SINGAPORE – Singapore has signed advanced purchase agreements with American biotechnology company Novavax to secure its protein-based Covid-19 vaccine, with supplies possibly arriving before the end of the year. Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) had signed the agreements with Novavax in January this year, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Thursday (June 24) at a […]
SINGAPORE – More than half, or 51.1 per cent, of the Covid-19 cases detected in the 115 Bukit Merah View Market and Hawker Centre – now Singapore’s largest open cluster with 82 infections – were not vaccinated. At least 219,000 tests have been conducted in various nearby areas over the past three weeks as part of aggressive […]
SINGAPORE – Singapore and Indonesia have expressed ambitions of becoming hubs for the growing carbon credit trade, but both marketplaces could be synergistic instead of competitive, said Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) chairman Simon Tay on Thursday (June 24). While more details will be needed to flesh out the announcements made by both countries, […]
BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) – China sued Australia over anti-dumping measures on some Chinese goods, further ratcheting up tensions between the two nations. China filed a lawsuit at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over Australian anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on Chinese exports of railway wheels, wind towers, and stainless steel sinks, the Ministry of Commerce said on […]
JAKARTA (AFP) – Generous Indonesians donating their spare change to the poor and needy are unwittingly helping finance deadly terror attacks and jihadist training camps, in a scam that has netted big money for extremist groups. Former radical Khairul Ghazali once spent his days visiting restaurants, convenience stores and supermarkets to drop off charity boxes, […]
KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Forced to work long hours, cheated of wages and beaten if they say something. Like a nauseous serial drama, stories of migrant workers suffering at the hands of employers have gone on for decades. In the latest harrowing episode, a worker who fled a banana leaf restaurant in […]
HONG KONG (REUTERS) – Hong Kong will ban passenger flights from Indonesia from Friday (June 25), deeming the country’s arrivals “extremely high risk” for the coronavirus. The Hong Kong government said late on Wednesday it was suspending flights after the number of imported Covid-19 cases from Indonesia crossed thresholds set by the global financial hub. […]
MANILA – Former president Benigno Aquino III, whose term was marked by a long period of prosperity for the Philippines but also saddled by accusations of cronyism, died early on Thursday (June 24). He was 61. Son of democracy icon and former president Corazon Aquino, Mr Aquino served as president from 2010 to 2016. Senate […]
KABUL (AFP) – The United States military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan – ordered by President Joe Biden in April after nearly two decades in the country – is marching ahead despite the growing threat by Taleban rebels to seize power. Mr Biden set a deadline for the final drawdown of troops and civilians of Sept 11, […]
HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) – Hong Kong’s plan to shorten quarantine sparked a wave of searches on travel websites by residents desperate to fly abroad, even if it means a week of isolation in a hotel room and Covid-19 tests galore upon return. Hong Kong search traffic on travel-booking website Skyscanner soared 43 per cent Monday […]