A deadly blaze has killed dozens of people in the historic district of Chawkbazar in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. But as BBC Bengali’s Rakib Hasnet reports, it’s not the first time the area has seen tragedy. It was on the banks of the Buriganga River during the Mughal dynasty, some 300 years ago that […]
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has reassured passengers that small cameras attached to the in-flight entertainment system on some of its planes are not being used. Some customers were concerned that they were being monitored as they watched movies and used other entertainment options on their journeys. However, an SIA spokesman told The Straits Times: “The camera […]
SYDNEY (BLOOMBERG) – Australia’s first female foreign minister Julie Bishop announced she will quit parliament at the next election, joining an exodus of senior government lawmakers as the ruling coalition battles to retain office. Bishop, 62, received a standing ovation in the House of Representatives Thursday (Feb 21) after announcing she won’t re-contest the seat […]
HONG KONG – Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam now has muscles to push through contentious proposals that would boost housing supply, including taking back part of an iconic golf course and a massive land reclamation in Lantau. This comes after lawmakers in the Executive Council “fully endorsed” eight suggestions put up by a government-appointed land […]
SINGAPORE – Nearly 1kg of heroin and Ice, worth an estimated $70,000, were seized in a Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) drug blitz in the early hours of Wednesday (Feb 20). Five suspected drug offenders were also nabbed in the operation, CNB said in a statement on Thursday. On Wednesday, CNB officers were deployed in the […]
SINGAPORE – A former construction surveyor whose one-man moneylending racket was uncovered by a routine police check has been jailed for 3 1/2 years and fined $450,000. Malaysian Looi Teck Hock had been running the business since 2006 but was caught in 2017 when officers screened him at Hougang MRT station and found four bank […]
A brand of haw flakes snack has been voluntarily recalled by its supplier in Singapore after a consumer claimed that she had bitten into a piece of glass while eating it. Mr Albert Goh, Sinhua Hock Kee Trading’s business development and marketing executive, told The Straits Times that it asked supermarket chains to recall Train […]
There were fewer cases of thieves stealing vehicles and things from dwellings and shops last year, but the growing number of scams, especially online, caused Singapore’s overall crime rate to go up a notch. But the rate continues to remain at a low level, the Ministry of Home Affairs said yesterday. There are, however, several […]
A fast-moving fire has swept through a historic district of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, killing at least 60. The blaze broke out Wednesday evening in a multi-storey residential building with the ground floor reportedly used to store flammable chemicals. According to local media, the fire quickly spread to nearby buildings. Authorities have told the BBC on […]
MUMBAI (AFP) – Suraj Nachre works long hours and regularly misses meals but he treasures his job as a driver for a food delivery start-up – working in a booming industry that highlights India’s expanding apps-based gig-economy. The 26-year-old is one of hundreds of thousands of young Indians who, armed with their smartphones and motorcycles, […]