Meeting on Akihito's abdication date

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today chairs an Imperial Household Council meeting on Emperor Akihito's abdication date, which is likely to be in 2019.

Emperor Akihito, 83, will hand over all public duties to his heir, Crown Prince Naruhito, 57, after retiring, in what will be Japan's first abdication in nearly two centuries.

Ways to boost S'pore as research hub

The Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise, an international research and innovation hub, was set up by the National Research Foundation in 2007.

To commemorate its 10th anniversary, Singapore and international researchers are gathering at a symposium today, to look at trends relevant to the island's development as a global research centre.

US manufacturing data for November

The United States' Institute of Supply Management will release its manufacturing purchasing managers' index for last month today. The data, based on surveys of more than 300 manufacturing firms, is a forward-looking indicator of conditions in the US manufacturing industry.