Thailand | Yingluck starts trial for role in rice subsidy scheme

Thailand’s former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra entered a plea of not guilty yesterday at the start of a trial that could see her jailed for a decade, which critics say is

Indonesia | Minister: We’ve already given too much to help boat people

Indonesia has “given more than it should” to help hundreds of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants stranded on boats by human traffickers, its foreign minister said yesterday, a day before she

Colombia | Search for missing in town hit by flood, avalanche

Rescuers searched for more bodies yesterday and sought to aid the hundreds of survivors of a deadly flood and mudslide triggered by heavy rains that swept through a Colombian town,

Briefs | France: Charlie Hebdo suffers post attack divisions, departure

USA | Violence long simmered between rival Texas biker gangs

The Texas Department of Public Safety’s Joint Information Center issued a bulletin May 1 that cautioned authorities about increasing violence between the Bandidos and the Cossacks, Dallas TV station WFAA

This Day in History | 1973 – Royal Navy moves to protect trawlers

Three frigates - the Cleopatra, the Plymouth and the Lincoln - are sailing alongside the British trawlers now fishing in box formation. The skippers had said they would not return to

Offbeat | ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ actor arrested at Myrtle Beach

An actor who starred on the TV show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and was in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for XCon World Comic Convention was arrested for public intoxication. The Myrtle

IndyCar | Accidents have made a mess of the Indy 500

IndyCar had a crisis looming well before James Hinchcliffe was injured in another spectacular accident during preparations for the Indianapolis 500. Three cars have gone airborne, and Hinchcliffe was in the

Boxing | Fight of century becomes fight in court as fans sue Pacquiao

  Boxing fans across the country and their lawyers are calling the hyped-up fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. a fraud and want their money back, and then some. At

More than 50 arrested in new Italian match-fixing probe

More than 50 people were arrested throughout Italy yesterday and more than 70 placed under investigation as part of a widespread match-fixing inquiry led by anti-Mafia prosecutors in the southern

Extreme Sports | Wingsuit flier thought he could manage the risk, avoid death

Extreme athlete Dean Potter knew the risks of flying off the vertical rock walls he was famous for scaling with little more than a parachute on his back and thin

Views On China | Empathy needed in Beijing’s ‘National Security Act’

China’s National People’s Congress is now deliberating on a bill to legislate a “National Security Law”. Article 11 of the proposed act reads: “Whereas neither China’s sovereignty nor its national territory

Wednesday, May 20, 2015 – edition no. 2316

* Macau becomes the ninth-most competitive city nationwide * Patients occupy 75.8 pct of sickbeds, doubles in a year * Macau expected to surpass HK in bridging China with the world * Fight

The Buzz | Chinese tennis player Li Na’s life story to become a film

Chinese filmmaker Peter Ho-Sun Chan is making a movie about Li Na, the country’s biggest tennis star. Chan’s production company We Pictures said in a statement Saturday that the film will

World briefs

S KOREA  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accuses North Korea of a litany of crimes and atrocities while reassuring South Korea of America’s “ironclad” security commitments. AFGHANISTAN A Taliban attack

Education | Funding to promote Taiwan studies expanded to Macau

The 11 new countries include six nations and regions which have previously never offered Taiwan Studies courses or exchanges – Macau, Belgium, South Korea, Israel, Vietnam, India – the ministry

Gaming | Operators bet USD27 billion on reversing law of supply and demand

Take a tour of south Macau and it’s hard to tell that the world’s biggest gambling hub is contracting. On a vast piece of reclaimed land, dusty with cement mixers

Crime | MOP7m already swindled in phone scams this year, more than in whole of 2014

However, the number of cases recorded in the first five months of this year was similar to that of the  equivalent period last year. The authorities appealed to the public,

Developing tourism as a way to sustain heritage

As government resources used to manage cultural heritage are set to decline in the near future, the former director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center, Francesco Bandarin, has suggested that

Neighborhood group poll reveals Estoril Hotel revamp unknown to many

Respondents to a poll conducted by a sub-group under the auspices of the General Union of Neighborhood Association (Kai Fong) have expressed a general acceptance of the government’s plan to

Briefs | Melina Leong leaves Sands China

AL Plenary | Faster procedures in customs and affordable housing approved

Bills to amend the External Trade Law and the Affordable Housing Law obtained their first approval by the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday, suggesting faster procedures for customs clearance of MICE

Commission of Audit slams DSSOPT over Taipa Central Park construction

CA said it found flaws in construction supervision and execution works, which led to delays and a “waste of resources,” even putting users’ safety at risk. The construction project was awarded

Robert De Niro opens Asia’s 1st Nobu Hotel in Philippines

Robert de Niro and his business partners formally opened Asia’s first Nobu Hotel in Manila yesterday as the luxury brand gears up for global expansion. The 321-room hotel within the bayside casino and

Gaming | Okada finds partner for Manila casino

Japanese gaming tycoon Kazuo Okada’s group may have finally found a local partner to start commercial operations of its USD2 billion casino-resort project along Manila Bay next year, The Philippine

Corporate Bits | World Gaming Group acquires inside Asian Gaming

The agreement means that, alongside gaming consumer magazine WGM, the  two gaming industry publications will now come under the WGG banner. Mr Kareem Jalal, Founder and Editor of IAG, said “IAG

China UnionPay establishes agreement with Portugal’s Unicre

Until the establishment of this agreement signed Friday between the two companies, Chinese tourists had to subscribe to other payment services such as Visa or MasterCard in order to pay

Third edition of the International Cabo Verde Agribusiness Fair begins on 29 May

The 3rd edition of the International Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) Agribusiness Fair begins on 29 May at the Cabo Verde International Fair facilities with the participation of over 100 domestic

Dozens injured in protests over railway project 

More than 30 police officers and 38 civilians were injured in southwestern China during a weekend protest by residents who feared that a planned railway would bypass their community, authorities

Beijing defends fishing ban, brushes off Vietnam’s protest 

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the summer moratorium was an annual event and that China was merely fulfilling its international responsibilities and obligations to conserve fish stocks. “China’s position

Alibaba sued for profiting from fakes 

The owner of fashion brands Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent has accused Alibaba group in a lawsuit of profiting from sales of counterfeit goods despite the Chinese e-commerce giant’s pledge

Planes, trains and copper: Li goes to Latin America

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang visits Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Chile from today to May 26 with a coast-to-coast railway and trade talks on the agenda for his meetings with

Malaysia | Ordinary people help migrants as Asia struggles with crisis

  For hundreds of migrants stranded at sea in sinking boats, the first helping hand came not from governments but from fishermen who towed them to safety. The desperation of migrants

South Korea | Kerry slams Pyongyang, vows security for Seoul

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday accused North Korea of a litany of crimes and atrocities while reassuring South Korea of America’s “ironclad” security commitments. Kerry blamed North Korea for

India | Nurse dies after 42 years in coma after rape

Aruna Shanbaug, 67, suffered severe brain damage when she was sodomized and strangled with a metal chain by a hospital worker in 1973. The man, a ward attendant, left her

MACAU DAILY TIMES