PATTAYA (Thailand) - THOUSANDS of anti-government protesters retreated on Friday after an all-day standoff with soldiers in riot gear at the Asian summit, but vowed to return the next day unless the Thai prime minister resigns.
The protests threatened to disrupt a gathering of leaders from 16 Asian nations, including China and Japan, aimed at tackling the global financial crisis and boosting trade within the region.
BOGOR (Indonesia) - INDONESIA'S president said on Friday he may form a coalition with an Islamist party and possibly other groups ahead of presidential elections in July, aiming for a stable and united alliance to improve governance.
Some analysts have warned that the pace of reform in Southeast Asia's biggest economy could suffer after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democrat Party fared worse than expected in a parliamentary poll on Thursday.
OCBC hopes to become the bank that customers turn to first for their daily banking needs, and it is prepared to pump in money and resources - even through the downturn - to achieve this objective.
In particular, it wants to be the bank that youngsters turn to first.
TAIPEI - TAIWAN approved a NT$149 billion (S$6.7 billion) stimulus budget on Friday as the government moves to help the island weather the global economic crisis.
The package agreed by parliament for 2009 is part of a NT$500 billion four-year plan proposed by the cabinet in November that includes infrastructure projects and business incentives.
