China’s ruling Communist Party has seized on the high-profile detention of a Canadian Chinese pop singer in Beijing on suspicion of rape to deliver a stark warning against what it regards as a social ill: celebrity obsession. In less than a month, the pop singer Kris Wu, 30, has gone from being one of China’s […]
SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MOH) has apologised for delays in taking people under quarantine orders to government quarantine facilities. In response to queries from The Straits Times, MOH on Monday (Aug 2) said the number of people under quarantine has “increased many fold” with the emergence of Covid-19 clusters linked to KTV lounges […]
SINGAPORE – Two men accused of molesting a male Grab driver during their ride home are contesting their charges. Goh Suet Hong and Neo Wei Meng appeared in court on Monday (Aug 2) at the start of their trial, each facing one count of outrage of modesty. They are represented by lawyer Kalaithasan Karuppaya. Both […]
TOKYO – The world came crashing down for British runner Derek Redmond when he tore his hamstring during the 400m race at the 1992 Barcelona Games. In tears, he hobbled to the finish line – but with the support of his father, who rushed from the stands to be with his son. The crowd gave them […]
SINGAPORE -The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) will be conducting a deployment exercise involving emergency vehicles at the Marina Bay floating platform on Wednesday (Aug 4) from 12.30am to 3am. About 200 SCDF officers and 25 emergency and supporting vehicles will take part in the exercise. Such exercises are part of SCDF’s ongoing efforts to […]
MANILA (REUTERS) – The Philippines will extend a night curfew in the capital, Manila, amid a tightening of curbs in the South-east Asian country to combat a potential surge in cases of the Delta variant of Covid-19, a government official said on Monday (Aug 2). Metropolitan Manila, already subject to an six hour curfew from […]
HONG KONG — In 2018, the Cantopop singer Anthony Wong Yiu-ming performed two songs at an election rally and encouraged attendees to vote for a pro-democracy candidate for Hong Kong’s legislature. On Monday, the city’s Independent Commission Against Corruption arrested Mr. Wong and accused him of violating campaign laws. It said Mr. Wong, 59, had […]
JAKARTA (REUTERS) – Indonesia’s devastating second coronavirus wave, which saw the South-east Asian country become the epicentre of Asia’s Covid-19 outbreak, has peaked, its Health Minister said Monday (Aug 2). Driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant, Indonesia has over the past month been faced with an exponential surge in coronavirus cases that has overwhelmed […]
SINGAPORE – The maximum jail term for outrage of modesty will be raised from two to three years under proposed changes to the law, and following a surge in cases which saw 24 per cent more reports in the five-year period from 2016 to 2020. Three sexual offences will have their penalties enhanced under the […]
JAKARTA (AFP) – A 5.9-magnitude quake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region on Monday (Aug 2), the United States Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning or immediate reports of damage. The quake hit at a relatively shallow depth of 12km, about 180km north-east of Tual city. Shallow quakes tend […]