SYDNEY (REUTERS) – China’s trial of Australian blogger Yang Hengjun on unspecified espionage charges has ended and the Beijing court deferred its verdict, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Friday (May 28) in what she called a “closed and opaque process”. Yang wore goggles, a face mask and full pandemic suit that obscured his […]
SINGAPORE – A Covid-19 patient who alleged that she could have been infected at Changi Airport after arriving from Nepal on April 25 was unlikely to have caught the virus in Singapore. The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Friday (May 28) that its investigations have confirmed there is no phylogenetic link between her case and […]
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — For many, it would be a welcome getaway: a week’s retreat in a log cabin deep in the New Zealand wilderness, followed by a scenic helicopter ride, a platter of oysters and a bottle of Champagne. For James Matthew Bryant, 32, a fugitive from the New Zealand authorities, the eight days […]
SINGAPORE – A woman admitted on Friday (May 28) to slapping the face of a girl who was then 8 years old. She wanted to stop the girl from leaving the MRT train without apologising for having stepped on her foot. But the girl had apologised to Soh Connie, 45 , who was talking loudly […]
The Indian government is in talks with Pfizer to obtain 50 million doses of the company’s coronavirus vaccine starting this summer, but is still considering the drug manufacturer’s demand for indemnity from costs related to severe side effects, officials have said. India has not given indemnity, or protection from legal liability, to any manufacturer of […]
SINGAPORE – French assault helicopter carrier LHD Tonnerre is docking at Changi Naval Base on Friday (May 28) and Saturday as it nears the end of a five-month mission to train its cadet officers to operate in unfamiliar areas. Its venture to this region has included large-scale amphibious operations with Japan, the United States and Australia, […]
SEOUL (REUTERS) – South Korea aims to use a global climate summit it is hosting virtually next week to burnish its leadership credentials on environmental issues, despite its patchy record at home. Diplomats say they expect few major announcements at the event on Sunday (May 30) and Monday in Seoul, but organisers are looking for […]
SINGAPORE – When Ms Alex, a trainee at a design company, entered her office last week, 11 of her colleagues were there and not wearing masks nor observing social distancing. When she voiced her concerns about the situation, her worries were dismissed and she was told by her superiors that working from home made people lazy – […]
TAICHUNG, TAIWAN (NYTIMES) – Ms Lin Wei-Yi once gave little thought to the water sluicing through her shower nozzle, kitchen tap and garden hose. But as Taiwan’s worst drought in more than half a century has deepened in recent weeks, Ms Lin, 55, has begun keeping buckets by the taps. She adopted a neighbour’s tip […]
SINGAPORE – There were 30 new coronavirus cases confirmed at noon on Friday (May 28), taking Singapore’s total to 61,970. Fifteen of them are community cases. There are no new cases in migrant workers’ dormitories. Eleven of the locally transmitted cases have been linked to previous cases, with four unlinked. Eight linked cases had already […]