JAKARTA (AFP) – Dengue fever infections dropped dramatically in an Indonesian study where a bacteria was introduced into disease-carrying mosquitoes, offering hope in the battle against an illness that sickens millions annually around the world. Results of the three-year study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week, found that infecting dengue-carrying mosquitoes […]
SINGAPORE – A breath test that can accurately detect Covid-19 within two minutes has received provisional authorisation from Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA), according to the authority’s website. This is the second such system to receive HSA’s provisional authorisation. Developed by local medical technology firm Silver Factory Technology, the TracieX breathalyser has been shown to […]
HONG KONG (AFP) – Hong Kong censors are to vet all films for national security breaches under expanded powers announced on Friday (June 11), in the latest blow to the financial hub’s political and artistic freedoms. Authorities in semi-autonomous Hong Kong have embarked on a sweeping crackdown to root out Beijing’s critics after huge and […]
SEOUL (NYTIMES) – Kim Jong Un called it a “vicious cancer” corrupting young North Koreans’ “attire, hairstyles, speeches, behaviours.” His state media has warned that if left unchecked, it would make North Korea “crumble like a damp wall.” After winning fans around the world, South Korean pop culture has entered the final frontier: North Korea, […]
SYDNEY (REUTERS) – Australia’s Victoria state reported zero locally acquired cases of Covid-19 for the first time in nearly three weeks on Friday (June 11) as state capital Melbourne came out of a snap two-week lockdown after an outbreak that has seen about 90 cases since May 24. Melbourne exited the lockdown on Thursday night […]
NEW DELHI (BLOOMBERG) – In the shadows of the Taj Mahal, shoemaker Shyambabu Nigam worked for years to save enough money to buy his wife Anju a small house with a view of the iconic 17th century mausoleum. Yet in just a matter of months, they were forced to give it up. After the wife […]
BEIJING (REUTERS) – China’s government said on Friday (June 11) it welcomed Taiwanese to come and get vaccinated against Covid-19. It also called on Taiwan to remove obstacles and allow its people to receive Chinese vaccines which it says are highly effective. China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly offered […]
BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) – A recently-announced “three child” policy won’t prevent a long-term trend toward lower annual births in China, and the country will struggle to raise the retirement age by more than a couple of years by 2025, an influential Chinese economist said. “I don’t think we can drastically raise the birthrate,” Yao Yang, dean […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A bipartisan group of 10 U.S. senators said on Thursday they had reached agreement on a framework for a proposed infrastructure bill that would not include any tax increases.FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to a reporter about the status of a deal on infrastructure legislation as he departs […]
BEIJING – When Mr Xie Xiaomin wanted to get vaccinated two weeks ago on May 29, he only had to trek 2km to the township hospital, where a vaccination centre had been specially set up for villages in the area. “It’s not far, many of us walked there. The government made it convenient for us […]