Saturday, 16 Nov 2024

Asia

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Thailand says it has enough hospital space amid new Covid-19 wave

BANGKOK (REUTERS) – The Thai health authorities on Tuesday (April 20) assured the public that there were sufficient hospital beds for the rising number of coronavirus patients, amid a new wave of infections this month that has spread fast across the country. Thailand’s policy of hospitalising all those who test positive for Covid-19, even those […]

Philippine hospitals struggle to cope as more severe Covid-19 wave hits

MANILA (REUTERS) – Ms Nick Yanez, a 28-year-old ambulance nurse in a satellite city of Manila, says she sometimes spends six to seven hours in her emergency vehicle caring for a Covid-19 patient before a bed can be found in a hospital. Already facing one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in Asia, the Philippines has […]

Backlash in Australia's Byron Bay over Netflix reality show

SYDNEY (AFP) – Surfers in the coastal Australian town of Byron Bay staged a “paddle out” protest Tuesday (April 20) as locals rally against a planned Netflix reality show they say will damage their beachside paradise. Local media images showed dozens of people who formed a symbol for ‘no’ in the ocean to demonstrate their […]

New virus wave sparks fresh worker exodus from India's cities

NEW DELHI (BLOOMBERG) – India’s surging epidemic has forced both its financial and political capitals into lockdown, spurring a fresh exodus of migrant labourers fleeing the cities fearing vanishing jobs as panic rises over the ferocity of the country’s second Covid-19 wave. The nation now has the world’s fastest-growing Covid-19 caseload, adding 259,170 new infections […]

Indonesia needs nationwide deradicalisation centres: Jakarta Post contributor

JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Terrorist groups have conducted 11 attacks since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. These attacks resulted in the killing of two police officers, seven civilians and seven terrorists, and injuring three police officers and 20 civilians. Ten attacks were perpetrated by two pro-Islamic State (IS) groups, […]

Australia-New Zealand travel bubble launches with lopsided demand

SYDNEY (REUTERS) – A testing and quarantine free travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand launched with lopsided demand, according to airlines and data firms, with an unusually high number of the travellers departing from Australia. The initial results from Asia’s first restriction-free travel bubble since the pandemic hit, which opened on Monday (April 19), […]

Mosques and police on guard during Ramadan amid heightened regional terror alert

SINGAPORE – As Muslims mark the ongoing fasting month of Ramadan, mosques have increased their focus on detecting potential threats to their buildings and worshippers. The police have also continued patrols at places of worship, which they recently stepped up for the Easter weekend of April 2 to 4. Please subscribe or log in to […]