Asia’s standing as a reputable footballing continent will be on the line at the World Cup, and AFC president Mohammed bin Hammam on Wednesday rallied regional teams to stand up and be counted. Five Asian Football Confederation teams will be in action — Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, with plenty at stake.
Oil prices were higher in Asian trade on Monday amid concerns Iran would be hit with sanctions or even military action because of its controversial nuclear programme, dealers said. At 2.25pm local time, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for June delivery was at ,40 a barrel.
Oil prices eased on Thursday after United States government data showed motor-fuel demand weakening, apparently in response to higher pump prices. The data also showed that domestic inventories of gasoline shrank for the eighth consecutive week, and that may have moderated the selling, analysts said.
Dick Pound, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), has admitted it is almost impossible to get ahead of drug cheats, but says better tests are being developed to narrow the gap. Pound said Wada had been ”spectacularly succesful” since being set up in 1999, but still had a long way to go to drive drugs from sport.
Crude futures rose on Thursday as traders ignored United States government data showing growing supplies, focusing instead on Nigeria and other geopolitical threats to global oil supples. Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose 41 cents to ,38 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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/ 27 January 2006
Crude oil futures rose back above a barrel on Friday on persistent supply fears linked to Iran’s nuclear stand-off with the international community and militant attacks in Nigeria. Adding to the bullish tone, Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister, Ali Naimi, said prices are unlikely to fall in the near term.
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/ 18 January 2006
Crude oil prices gained on Wednesday as traders fretted over threats to supply if sanctions were to be made against Iran, Opec’s second-largest producer, over its nuclear ambitions. Disruptions in Nigerian oil supplies amid rising civil unrest also fuelled gains.
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/ 17 January 2006
Crude oil prices jumped on Tuesday as Iran’s nuclear ambitions and an attack on an oil platform in Nigeria kept traders edgy over potential supply snags. Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose 98 cents to ,90 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil prices rose on Friday on worries about the Middle East and natural gas regained ground as well after a mild start to winter in the United States had pushed prices to a four-and-a-half-month low. Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose 76 cents to ,55 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil prices pulled back below on Wednesday after rising more than a barrel on the previous day amid speculative buying. Light, sweet crude for February delivery was down 16 cents to ,98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in Asian electronic trading, on Wednesday morning in Singapore.
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/ 27 December 2005
Crude futures fell on Tuesday in thin post-Christmas trading, as forecasters in the United States said the weather would be milder in the week ahead, raising traders’ expectations of lower demand for heating fuels. Light, sweet crude for February delivery slipped 82 cents to ,60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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/ 7 December 2005
An exercise treadmill that produces enough electricity to power a television set, radio and telephone has been developed at Singapore’s Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Electrical engineering students and exercise buddies Ng Bing Rong (23) Lee Beng Chuan (24) and Neo Boon Kiat (25) said the idea struck when they saw an old treadmill stored at the school.
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/ 2 December 2005
A young Australian heroin smuggler’s legal and diplomatic battle to avoid execution ended swiftly on Friday when he was hanged in a Singapore prison after all appeals were exhausted. Singaporean activists are campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty in the South-East Asian financial and technological centre.
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/ 21 November 2005
Legendary Liverpool striker Ian Rush believes England can win the World Cup, backing the deadly partnership of Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney to take them all the way. Bookmakers in Britain have elevated England to joint second-favourites behind Brazil to win the World Cup next summer and Rush is not about to disagree.
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/ 20 November 2005
A 16-year-old Chinese boy studying in Singapore fell to his death from a hostel room after jumping up and down on his bed while playing a guitar, the Sunday Times reported. Li Xiao Meng, a private-school student from Beijing, was with his roommate Wang Bing Yi, also 16, in their third-floor room on Thursday night when the freak incident happened. Li’s bed was right next to an open window.
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/ 16 November 2005
A waterless washing machine that removes stains from garments in a few minutes has been developed at the National University of Singapore, the facility said on Wednesday. The appliance uses negative ions, compressed air and deodorants to clean clothes.
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/ 8 November 2005
Stressed-out Asians have the least active sex lives globally, with nine countries and territories from the region making up the bottom 10 in terms of love-making, condom maker Durex said on Tuesday. Japan was bottom of the list of 41 countries and territories covered by this year’s Durex survey.
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/ 29 October 2005
Singaporeans were urged on Saturday to shower a minute less as part of a national water conservation effort in the hot and humid city-state. If the entire population of 4,2-million people takes the advice to heart, environmental officials said the savings would fill nearly 16 Olympic-size swimming pools daily.
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/ 27 October 2005
Singapore on Thursday stood firm on its decision to hang a 25-year-old Australian drug runner, saying he got a fair trial and was fully aware of the city-state’s tough anti-narcotics laws. Nguyen Tuong Van, a Melbourne resident of Vietnamese origin, is now headed for the gallows following Singapore President SR Nathan’s rejection of clemency appeals by the Australian government.
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/ 27 October 2005
The company of legendary United States film director George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars saga, on Thursday launched an animation studio in Singapore to produce television shows and feature films for the global market. Lucasfilm Animation Singapore will take part in the development of a TV spin-off from Star Wars.
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/ 20 October 2005
Crude futures fell on Thursday on news that United States gasoline stocks rose last week and as forecasts predicted Hurricane Wilma will likely avoid key US oil facilities along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Light, sweet crude for November delivery slipped 44 cents to ,97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in Asian electronic trading.
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/ 11 October 2005
Crude oil prices edged up on Tuesday as weather watchers predicted a colder-than-normal winter in the north-eastern United States, raising concerns that supplies will be inadequate due to hurricane damage to refineries. A colder winter would result in increased consumption of home heating fuels.
Oil prices gained slightly on Monday on expectations of higher demand for heating oil as the northern-hemisphere winter approaches, stretching supplies strained by the slow recovery of United States crude production following back-to-back hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
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/ 22 September 2005
Crude oil prices climbed toward a barrel on Thursday as Hurricane Rita closed in on Texas, raising fears it would hit key production facilities along the United States Gulf Coast that were largely untouched by Hurricane Katrina’s onslaught three weeks ago. The category-five hurricane is expected to strike Texas on Saturday.
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/ 20 September 2005
Crude oil prices dipped on Tuesday but stayed above a barrel, while natural gas hit a new all-time high amid concerns that Tropical Storm Rita could eventually strike Texas, the heart of United States oil production, threatening to compound damage from Hurricane Katrina.
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/ 12 September 2005
Singapore on Monday marked the 60th anniversary of the formal Japanese surrender in the island during World War II which ended what many regard as the darkest chapter in its history. ”For those who lived through the war, the wounds have taken a long time to heal and the memories will not be forgotten,” said Information Minister Lee Boon Yang.
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/ 7 September 2005
A Singapore electronics industry executive has been charged with 125 counts of insider trading, police said on Wednesday. Koh Soe Khon (55) managing director of listed disk drive parts maker Brilliant Manufacturing, was charged by the Commercial Affairs Department, which investigates financial crimes, siad a police spokesperson.
Oil prices slipped on Friday, a day after its record-setting session, as Hurricane Katrina spared refineries in the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall on Florida’s coast, easing fears of supply disruptions for the time being. However, the world’s limited excess capacity to offset any unscheduled outages continues to be at the pricing forefront.
An unsuccessful businessman who stole 48 pieces of women’s underwear, and was caught while nicking a red G-string, was fined 2 000 Singapore dollars ( 212), news reports said on Wednesday. A court heard how Cheng Chee Kam (48) was caught red-handed when he took the G-string hanging out to dry outside a ground floor flat.
Crude oil prices on Friday rose to new highs, climbing past a barrel, as reports of new United States refinery outages rekindled fears that gasoline supplies in the world’s biggest consumer would struggle to meet rising demand. Analysts said gasoline demand, currently at its peak in the United States, was driving crude’s gains.
Crude futures rose to a new high of ,69 in Asian trading on Monday as the United States government announced the closure of its embassy and consulates in Saudi Arabia due to security threats and on continued concerns that earlier shutdowns of US oil refineries would reduce supply.
Nokia maintained its robust lead in the world cellphone market in the second quarter as sales of entry-level units boosted overall shipment numbers, a technology research house said on Monday. IDC said global shipments of cellphones totalled 188,7-million units in the three months to June, up 16,3% from a year ago and 7,3% from the previous quarter.