“Escort agencies were on a recruitment drive Tuesday to provide companionship for International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) delegates in Singapore for the week-long annual meeting. “

“Paulson wants to remain the good cop – the old friend — that China wants to deal with. But he also wanted to remind the Chinese that there is a bad cop lurking around the corner. “

“Where is the best place in Asia to stock up on tax-free hooch? To answer that question, we plan to compile comparative list of prices from duty-free shops around the region, and welcome readers’ contributions.”

“the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council interceded in the matter, and they got the local governments of Shanghai and Guangdong to mediate. … They were afraid that this incident may turn into a protest against all Taiwan businesses, which would affect cross-strait trade relationships.

” some human resources consulting firm released a ranking of world leaders by monthly income (not net worth). At the top of the list is Singapore’s Lee Hsien Long, who makes about 380,000 Hong Kong dollars a month. President George W. Bush… is pretty high up on the list as well. President Hu Jintao is near the bottom of the list.

“Primed Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew have filed a defamation suit here against the publisher and the editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review (Feer).
The suit, filed in the High Court on Aug 22 against Review Publishing and Mr Hugo Restall, stemmed from an article on opposition politician Chee Soon Juan.