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Philippines Further Limits Access to Special Deposit Accounts
The Philippine central bank will further limit access to special deposit accounts, stepping up efforts to curb inflows and reduce costs of managing liquidity. Starting 2014, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will ban so-called investment management activities, a type of account in banks’ trust departments, from SDAs, according to a memorandum posted on its website today. The central bank will ...
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Thailand’s $12b water management programme faces criticisms
Critics at the Second Asia Pacific Water Summit in Chiang Mai have taken aim at the Thai government’s $12 billion water management plan. Academics and policy makers said the flood programme was expensive and unsound. They said the plan does not factor in environmental or health impact assessments on flood prone areas, violating Thailand’s constitution. Thailand’s Science ...
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Amnesty bill to reignite tensions in Thailand
Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Chalerm Yubamrung, plans to introduce a contentious amnesty bill into parliament on Thursday that will stoke new political tensions three years after bloody street protests and a military crackdown exposed Thailand’s deep divisions. The so-called reconciliation bill would absolve all political offenders involved in protests since a 2006 coup and ...
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In Thailand Anniversary of ‘Savage May’ Passes with Little Incident
Sunday marked the third anniversary of the culmination, with 89 deaths, of what has become known in Bangkok as ';savage May.'; Although an estimated 26,000 people assembled at a rally Sunday in Bangkok to mark the occasion, Thailand has calmed down from the long stint of political turmoil and violence. ';We all have little things that fill the Bangkok Post, but the country is ...
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Indonesia lifts arrests of people smugglers – Sydney Morning Herald
Another people smuggler has been arrested by Indonesian police in the most concerted effort in years to catch and lock up those who transport refugees by boat to Australia. Alleged Iranian smuggling kingpin Mohammad Hadi, also known as Sayed Ali, was arrested with two accomplices at 2am on Monday in an apartment building in West Jakarta. His operation was exposed by a tip-off two weeks ...
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Death Toll Mounts From Indonesia Mine Accident
The confirmed death toll from an underground mining accident at a big mine run by PT Freeport Indonesia in Papua has risen to 17 people, with authorities saying the tally likely will rise to 28 in the coming days, making this one of the country’s worst mining disasters. Nine more bodies were pulled from the collapsed training site 500 meters below the surface at Freeport’s remote ...
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Indonesia’s Basri Sees Fuel Subsidies Infrastructure as Key
Indonesia’s new Finance minister Chatib Basri said cutting fuel subsidies and building more infrastructure will be his two main priorities. Reducing subsidies will strengthen the rupiah, Asia’s worst performer in the past 12 months excluding the yen, Basri said in a Bloomberg TV interview today with Rishaad Salamat. The land acquisition law, signed by President Susilo Bambang ...
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UBS predicts Malaysia’s 2013 GDP at below 5pct – The Star Online
Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) is unlikely to surpass 5 percent in 2013, given the weaker 4.1 percent growth achieved in the first quarter of the year, according to UBS Investment Bank. ';GDP grew 4.1 percent in the first quarter. You need a pretty strong bounce-back to reach 5 percent in 2013,'; said UBS senior Asean economist Edward Teather via a tele-conference call ...
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Chinese PM begins Pakistan visit
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives in Pakistan Wednesday for a two-day visit where he will meet prime minister-elect Nawaz Sharif as the long-time allies look to boost trade ...
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US looking to end Myanmar sanctions after landmark visit
A key US senator on Tuesday backed an end to US sanctions on Myanmar after a landmark visit by the country's reformist leader, signalling a new normalisation in relations despite rights ...
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Global factors are strong drivers of Asia hotels revenues.
A study of global and local factors that drive changes in hotels' revenue per available room (RevPAR) in eight major Asian cities found that the revenues for the hotels in these cities are strongly subject to global forces. "When we initially interviewed the hotel managers, they listed many local events and factors as potential drivers of their revenue, and they were not focused on ...
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Horses flying... it was like movie Twister
tornado that hit Oklahoma by taking refuge in a horse stall, said the storm was just like the Hollywood movie "Twister" as he saw "horses and stuff flying around everywhere". Lando Hite was on a family farm when the massive tornado hit Moore area, when he noticed the wind pick up and walked outside to see debris flying. Hite was shirtless and muddy all over as he described ...
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Macau hosts Asia’s largest gaming expo
Gambling machines are displayed at the Global Gaming Expo Asia, a three-day fair of gambling innovations at the glitzy Venetian hotel in Macau on May 21, 2013. The largest gaming event in Asia, showcasing the industry’s latest products, services and technologies, is taking place amid a decline in growth rates in the former Portugese colony’s gaming industry as China’s economic ...
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Former President Rafsanjani Ahmadinejad ally barred from Iran election
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani , a relative moderate, from running in the June 14 election, along with a protege of the current president, leaving mainly hardliners left to contest the vote. Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a close aide to current ...
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Gay marriage bill clears British House of Commons
LONDON (AP) — Britain's House of Commons has passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in England and Wales.The legislation, backed by Prime Minister David Cameron, passed by a vote of 366 to 161 on Tuesday.The bill will now move to the House of Lords, whose approval is also required. Members there are expected to hold their first debate in July.If approved, the law is expected to ...
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Polar Air Cargo to Upgrade Intra-Asia Trans-Pacific Services
Boeing 767-300 freighter will operate between Tokyo; Sydney; and Incheon, South Korea, while a second 767-300 will operate between Taipei, Taiwan; Nagoya, Japan; and Incheon. With other previously announced routes, this will allow connections to and from the U.S.Polar will also add two weekly flights between Hong Kong and Cincinnati."We are continuing to enhance our network to ensure that ...
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US Congress grills former IRS chief over tax scandal
WASHINGTON: The political appointee who headed the IRS during the US tax agency's abusive treatment of conservative groups insisted on Tuesday that he was not involved in the scandal. US senators grilled retired IRS ...
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Members of Congress want to prevent reduction in US missile defence in East Asia
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers are seeking to prohibit the U.S. from removing missile defence equipment from East Asia, even if the threat posed by a nuclear-armed North Korea is eliminated. The legislative proposal is a response to remarks last month by Secretary of State John Kerry that the U.S. could reduce its heightened defence posture in the region if North Korea abandoned its nuclear weapons. ...
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Bangladesh’s other workplace catastrophes
collapse of the Rana Plaza building on more than 1,000 workers, which made it the deadliest ever catastrophe in the history of the garment industry. Last November, a garment factory fire killed more than 100 people. So the tannery worker’s assessment sounds like a sick joke. But the truth is it was a realistic assessment of the deplorable health and safety conditions in Bangladesh. ...
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Obama against prosecuting reporters for doing their jobs White House
President Obama believes in the need for balance between national security concerns and the ability of reporters to work freely, White House has ...
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Deal on Osama bin Laden evidence made in WikiLeaks case
Bradley Manning . It involves evidence that the slain al-Qaida leader saw some of the classified information that Manning has admitted he caused to be published on the WikiLeaks website. If the judge approves the deal and allows the evidence at Manning's trial starting on June 3, a member of ...
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Search for US tornado survivors nearing end death toll lowered to 24
Oklahoma City suburb where massive tornado flattened homes and demolished an elementary school. Authorities lowered the death toll to 24, down from 51. Fire Chief Gary Bird said that he's "98 percent sure" there are no more survivors or bodies to recover under the rubble in Moore. He said every damaged home had been searched at least once and that he's hopeful the work could ...
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Burberry reports sales growth on strength of Asian market
A customer walks in front of a Burberry store in central London in 2008. Burberry is reporting 8 per cent sales growth in 2013, driven by the Asian ...
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Greenback gains ground in Asia trade
TOKYO--The dollar turned higher against the yen in Asia on Tuesday as investors waited for testimony by the U.S. central bank chief and the outcome of a policy meeting of the Japanese central ...
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Asian Champions League Al Shababs priorities are all in order
Adel Abdulla, front, and his Al Shabab teammates dropped their Asian Champions League first leg match at home to Esteghlal 4-2, making the second leg at Tehran, Iran all the more difficult for the UAE ...
Mumbai Digest
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Mumbai taxis to be better ambassadors of the city
Taxi drivers in Mumbai are going to be educated on the finer points of etiquette, according to Mumbai news reports, and the local government insists this will improve tourism and local transport in the city and wider state.
All residents of Mumbai know that their city is the largest in India, the richest by GDP in South and Central Asia and the second biggest city in the world by population. It is the economic powerhouse of the country and is advanced to a world-class level in many ways, such as the Bombay Stock Exchange, the oldest in Asia, major development initiatives such as Nairman Point and the location in Mumbai of five Fortune 500 companies. Read more
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