DHAKA (REUTERS) – At least four people were shot dead and many injured on Saturday (April 17) as police opened fire at workers demanding a pay rise at a Chinese-backed coal-fired power plant in southeastern Bangladesh, police said. Police were forced to open fire when protesters attacked them at the under-construction power plant in Chittagong, […]
NEW DELHI (AFP) – New Delhi went into a weekend lockdown Saturday (April 17) as India faces a ferocious new coronavirus wave, with more than 200,000 fresh daily cases and families clamouring for drugs and hospital beds. Hopes that South Asian countries might have beaten the pandemic have been dashed with India seeing over two […]
The story After nearly 20 years of conflict, President Joe Biden announced the pullout of American forces from Afghanistan, declaring that it was “time to end the United States’ longest war” as US objectives in the country had become “increasingly unclear” as time went by. He set May 1 as the deadline for some 2,500 […]
SINGAPORE – News that a building in Thomson Road will be demolished to allow nearby excavation works to be carried out safely came as a shock to the owners of the 12 residential units there. For months, they and their tenants had engaged with the authorities about the need to vacate the building temporarily as […]
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s election body and government have been urged to decouple the twin aspects of voting reforms – implementing an automatic voter registration (AVR) system and lowering the voting age to 18 – to allow younger voters to take part in the next election widely expected by the end of this year. The […]
SINGAPORE – A total of 100 families in need living in Jalan Kukoh received a free pack of porridge on Friday (April 16) afternoon as part of volunteer efforts during the Ramadan period. The Bubur for Kukoh initiative is a collaboration between M³ @ Jalan Besar and Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah during Ramadan. Another 300 families will receive […]
JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) – South-east Asian countries are considering a proposal to send a humanitarian aid mission to Myanmar as a potential first step in a long-term plan to broker a dialogue between the junta and its opponents, diplomats familiar with the discussions said. The proposal is being considered ahead of a planned meeting of […]
HANOI (REUTERS) – Vietnam’s health ministry called for the acceleration of its Covid-19 vaccine roll-out on Friday (April 16) as the expiry date of the South-east Asian country’s first batch of jabs supplied through the Covax scheme fast approaches. Since it began its vaccination programme last month, Vietnam has inoculated around 73,000 people despite receiving […]
WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – A carbon price that starts low and rises steadily could help Asian countries reach their targets under the Paris climate accord over the next decade, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday (April 15), citing new IMF research. IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva told an event hosted by […]
NEW DELHI (REUTERS) – The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest vaccine-maker, on Friday (April 16) urged United States President Joe Biden to lift an embargo on US exports of raw materials that is hurting its production of Covid-19 shots. “Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf […]