was posted on Leong’s official Instagram. […]

Steve Harvey, the host for the Miss Universe pageant, which was held on Monday morning, December 8, local time (Sunday night in Atlanta, Georgia, where the pageant was held) was once again at the centre of what could have been a faux pas but wasn’t actually.  Before crowning Miss South Africa the new Miss Universe, […]

by Kyoko HASEGAWA It might be the most Japanese of political scandals: a furore over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s guest list at a party to mark the annual cherry blossom season. As scandals go, it has plenty of juicy elements — alleged mafia guests, disappearing evidence, even gaffes by Abe, who appeared to lay blame […]

The skin of a critically endangered Sumatran tiger and four foetuses have been confiscated after the arrest of several suspected poachers, Indonesian police said. The suspects may have been planning to sell the skin to a foreign collector, while its bones were earlier sold, possibly for use in medicinal products popular in some parts of […]

European companies in China have been able to minimise the effect from the tariff war between Beijing and Washington, although some are considering relocating their businesses, the EU Chamber of Commerce said Monday. The world’s two biggest economies have been entangled in a lingering trade war for over a year, which has weighed on the […]

Olympic champion Joseph Schooling vowed to “fix” his physique after winning only one individual gold medal at the Southeast Asian Games, less than eight months before his title defence at Tokyo 2020. The 24-year-old Singaporean famously beat his idol, US legend Michael Phelps, at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the 100m butterfly final, but finds […]

China on Monday defended its vast network of re-education camps in Xinjiang and said it would continue “training” residents, following explosive government document leaks detailing surveillance and control of the region’s Uighur population. Rights groups estimate more than a million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities are held in the facilities, which reports describe as […]

Hong Kong—Despite being an unusually cold day, approximately 800,000 people flocked to Hong Kong’s central park on December 8, Sunday, marking six straight months since the protests began. Sunday’s demonstration was a largely peaceful one, with people marching from Victoria Park to the business district downtown, many of whom were shouting “Rotten cops are killers, […]

EF Education First has released a new English Proficiency Index on the English skills of non-native English speaking countries across the globe. The International education company ranked Singapore as the 5th top non-native English speaking country globally, behind the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. English as a global language Most of us never give a second […]

Singapore—A report from Russian independent major news agency Interfax on Friday, December 6, says Singapore intends to arrest a Russian ship, the tanker Sevastopol. The tanker is under a US ban for the violation of economic sanctions imposed on North Korea, the Moscow Times reports. However, Sergei Novoseltsev, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in […]

Singapore— Nicholas Fang, the Director of Security and Global Affairs at Singapore Institute of International Affairs, will moderate former US President Barak Obama’s event on December 14 and 16. The organiser of the speaking event, business education provider, The Growth Faculty made the announcement on their website. President Obama’s wife, Michelle will also attend the event which […]

South Korean singer/actor Rain is undoubtedly one of the earliest rising Hallyu stars who brought K-pop to international fame. Park Jin Young, JYP Entertainment founder talked about his total confidence in his early protégé Rain on the latest episode of Immortal Songs. The Park Jin Young special featured VIXX’s Ravi, N.Flying’s Yoo Hwe Seung and more, […]

REFILES to add picture, video tag Thousands rallied in support of Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar Saturday, on the eve of her departure for the UN’s top court to defend Myanmar against charges of genocide against Rohingya Muslims. The raucous rally in the capital Naypyidaw came as China’s foreign minister arrived for a visit […]

by Su Xinqi Among the sea of faces on Hong Kong’s streets on Sunday were more than one hundred people wearing quirky over-sized animal masks — a band of activists bringing popular protest internet memes to life. Hong Kong’s democracy movement is largely leaderless and organised online. LIHKG, a local Reddit-like web forum that serves […]