Singapore - Senior officials of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on Monday emphasized the importance of averting pressure on governments to take measures restricting trade by helping individuals and businesses to tide over the financial crisis.

"There was a strong consensus that restrictions on trade and investment would only deepen and prolong the economic downturn," said Ravi Menon, a top official at Singapore's Trade and Industry Ministry and chairman of the APEC Senior Officials' Meeting, which takes place from February 13 to 26.

Singapore  - Singapore is setting up a migrant workers centre to help foreign workers who are in disputes with their employers and are at times left stranded without wages, food and shelter, a news report said Saturday.

The centre, to be opened by April, is to be guided by the Migrant Worker Forum, an enterprise of the state-backed National Trades Union Congress and Singapore National Employers Federation.

Singapore  - A Singapore man was sentenced to 18 years in prison and 16 strokes of the cane for sexually abusing two of his nieces, the father of whom was also jailed for raping one of the girls, a newspaper reported Saturday.

The Singapore High Court was told Friday that the cleaner, 39, who was taking care of his sickly sister's daughters, began abusing the eldest girl in 2001 when she was 9, the Straits Times said

The abuse ended in 2005 when the girl threatened to tell her teacher and farther about it.

India's Tata Communications, a leading provider of a communication infrastructure, has revealed its USD 430 million strategic investment plan for Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

The investments include developing the Tata Communications Exchange, a new world-class Internet Data Center (IDC), and the completion of the main segment of its TGN-Intra Asia Cable System.

It may be noted that, these investments are key part of the company's $2 billion expansion plan over three years to enhance its global infrastructure.

Singapore - Singapore will send a landing ship tank, with two Super Puma helicopters, to the Gulf of Aden as part of its contribution to the international community's anti-piracy efforts, the city

Singapore  - Singapore Thursday announced a 4.2-billion-Singapore-dollar (2.78-billion-US-dollar) financing scheme that is projected to generate 14.4 billion Singapore dollars' worth of trade and 1.6 billion Singapore dollars worth of overseas investments this year.

Some 2,500 companies would benefit from the scheme in the form of loans, said the International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the city state's trade promotion agency.