General Li Shuangjiang's son detained in connection with gang-rape

The 17-year-old son of a prominent Chinese military artist has been detained on suspicion of participating in a gang rape in the Chinese capital – sparking widespread public anger.

More professional workers in China seek a better life overseas

More mainland professionals, fed up with pollution, food safety and education problems, are taking their chances overseas

Hackers target Yahoo users in Singapore

YAHOO users in Singapore have been warned about spam e-mail that could leave them vulnerable to attacks by hackers.

Google maps its way into malls

Indoor mapping feature provides floor plans and directions to shops

 

Israel’s Prisoner X Is Linked to Dubai Assassination in a New Report

The Australian-Israeli man recently identified as Prisoner X — found dead in 2010 in a maximum-security prison cell — may have been involved in the assassination of a Hamas leader that year, an episode that was among the most embarrassing in the history of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad.

Israeli spy saga raises press freedom questions

Foreign reports about the mysterious death of an Australian-Israeli Mossad agent who died in an Israeli prison two years ago have sparked a rare backlash against the country’s well-respected security agencies.

Just what is Xi Jinping's 'Chinese dream' and 'Chinese renaissance'?

Observers differ on how to interpret the incoming president's new catchphrases, but it could well mean a much more assertive China

Doping widespread in Australian sport

Drug use is widespread in Australian sport, with growing links to organised crime, according to a damning official probe released on Thursday that points to "clear parallels" with the Lance Armstrong case.

Qing dynasty naval defeat ‘a warning’ for PLA

Scholars say 1894 naval debacle may be repeated if modernisation comes without political reform

Singapore wants to boost population to 6.9 mln by 2030

Asian financial centre Singapore, which is already more densely populated than rival Hong Kong, wants to raise its population by as much as 30 percent in the next two decades to ensure its economy remains dynamic, the government said on Tuesday.

Rich Chinese buying property overseas draw resentment from locals

Property investments in Britain, the US, Canada, Australia and Singapore pay off for Chinese buyers, but locals are apparently growing increasingly impatient and unhappy

Lack of trust clouds strategies of China, Japan and the US in East Asia

A lack of trust and understanding cloud the diplomatic strategies of the big three players in East Asia – China, Japan and the United States

Xiamen University Expands Into Malaysia

Xiamen University in Fujian Province announced last week that it would open its first overseas campus in the Malaysian state of Selangor in September 2015.

In Asia’s trend-setting cities, iPhone fatigue sets in

Apple Inc’s iconic iPhone is losing some of its lustre among Asia’s well-heeled consumers in Singapore and Hong Kong, a victim of changing mobile habits and its own runaway success.

Chinese officials rush to withdraw US dollars and sell property as anti-graft war looms

As the Communist Party’s disciplinary dog drums up efforts to crack down on corruption, party officials across the country are rushing to withdraw foreign currencies and sell their properties, reported Henan Business Daily on Wednesday.

10 ways to deal with teenagers more effectively

Maybe you’re a parent, teacher or youth worker who finds it frustrating to deal with teenagers.

The ins and outs of immigration visas

You can live anywhere in the world if you have enough money

As China’s navy grows, end of Deng’s dictum of keeping a low profile?

Beijing’s strategists, in responding to US domination of the oceans, are taking on board the ideas of a 19th century American historian

Lawsuit threat reminds critics of caution in more open Singapore

Singapore’s long-ruling government is reacting to discontent about rising prices, foreign workers and a sluggish economy with unprecedented openness but threats of lawsuits show it remains testy with critics deemed to have crossed the line.

Government brings out Big Chiller to freeze property prices

Sweeping cooling measures take in several sectors, expected to dampen speculation across the board

Apple Maps glitch could be deadly: Australian police

Australian police Monday warned motorists about using the map system on new Apple iPhones after rescuing several people left stranded in the wilderness, saying the errors could prove deadly.

Robert Parker’s newsletter moving to Singapore

Influential US wine critic Robert Parker is moving the headquarters of his newsletter to Singapore after selling a major stake to investors based in the city-state, a report said yesterday.

Exposé reveals ascent to riches by ‘Immortals’ heirs

Study shows how descendants of eight party founding fathers are multibillion-dollar players at the forefront of country’s ‘red aristocracy’

Exodus of China’s rich and skilled for better lives

Politics, pollution and education among factors that saw 150,000 leave last year, report says

Mysteries surrounding Heywood murder begin to unfold

An investigative report about China’s most infamous former police officer Wang Lijun by China’s Southern Metropolis Weekly magazine has answered some unanswered questions relating to the murder of British businessmen Neil Heywood, whose death precipitated the downfall of China’s once powerful and ambitious politician Bo Xilai.

Heirs of Mao’s Comrades Rise as New Capitalist Nobility

Lying in a Beijing military hospital in 1990, General Wang Zhen told a visitor he felt betrayed. Decades after he risked his life fighting for an egalitarian utopia, the ideals he held as one of Communist China’s founding fathers were being undermined by the capitalist ways of his children -- business leaders in finance, aviation and computers.

“Turtle eggs,” he said to the visiting well-wisher, using a slang term for bastards. “I don’t acknowledge them as my sons.”

Read more...

Billionaire Princelings Ruin a Chinese Vision

This week’s Bloomberg News expose on the so-called Eight Immortals is a case in point. Building on a June article tracing the accumulated wealth of the family of Xi Jinping, China’s next president, it described the vast fortunes being amassed by the offspring of the founding fathers who were instrumental in Mao Zedong’s rise to power in 1949. Mao changed the world by meeting U.S. President Richard Nixon, and Immortals such as Deng Xiaoping engineered the economic boom that has unfolded since then.

Read more...

China’s anti-corruption drive triggers frantic property dump among officials

Real estate agents in provinces such as Guangdong and Jiangsu have been frantically trying to push deals for a torrent of second-hand flats suddenly released on the market – many of which belong to government officials, the Oriental Morning Post reported on Monday.

Agony endures 75 years after Nanking Massacre

Three quarters of a century after Japanese soldiers butchered her family and left her for dead, Xia Shuqin says she relives her terror with every denial that the Nanking Massacre ever happened.

Microsoft ditches Windows Live Messenger for Skype

Microsoft said Windows Live Messenger (WLM) would be turned off by March 2013 worldwide, with the exception of China.

Neil Heywood Killed in China Had MI6 Spy Links

Cruising around Beijing in a silver Jaguar with "007" in the license plate, Neil Heywood seemed to relish the air of intrigue that surrounded him.

Chinese Messaging App Gains Ground Elsewhere

WeChat, a mobile messaging application created by Tencent Holdings, China’s largest Internet company, is aggressively trying to buck the trend and establish itself in the expanding global market for smartphone apps. Based on some analysts’ predictions, the company may actually have a shot.

China’s new leaders face tough economic choices

model that delivered three decades of double-digit growth is running out of steam and the country’s next leaders face tough choices to keep incomes rising. But they don’t seem to have ambitious solutions. Even if they do, they will need to tackle entrenched interests with backing high in the Communist Party.

China’s former Japan envoy accuses US of exploiting territorial rows

Former Chinese ambassador to Japan says Washington should distance itself from Tokyo

Xi Jinping sharpened his political skills in Fujian

Leader-in-waiting had setbacks in early years in Fujian, but learned fast. In the second of a three-part series, we look at his 17 years in the province

Xi Jinping began career as cadre in rural Hebei

Why did the well-connected son of a revolutionary leader swap a job in the capital for life as a party cadre in on obscure rural community?

Communist Party journal suggests it could learn from Singapore's PAP

Article says party could learn much from island's brand of authoritarianism

Two women injured in playboy Ling Gu Ferrari crash are named by magazine

The 25-year-olds were pulled half-naked from car smash in March

Ex-diplomat says Sino-Japanese rift part of US agenda

A former Japanese diplomat has accused the United States of manipulating Japan since the Second World War in order to “eliminate” prime ministers who sought to develop better relations with Beijing.

America embraces English English

Crikey - aided by the telly, fashion and the internet, a flood of Britishisms makes itself heard in the home of the Americanism

Long Reliant on China, Myanmar Now Turns to Japan

Is the PLA's modernisation a sign of power, or a repeat of a tragic mistake?

Ignoring the need for social reform while modernising the military risks repeating the mistakes of the Qing dynasty

Experts call for scrapping of mainland ‘golden weeks’

Holiday chaos leads to appeals for changes to the arrangements for allocating paid leave

Big changes due at the top of the PLA after party congress

With seven of 10 PLA officers on the Central Military Commission too old to go on, big changes are certain after the party congress

Hong Kong's Victor Li, son of "Superman", has hard act to follow

Back in the days before e-mail, Victor Li, the heir to Asia's largest family fortune, used to sleep with a fax machine by his bed, ready for his famously restless father, Li Ka-shing, to send through instructions at any time of night.

Read more...

Adele - Live at Brit Awards 2011

Adele - Someone Like You

Where Do the Wealthiest Expatriates Live?

A small island state in Southeast Asia has come out tops in a listing of countries that boast of the richest expatriates.

MAS imposes cap on housing loan tenures

Absolute limit of 35 years set for new, refinance mortgages, loan-to-value ratios for certain new loans also tightened

So, where have all the mainland spenders gone?

Apparently, the shopping sentiment in Hong Kong has changed a lot since the last holiday season.

Elite and Deft, Xi Aimed High Early in China

Thirty years ago,a young government official with a plum job in Beijing made an odd request: reassignment to a poor rural area.

 

Boom city Dongguan faces bankruptcy as village debts soar

Dongguan’s derelict factories and huge deficits send chilling warning to a China in slowdown

Seven rising stars tipped to lead sixth generation of China’s leaders

They were born in the 1960s, grew up in a time of economic change and could finally deliver on reform

Hu Chunhua is the party secretary of Inner Mongolia

Sun Zhengcai is the party boss in Jilin province
 

Zhang Qingwei is the governor of Hebei province

Zhou Qiang is the party secretary of Hunan province

Party veteran Li Rui, still pushing for reform in China at age 95

Li Rui joined the Communist Party in the 1930s, and is still actively campaigning for democracy and the rule of law

Indonesia’s booming coal capital flourishes with Chinese help

The global economic slowdown that has battered the resource sector this year has spared Indonesia’s coal capital Balikpapan, which is forging ahead with a recession-defying infrastructure upgrade, partly funded by China.

Big money bets on China growing old, and rich

Read more...

Secrets of China’s economic future revealed; International Bag City

But the US$236 million trading centre Shi is building in this coastal town about 100 kilometres from Shanghai is more than a place for foreign fashionistas to find the perfect purse.

It aims to help local firms develop their own domestic brands and markets and start scaling the global value chain.

South Korea: Japan must educate its people about WWII

South Korea’s foreign minister said Thursday that Japan’s wartime past will overshadow relations between the two staunch U.S. allies until Japan educates its people about crimes committed during colonial rule.

China’s Corruption Crackdown Takes Shine Off Luxury Boom

Luxury brands banking on a China rebound to boost sales may be in for an unpleasant surprise: weak demand in the world’s second largest luxury market may last longer than the economic slowdown as Beijing cracks down on conspicuous consumption.

Taiwanese war criminal sees himself as victim

But nearly 70 years ago, he worked for the Japanese army in what is now Malaysia, guarding Australian prisoners in one of the numerous prisoner-of-war (POW) camps that were scattered across occupied Southeast Asia.

Iconic clock design stolen by Apple?

In this segment of today’s news, we find that Apple is being accused of copying an iconic clock design of Hans Hilfiker—a well-known Swiss engineer and designer.  The picture below depicts the recently added clock design update in the iPad, and right next to it is the clock design which the Swiss Federal Railway owns the trademark to.

“SBB is the sole owner of the trademark and copyright of the railway clock. The railway company will now get in touch with Apple. The aim is a legal, as well as a financial solution. It is not right that one [Apple] simply copies the design.”

Why you should buy iphone 5?

When you are late for appointment, blame it on iphone 5 for giving you wrong direction. Your only fault is you bought an iphone 5.

Mukden incident trigger for Japanese invasion

The “Mukden incident” of 1931 – commemorated in China every year as an act of Japanese aggression – saw Japanese troops blow up a railway in northeast China as an excuse to take over Manchuria.

Time’s up for Chinese official with penchant for watches

It was his watches. A Montblanc TimeWalker he bought for US$5,500. What looked to be two Swiss-manufactured Omegas, a gold-toned Rolex Oyster Perpetual and a tasteful yet understated jet-black Rado.

Myanmar poised for mobile revolution

For decades, its telecoms industry has been a shambles.

GuocoLand sells 40 Leedon Residence units

Group said to have achieved $2,000 psf average price for freehold project

Due West, online novel about sex tourism in Dongguan, now a movie

The book went viral and the movie could be a hit: ‘Due West’ lifts the lid on Hong Kong men seeking sex and solace in a Guangdong factory town

Beijing has to reform its loss-making state-owned firms

Analysts say Beijing has to take its loss-making state giants in hand before their declining productivity threatens growth in the next decade

They need passports to go to school

Iskandar Educity has 100 students from S’pore who cross Second Link each day

 

画心 - 张靓颖

A Watershed Election: Paradoxes, Perils, Promises

Read the scathing remarks about Lee Kuan Yew

Where are China's Rich Sending their Children to Study

German economic strength: The secrets of success

Imagine a country whose inhabitants work fewer hours than almost any others, whose workforce is not particularly productive and whose children spend less time at school than most of its neighbours.

Read on...

Murder lifts lid on triad links

Shenzhen ‘officer’killed on duty initially portrayed as a hero - yet he was part of a triad extortion gang to which local cadres had outsourced ‘urban management’

Natural born swimmer

Ye Shiwen stunned the world at the London Olympics, causing some to question how she did it. But from an early age, she was picked out as a potential champion

Obscure rule may trip up condo developers

Deadline looms to sell unsold units, or face paying ‘extension charges’

The Battle over Real Estate

The central government is brawling with local officials and developers in the property arena, and reforms are needed to address the root of the conflict

Surprises as six appointed generals

Top officers in the PAP and PLA have been promoted to the highest rank possible, with watchers surprised by names among those included and those left out

Listen to protesters, authorities told

After weekend riots, People’s Daily says awareness of environmental rights is increasing rapidly and calls for transparent decision-making mechanism

In Singapore, Vitriol Against Chinese Newcomers

It was bad enough that Ma Chi was driving well above the speed limit on a downtown boulevard when he blew through a red light and struck a taxi, killing its two occupants and himself. It didn’t help, either, that he was at the wheel of a $1.4 million Ferrari that early morning in May, or that the woman in the passenger seat was not his wife.

Coffee craze in China’s tea city

Pu’er city, named after legendary dark tea, sees boom in more lucrative coffee trade

Chinese politician’s wife charmed and threatened

Gu Kailai has been many things to many people: Devoted wife, ambitious lawyer, gracious host, menacing businesswoman and, now, China’s most famous murder suspect.

China’s downturn-proof booze makers hit government wall

The makers of China’s fiery liquor baijiu, a pricey, potent drink that is a staple at state dinners, say it inspires poets and can even ward off dementia.

StanChart held to high ransom from low moral ground

New York regulators have yet to spell out the case against the bank over allegedly illegal transactions as they try the claims in the court of public opinion

As clubs close, the lights are fading on a racy tradition

Last month the final curtain fell at Club BBoss, the city’s biggest nightclub. That was followed by the sudden closure of its rival Club Paris.

The upside of a good rubdown

Evidence is mounting that there’s good medicine in getting a massage.

Race on to build polar research vessel

New ice-breaker will be sent to Antarctic within three years to join Xuelong, and scientists have high hopes

Lack of combat an issue, helicopter pilot says

Elite aviation regiment has sophisticated arsenal, technology, and offensive tactics based on those of major countries’, except actual wartime experience

Briton Patrick Cormak Cusack charged with molestation

More white trash imported by PAP

Ming-style luxury on sale for a humble “¥500m

A luxury Chinese-style garden villa project in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, has been launched in Hong Kong, with the biggest unit going for a whopping 500 million yuan (HK$608 million).

Zhang Yimou admits making promo

Zhang Yimou says he was paid 2.5 million yuan for a five-minute video for the Railways Ministry

Asian Americas still locked out of top jobs

Vishakha Desai says report on group’s ascent overlooks lack of representation in leadership

Australian leaders should show China more respect

Greg Barns says Canberra must think through its confused approach to ties with top trade partner

Grand slam

The Grandstand is set to bring the buzz back to the old Turf City at Bukit Timah.

Does data centre operational efficiency really matter?

Investing in data centre technology can reap benefits for a business

Western fast food tied to heart risks in Asia

Even relatively clean-living Singaporeans who regularly eat burgers, fries and other staples of U.S.-style fast food are at a raised risk of diabetes and more likely than their peers to die of heart disease, according to an international study.

Elite English school in Malaysia’s Iskandar region to take in students next month

A little piece of England will open its doors next month in Johor. The Malaysian branch of the English public school Marlborough College takes in its first batch of students on Aug 27.

Europe developers turn to feng shui for better sales

Homes designed according to 4,000-year-old Chinese system a move to draw cash-rich Far East buyers

Property investors rush to cash in on China’s new ‘mini-Hong Kong’

Investors are snapping up property near a proposed US$45 billion business zone in the Chinese boom town of Shenzhen, betting that the government’s plans to further open its capital markets with a “mini-Hong Kong” will spur real estate values.