First Evidence From Swiss

Switzerland's Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) on Wednesday handed over the first batch of evidence to US authorities for its investigation into alleged bribery schemes for soccer marketing rights.

Global Growth in 2016

"In many countries the financial sector still has weaknesses and in emerging markets the financial risks are increasing. All of that means global growth will be disappointing and uneven in 2016," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said.

New HDB Flats in 2016

Singapore's Minister of National Development Lawrence Wong on Wednesday said that the Housing and Development Board will launch 18,000 new flats in 2016, 3,000 more than what was launched in 2015.

Prank Calls

01 Feb - 5:34pm 84062994
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Barclays Plc

Barclays Plc will pay more than US$13.75 million to settle a US regulator's charges that it allowed customers to make more than 6,100 unsuitable mutual fund switches, and failed to provide some customers discounts on large fund transactions.

Tiger Airways

One likely reason Singapore Airlines (SIA) decided to extend the deadline for its S$453 million Tiger Airways takeover offer was that SIA was still nowhere near its goal when the offer would have originally expired.

Samsung in Vietnam

A unit of South Korea's Samsung Electronics won Vietnamese government approval on Tuesday to raise its investment in an electronics plant to US$2 billion, part of a wave of projects in Vietnam by global consumer goods giants.

Eunoia JC

You know ah? :)

You know ya? :)

Innova? :)

Is it in Eunos? :)

Goldman and JPMorgan

Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co will probably benefit most from the coming wave of financial technology disruption, rather than being supplanted by startups driving the change, according to an Autonomous Research survey.

UK Property Sales Tax for Overseas Homeowners

The UK government's plan to increase sales taxes on second homes in Britain will also apply to people who live abroad.

Amazon's Prime

US online giant Amazon says it added three million customers to its Prime subscription service worldwide in the third week of December as it capped a record holiday season.

Andrea Gail Poon

Where is the hawker stall? :)

Is there any blog? :)

Floods in Northern England

Heavy rains triggered floods in parts of northern England, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of homes and the deployment of army personnel to shore up overwhelmed defences.

Geo Energy Resources

Coal-mining group Geo Energy Resources has entered into a conditional sale-and-purchase agreement to buy the remaining 34 per cent shareholding interest in Borneo International Resources Pte Ltd that it does not already own for US$25 million, the company announced on Dec 26.

Ferrari Inc

Ferrari North America Inc., a division of Ferrari NV, is recalling some 2016 California T vehicles due to the risk of a fuel leak in the engine compartment, according to a US Department of Transportation (DOT) notice.

Warm Christmas in USA

Much of the US East Coast could see record high temperatures on Christmas Day and through the weekend even as a major winter storm looms for the southern Great Plains, forecasters said on Friday.

Food Security in China

China will take steps to ensure sufficient food supplies as it pushes forward with land reforms, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement from the annual Central Rural Work Conference that ended on Friday.

Economic Growth in Vietnam

Vietnam's economy has expanded an estimated 6.68 per cent in 2015, the fastest growth since 2007 and extending growth momentum that started in 2012, the government said on Saturday.

Tan Puay Yee

Does he blog?

Taiwan's 2016 Presidential Election

The frontrunner for Taiwan's 2016 presidential election, opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen, on Friday pledged that if elected she would seek peaceful ties with mainland China while maintaining democracy on the island.

Apple Pay

Apple Pay is looking overseas in 2016.

After a sluggish start in the US since its debut more than a year ago, Apple Pay is ramping up in markets where people are more comfortable with so- called contactless payments. The service, which lets consumers pay in an app or by tapping their iPhone on store terminals, will be introduced next year in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Spain.

Google and Passwords

Google is testing out a new way to sign into its services - and it nixes one of the most annoying security measures out there: passwords. The tech giant is trying out a feature that lets some users confirm their identity just by using their smartphones.

Red Alert for Smog

Ten Chinese cities were on red alert for smog on Thursday, state media reported, as large swathes of the country suffered through their fourth wave of choking pollution this month.

Norwegian Cruise Lines

Genting Hong Kong will sell a further 2.3 per cent stake in Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings (NCLH) for net proceeds of about US$148.25 million.

Lyft Inc

Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding , the investment firm of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, said on Thursday it had led a group of investors which bought 5.3 per cent of US ride-hailing firm Lyft Inc for US$247.7 million.

Apple Inc

Apple Inc on Tuesday became the latest US company to amend its bylaws to allow long-term shareholders to nominate members to its board.

New Home Sales in USA

New US single-family home sales in November rose less than expected and the prior month's increase was revised down, suggesting some loss of momentum in the housing market.

Crude Stocks in USA

US crude stocks fell unexpectedly last week, while gasoline stocks increased and distillate inventories fell, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.

The Verge

A well-known Little India property near Tekka Centre is being sold for $317 million to be redeveloped into a mixed project, including a mall and serviced apartments.

The buyer of The Verge, once called Tekka Mall, is Mr Keith Tang, chairman of privately held hospitality company Heritage Group, The Straits Times has learnt.

COE 23 December 2015

Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices finished mostly lower in the latest bidding exercise, with only motorcycle premiums rising from $6,501 to $6,600.

Category A premiums, for cars up to 1,600cc, dropped from $56,989 to $54,301.

Cat B premiums, for cars above 1,600cc, also dropped from $60,001 to $55,001.

Premiums for Cat C, for goods vehicles and buses, fell from $48,101 to $46,001, while those in the open category slid from $60,003 to $57,501.

Boeing

Boeing Co's commercial airplane unit will pay US$12 million and enhance its compliance systems in a settlement with US regulators to resolve multiple enforcement cases, the Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday.

Third Quarter Growth in USA

The US economy grew at a fairly healthy clip in the third quarter as strong consumer and business spending offset efforts by businesses to reduce an inventory glut, underscoring its resilience despite a raft of headwinds.

KFC is Japan's Christmas Tradition

Think "Christmas feast" and an image of a plump roast turkey will probably come to mind.

Ask most Japanese, however, and they'll tell you Christmas isn't complete without a bucket of fried chicken from KFC.

This is the result of a hugely successful marketing campaign by the fast food chain that was launched a little more than 40 years ago.

It all started in 1971, when foreigners in Japan celebrated Christmas with KFC's fried chicken. They had been unable to find turkey, which hitherto remains an uncommon dish in the country.

Gold

Gold edged up on Monday, adding to sharp gains from the previous trading session, as weakness in the dollar and equities helped the metal recoup some losses from a US interest rate hike last week.

LNG

Shippers who ply the seas to deliver liquefied natural gas (LNG) in massive tankers are likely to face a wave of consolidation and asset sales, with freight rates plunging as a growing fleet clashes with tepid demand.

Brent

European benchmark Brent crude slid to an 11-year low on Monday as oil prices resumed their slide in an oversupplied global market facing the prospect of renewed US exports.

Budget in Japan

Japan's Cabinet approved on Friday a US$27 billion extra budget for the fiscal year ending in March to revitalise growth, while critics see some of the spending as targeting voters ahead of an Upper House election next year.

Home Prices in China

Home prices in China rose for the second straight month in November in year-on-year terms, signalling further stabilisation in the country's largest urban housing markets, although oversupply continues to plague smaller cities.

Farm Subsidies

Negotiators at the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference in Nairobi agreed to end direct export subsidies on farm produce even as 14 year-old talks on trade development remain unresolved.

New Contracts in Uber

Uber won't be able to impose a new contract on drivers who are suing the company to be treated like employees after a federal judge said the reworded agreement was confusing.

Tokyo Olympics 2020

The Tokyo Olympics 2020 will cost the host organising committee six times more than their original estimate, and come in at around 1.8 trillion yen (S$20.1 billion), public broadcaster NHK said on its website on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

American Express

American Express can once again enforce its rules prohibiting merchants from steering customers to other credit cards after an appeals court temporarily lifted an earlier court order on Friday.

Malaysia Bak Kut Teh in Singapore

The Clementi Mall
#B1-34/35

KL Bak Kut Teh in Singapore

The Clementi Mall
#B1-34/35

New Manlee in Singapore

The Clementi Mall
#B1-34/35

Thai Boat Noodle Changi Airport

Aoy's Thai Noodle Bar
Terminal 3
#B2-33

Aoy's Thai Noodle Bar Changi Airport

Terminal 3
#B2-33

Facebook Messenger and Uber

Facebook on Wednesday announced an alliance with Uber that lets people summon cars from the ride sharing service using the Messenger smartphone application.

Instant Articles on Facebook

Facebook said on Wednesday it had signed up 350 global media partners for its "Instant Articles" service as it expanded the programme to Android devices.

Marks & Spencer in Beijing

British clothing and food retailer Marks & Spencer is to open its first store in Beijing on Friday, part of its strategy in China to focus on flagship stores in the largest cities, while expanding online.

Facebook Review Service and Yelp

A Facebook service that provides reviews of local businesses popped up on the Internet on Tuesday, and shares in crowd-sourced reviews star Yelp dropped.

Alibaba and Walt Disney Co

The e-commerce giant, Alibaba, headed by billionaire Jack Ma yesterday announced a multi-year licensing agreement with Walt Disney Co for a device that will deliver Disney and Pixar movies, games and travel services in China.

Federal Reserve

No sooner will the Federal Reserve raise US interest rates than it must make more decisions on how to drain markets awash in cash and, further down the road, how to shrink its swollen balance sheet.

Singapore-Malaysia Bullet Train

Japan, fresh from a US$15 billion rail win in India over China, aims to sell its bullet trains to a high-speed line being planned between Singapore and the Malaysian capital, opening a new market for companies from Hitachi Ltd to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.

Uber and Lyft

Seattle on Monday became the first US city to pass a law giving drivers for Uber and Lyft the right to unionise, a new challenge to the ride companies' success as they confront mounting dissatisfaction over how drivers are treated.

Virgin America

Virgin America Inc said on Tuesday it will lease 10 Airbus A321neo planes starting in 2017, a move that could let the low-cost airline add flights from coast to coast in the mainland United States and to Hawaii.

Cotton

There is enough cotton sitting in global warehouses to make more than 127 billion T-shirts, or 17 for each person on the planet. 

World inventories at the end of this season will be the second-largest ever.

Tenaga

Malaysia's state electricity utility, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has bought a 30 per cent stake in Turkey's GAMA Enerji AS for US$243 million to expand overseas, it said on Monday. 

Pininfarina SpA

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd agreed to buy Italian car designer Pininfarina SpA in a deal worth about 168 million euros (S$260 million), underscoring the Indian vehicle maker's international ambitions.

Gold

Gold prices bounced on Friday, erasing earlier losses as the dollar and US Treasury yields fell, but was still on track for a seventh weekly drop in eight as investors positioned themselves for a likely US rate rise next week.

Wind Power in Australia

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull lifted a ban on government investment in wind power introduced by predecessor Tony Abbott, in another policy shift that coincides with a global climate-change deal to curb fossil-fuel pollution.