SINGAPORE， May 17 (Xinhua) -- Singapore shares closed 1.65 percent higher on Tuesday， buoyed by rise in U.S. markets overnight.


U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday， fueled by a jump in Apple shares and gains from energy stocks that were backed by stronger oil prices.


DBS Group Research said "our view remains for the Straits Times Index to trade within 2，700 points to 2，835 points in the weeks ahead. The 2，685 points level is crucial. If the current correction continues beyond this level， the downtrend should extend further to 2，600 points before finding support."


Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index rose 45.05 points to 2，781.11 points. Trading volume was 1.8 billion shares worth 1.18 billion Singapore dollars. Advancers outnumbered decliners 268 to 156， while 483 stocks did not move.


Singapore Airlines fell 1.6 percent to 10.63 Singapore dollars. Its system-wide passenger load factor (PLF) improved 1.8 percentage points to 77.1 percent in April. Its passenger carriage increased 1.9 percent compared to last year， against a 0.5 percent decrease in capacity.


Comparing year-on-year， demand of Singapore Airlines was boosted by East Asia routes primarily on the back of promotional activities. Its overall cargo load factor was 1.3 percentage points higher with growth in cargo traffic of 8.5 percent exceeding overall capacity increase of 6.3 percent. East Asia， Europe and South West Pacific regions showed an improvement in load factor with demand outpacing capacity changes.


Among the top gainers， Jardine Cycle and Carriage rose 4.6 percent to 33.71 Singapore dollars， whereas Courage Marine became one of the top losers by sinking 12.1 percent to 69 Singapore cents. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.37 Singapore dollars)




KATHMANDU， Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Nepalese southern city of Siddharthanagar and Chinese city Baoji have formally entered into the bond of sister cities， officials said here on Thursday.


Nepal's Siddharthanagar and Baoji city of northwest Shaanxi Province of China signed a sister city agreement in Bhairahawa city on Wednesday， some 280 kilometers south-west of Capital City Kathmandu.


"The sister city relationship is expected to strengthen mutual cooperation between the people of two countries and to consolidate friendly ties between the two cities，" Chief Executive Officer of Siddharthanagar Municipality， Gopal Regmi， told Xinhua.


On the occasion， officials from Chinese city Baoji expressed confidence that the sister city relations will help further enhance industrial， social and cultural ties between the two countries.


The Chinese authorities expressed hope that the new bonding would pave the way for economic cooperation and development projects.


These two cities have agreed to make concerted efforts on the basis of equality and mutual benefit， with special focus in the areas of trade， culture， tourism among others.


Siddharthanagar is a historical city of Nepal， which comes from the Lord Gautam Buddha's given name "Siddhartha." Buddha was born near this ancient city.


These two cities established sister city relationship nearly two weeks after Nepali capital city Kathmandu and Chinese city Chengdu formally entered into the bond of sister cities on Dec. 23.




LAS VEGAS， Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Filipino star boxer Manny Pacquiao reclaimed the World Boxing Organization welterweight title for the third time with a unanimous decision victory over former champion Jesse Vargas here on Saturday.


The 37-year-old Pacquiao used a short right-handed counterpunch to floor Vargas in the second round en route to a one-sided win at the Thomas & Mack Center.


All three judges scored the bout for Pacquiao， two of them by 118-109 and the other by 114-113.


Pacquiao won the WBO title for the first time in 2010 when he beat Miguel Cotto. He lost it two years later to Timothy Bradley， then got it back by winning the rematch with Bradley in 2014.


He then lost it last year to the now-retired Floyd Mayweather， who had a front row seat for Saturday's bout.


LUXEMBOURG Chaussures Adidas Superstar Foundation Noir Blanche B23642 Pas Cher , Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem on Monday said Greece is not yet ready to exit its aid program, adding EU finance ministers are examining whether the debt-stricken country needed further support.


Further aid to Greece will be among the topics to be discussed at a monthly Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg. Greece has seen a gradually improving economic situation with structural reform said to be largely on track.


The Mediterranean country is awaiting a final tranche of aid by the year-end under the current bailout program.


Greece has launched a series of talks to exit the IMF aid program in order to avoid further commitment to reform Chaussures Femme Adidas Superstar 2 Bling Pack Noir Or Pas Cher , analysts say.


The most recent review of the Greek economy by troika auditors showed that Greece needed to continue efforts to implement agreed reforms.


According to Greek Finance Ministry sources, Athens expects the 2015 primary surplus to reach up to 2.5 percent of GDP Chaussures Adidas Superstar 80s Metal Toe Or Foil Pas Cher , which will come on top of a 1.7 percent of GDP primary surplus for 2014.