World Vignettes

Viagra for votes in TaiwanTAIPEI: A Taiwanese candidate running for a seat in the Kaohsiung City Council was giving away the male anti-im...

Viagra for votes in Taiwan

TAIPEI: A Taiwanese candidate running for a seat in the Kaohsiung City Council was giving away the male anti-impotency pill Viagra in exchange for votes, the China Times Express reported. The candidate gave out the pills when campaigning in his southern Taiwan constituency, where Viagra was reportedly a popular topic of discussion among senior citizens, the paper said yesterday.

Porn in the PMO

LONDON: Three officials in British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s office were transferred for using government computers to download pornography from the Internet, a spokesman for the premier said Saturday. The spokesman described the officials as “very low-level clerks”. He said Blair had not been informed as he “had bigger things to do”.

Obese panda

BEIJING: Diandian, the world’s tiniest giant panda cub, has a weight problem. The official Xinhua news agency reported Saturday that Diandian had gained more than 30 gms since she was bornweighing only 58 gms. Yet, Diandian, whose name means “Little Thing” in Chinese, is still only half the weight of her twin.

As GST 2.0 kicks in: what changes for consumers and industry

Explained26 min ago

The government has introduced significant changes to the GST structure, aiming to lower tax rates for various goods and services. This includes exemptions for Indian bread and health insurance, reduced taxes for beauty and well-being services, and addressing the inverted duty structure. The changes, effective immediately, are expected to boost household spending and encourage investments.

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