SINGAPORE: At airports round the world, the bustle of travellers and constant sound of planes taking off have been replaced by silence and perhaps the occasional bird chirping on the runways. The COVID-19 pandemic has all but decimated commercial passenger flights. And with nowhere to go, thousands of planes are out of work. Advertisement Advertisement
SINGAPORE: When Singapore introduced a “circuit breaker” in April to limit the spread of COVID-19, people had questions about the implications. What would it mean for work and family life? What about school? Advertisement Advertisement For some people, one of their main concerns was about something more prosaic. Bubble tea. Among them was Mr Xavier Ng, who was alarmed
Authorities in Cambodia arrested the head of a small political party on Friday following comments he made criticizing the government’s handling of a border dispute with neighboring Vietnam—marking the second such arrest in as many weeks. Suong Sophorn, the president of the little-known opposition Khmer Win Party (KWP), was taken into custody from his home
A court in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi on Friday upheld the 10-year sentence imposed earlier this year on an RFA blogger in what he has called a case of political persecution against him, rejecting his appeal and sending him back to prison to serve his full term, his lawyer told RFA. Truong Duy Nhat, who had
Police arrested two officials from a recruiting agency on suspicion of trying to bring in undetected the corpses of three sailors who died on a Chinese fishing boat, authorities in Indonesia’s Riau Islands said Friday, in yet another case of Indonesians who perished aboard China-flagged ships. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that
A pro-democracy lawmaker in Hong Kong suffered minor injuries after being hit by a car he said had been following him for days. Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui had approached the vehicle after becoming suspicious, but was “tackled to the ground” by police, government broadcaster RTHK reported on Friday. Social media accounts posted video of
LOS ANGELES: School bus drivers from the second largest school district in the United States led a noisy protest caravan through downtown Los Angeles on Thursday(Aug 13), demanding federal and state funding to help reopen schools safely amid the coronavirus pandemic. The drivers from the Los Angeles Unified Schools District (LAUSD) were joined by other
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) exile group has demanded that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reconsider holding the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, citing state-sponsored rights abuses against Muslims in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The Munich-based WUC said it had filed a formal complaint with the IOC’s Ethics Commission on Thursday
TOKYO: Japan will mark the 75th anniversary of its World War Two surrender on Saturday (Aug 15) in a memorial ceremony scaled back because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as ties with neighbours China and South Korea remain haunted by the conflict’s legacy. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who with Emperor Naruhito was set to attend an official
PORT LOUIS, Mauritius: A fresh streak of oil spilled Friday (Aug 14) from a ship stranded on a reef in pristine waters off Mauritius, threatening further ecological devastation as demands mount for answers as to why the vessel had come so close to shore. The Japanese-owned MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on
Lahore: On the occasion of the 73rd Independence Day of Pakistan, President Liberland Vit Jedlicka congratulated the Pakistani nation. In his message, President Liberland Vit Jedlicka said that August 14 is a very important day in the history of Pakistan. On this day, Muslims of India sacrificed their lives for a free homeland which was
SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 83 new COVID-19 infections as of noon on Friday (Aug 14), including four imported cases, said the Ministry of Health (MOH). This brings the country’s total to 55,580, with fatalities remaining at 27. Advertisement Advertisement There were no cases reported in the community. This is the first time since Jun 1 that Singapore has
Yang Bin, a human rights lawyer based in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, was recently informed that her law firm wouldn’t be renewing her contract, and that the authorities plan to strip her of her license to practise. Yang said the move came after she sheltered then fugitive rights activist Xu Zhiyong, who has
SINGAPORE: The National Wages Council (NWC) will meet again later this month to review the wages and employment guidelines it issued in March and will aim to release updated guidelines by September, as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Singapore’s labour market continues to evolve. Tripartite leaders have agreed to reconvene in order to “provide
JAKARTA: Indonesian police said on Friday (Aug 14) that they had foiled a bid to smuggle the bodies of three crew members who died on a Chinese fishing vessel back to the Southeast Asian nation. The discovery marked the latest in a string of recent cases where Indonesians died or suffered abuse on the high seas,
Hundreds of ethnic Mongolian herders protested on the streets of Durbed town over Chinese government-backed plans to build several large pig farms in the region. More than 300 herders marched in Thursday’s protest, holding a banner that read: “No to pig farming on grasslands, no to destruction of the natural environment,” and chanting “We don’t
SHENZHEN: The IBC Mall in Shenzhen’s Luohu district was sealed off and under police supervision on Friday evening (Aug 14), with around 200 people queuing outside waiting for COVID-19 tests from medical personnel in protective suits. An official Guangdong Health Commission WeChat account channel said the alert was prompted by a suspected COVID-19 case involving
SINGAPORE: More thundery showers are expected in the next fortnight, following drier weather in the first half of August, the Meteorological Service Singapore said on Friday (Aug 14). During this period, the daily temperature is forecast to range between 25 and 33 degrees Celsius, with daily highs of around 34 degrees Celsius on a few days. Advertisement
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) on Friday (Aug 14) said it was not aware of any evidence that suggested the COVID-19 virus could be transmitted to humans via food, equipment or food packaging. The agency added that this was in line with the current state of knowledge across scientific communities and public health authorities worldwide, in response to
JAKARTA: There has been an increase in the occupancy rate of COVID-19 isolation wards and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds over the past two weeks in Jakarta, with more than 65 per cent of them currently in use, said Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan. This has sparked concern, as the number of confirmed cases in the capital continues
SINGAPORE: Singapore may have to consider replacing the two-week isolation period with a “rigorous testing regime” for arriving travellers, as part of efforts to “revive” the country’s air hub, said Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung. In a Facebook video on Friday (Aug 14), Mr Ong said that the decline in international air travel due to the ongoing
SEOUL: South Korea’s economy will likely return to growth in the third quarter, after recent economic data pointed to a gradual recovery, but a slump in exports remains a major concern, the country’s finance minister said on Friday (Aug 14). The economy slipped into a technical recession in the second quarter, when it suffered its
TOKYO: Tokyo said on Friday (Aug 14) it had confirmed 389 new cases of COVID-19 infections, as the daily tally rose above the 300 mark for the first time since Aug 9. Those under 40 years accounted for 62 per cent of new cases, while serious cases rose by three to 24 out of all current
SINGAPORE: A man who raped a stranger’s blindfolded girlfriend on two occasions, playing into the stranger’s threesome “deviant fantasies”, was sentenced on Friday (Aug 14) to 17 years and 10 months’ jail and 14 strokes of the cane. Srihari Mahendran, 24, had been found guilty in June of four counts of rape, one count of
SEOUL: South Korea on Friday (Aug 14) reported 103 new COVID-19 cases, of which 85 were domestic, the most locally transmitted cases since the end of March, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said. The new cases bring the country’s tally to 14,873 infections, with 305 deaths, as of Thursday midnight. Advertisement
SINGAPORE: After three court challenges against the Section 377A law criminalising sex between men were dismissed in March, a man allegedly threatened the judge and other judges on Instagram. Muhammad Hanif Mohamed Huzairi, 30, was charged on Thursday (Aug 13) with three counts of communicating an electronic record containing incitement to violence against a public servant
BEIJING: China’s retail sales dropped in July, official data showed on Friday (Aug 14), indicating that sluggish consumer spending could hold up the country’s recovery from the coronavirus outbreak. Retail sales – a key indication of consumer sentiment – shrunk by 1.1 per cent on-year, falling short of forecasts and suggesting many are still reticent
The United States on Thursday designated the Confucius Institute education program as a “foreign mission” of China, setting up the Chinese government-funded language teaching scheme for tougher scrutiny amid worsening relations between Washington and Beijing. The order requires the Confucius Institute U.S. Center staff to register and follow restrictions similar to those placed on diplomatic
WASHINGTON: The United States said on Thursday (Aug 13) it was requiring the centre that manages Chinese government-funded Confucius Institutes in the United States to register as a foreign mission, the latest sign of deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a statement, labelled the Confucius Institute US Center in Washington
Authorities in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh on Thursday arrested half a dozen youth activists taking part in a peaceful protest to demand the release of union leader Rong Chhun, as he appeared before the court for a preliminary hearing related to charges of “incitement.” The six activists, all members of the civil society group Khmer
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