JAKARTA (BLOOMBERG) – When Indonesian President Joko Widodo spoke with influential business groups on June 30 to discuss imposing a full-scale lockdown as Covid-19 cases spiked, he was met with widespread resistance. Earlier in the day, senior ministers including Indonesia’s top health official visited the presidential palace in Jakarta with a clear message: the caseload […]
TOKYO (REUTERS) – The risks of a major natural disaster striking during the Olympics are small but cannot be discounted in Japan, which contends with earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, floods and erupting volcanoes. The consequences of a disaster during the Games, which start on Friday (July 23), would be compounded by the coronavirus pandemic that has […]
JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Becoming an excellent tech player is arguably the ambition of every country in the region, if not the world, and Indonesia is no different. Yet in order to achieve this status, a country is required to have both physical (tech infrastructures and ecosystems) and behavioural (collaboration and data-driven […]
Slideshow ( 3 images )NEW YORK (Reuters) – Spain’s recovery plan needs the support of U.S. investment, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a Reuters Newsmaker event during a trip to the United States where he highlighted his country’s improving economic prospects. Spain’s economy expanded an estimated 2.4% in the second quarter from the […]
SINGAPORE – Balloting will take place at 12 primary schools here in the third phase of this year’s Primary 1 registration exercise – Phase 2A2. The schools include Gongshang Primary, Holy Innocents’ Primary, Nan Hua Primary and Rulang Primary, according to the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) website as at Wednesday (July 21). The most oversubscribed school […]
SINGAPORE – The chief executive officer of a wholesale trading firm was on Wednesday (July 21) sentenced to two weeks’ jail for assaulting a taxi driver whom he had accused of being racist. Mohammad Alvee Rana, now 26, from R & J Union had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt. According […]
BEIJING (REUTERS) – Sinopharm’s Covid-19 vaccine elicited weaker antibody responses against the Delta variant, based on the first published study of its effect against the more contagious version. Antibody levels in people receiving Sinopharm’s BBIBP-CorV vaccine had a 1.38-fold reduction to the Delta variant versus an older version of the coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, […]
SINGAPORE – An elderly man continued operating his massage business during the circuit breaker and it was found to offer sexual services. As part of a move to address the Covid-19 outbreak, non-essential businesses such as massage establishments were ordered to be shuttered during the circuit breaker period from April 7 to June 1 last […]
SINGAPORE – In the wake of the alleged murder of a 13-year-old at River Valley High School, several religious groups have come forward to pray with the bereaved and for the well-being of students, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing on Wednesday (July 21). “These heartfelt gestures of solidarity, transcending race and religion, have brought […]
SEOUL (REUTERS) – South Korea reported a daily record of 1,784 coronavirus cases for Tuesday (July 20), breaking a mark set last week, as the authorities struggled to get on top of a surge in outbreaks linked to the Delta variant. Transmission rates have been kept relatively low across the country despite no lockdowns thanks […]