KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian front-liners who have been battling the coronavirus pandemic over the last one year expressed relief and hope as they received their first dose of the much-anticipated Covid-19 vaccine. Nearly 100 medical, police and military personnel who have been stationed at the Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centre at Malaysia Agro Exposition Park […]
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan (BOJ) is under pressure to relax rules for its purchases of real-estate investment trusts (REITs) to enable it to keep buying the asset at the current pace, highlighting the challenges of sustaining its massive stimulus programme.FILE PHOTO: Businessmen walk between office buildings in a business district in Tokyo, […]
SINGAPORE – A total of 31 people were nabbed for their involvement in four cases of illegal street racing from 2018 to 2020, Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim said on Thursday (March 4). The cases are all either under investigation or before the courts, he said. From 2015 to 2017, there […]
JAKARTA (REUTERS) – Indonesia, with the world’s third biggest rainforest area, reduced the rate of deforestation by 75 per cent last year by controlling forest fires more effectively and limiting clearing of woodland, the Environment Ministry said. Global environmental group Greenpeace was sceptical, saying the deforestation rate most likely dropped in 2020 due to a […]
JAKARTA (REUTERS) – Indonesia, with the world’s third biggest rainforest area, reduced the rate of deforestation by 75 per cent last year by controlling forest fires more effectively and limiting clearing of woodland, the Environment Ministry said. Global environmental group Greenpeace was sceptical, saying the deforestation rate most likely dropped in 2020 due to a […]
LANZHOU, CHINA (XINHUA) – Clad in a vintage wool suit vest and brown plaid pants, Mr Yang Le is sorting out apparel and accessories in his soon-to-open secondhand boutique store. The 34-year-old’s new shop is nestled on a busy shopping street in Lanzhou City, northwest China’s Gansu province, and mostly sells secondhand clothing such as […]
SINGAPORE – A trial to equip taxis here with child booster seats has seen a low utilisation rate, with very few requests from commuters to use such seats, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Baey Yam Keng said on Thursday (March 4). He was responding to Mr Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC), who had asked for […]
SEOUL, South Korea — A transgender woman who was expelled by the South Korean military last year after her gender-reassignment surgery has been found dead at her home south of Seoul, the police said on Thursday. The authorities said they were investigating the cause of death of the woman, Byeon Hee-su, 23, whose body was […]
YANGON (REUTERS) – Myanmar pro-democracy activists pledged on Thursday (March 4) to hold more demonstrations after the United Nations said 38 people had been killed in the most violent day of unrest since last month’s military coup. Police and soldiers opened fire with live rounds on Wednesday with little warning, witnesses said. The bloodshed occurred […]
SEOUL (REUTERS) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stressed the significance of the role that city and county chief secretaries have in improving the lives of the people and carrying out his five-year economic policies, state news media KCNA said on Thursday (March 4). North Korea’s drastic measures to contain Covid-19 have exacerbated human […]