BEIJING (REUTERS) – China will put greater pressure on its regions to boost grain yields and step up support for its domestic seed industry as it strengthens its focus on food security after the Covid-19 pandemic, a major policy document issued late on Sunday (Feb 21) showed. The annual rural policy blueprint, known as the […]
SEOUL (AFP) – Mr Donald Trump offered North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a ride home on Air Force One after a summit in Hanoi two years ago, according to a new BBC documentary. Mr Kim and Mr Trump first engaged in a war of words and mutual threats, before an extraordinary diplomatic bromance that […]
SYDNEY (REUTERS) – Australia will not change proposed laws that would make Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook pay news outlets for content, a senior lawmaker said on Monday (Feb 22), despite vocal opposition from the Big Tech firms. Facebook has strongly protested the laws and last week abruptly blocked all news content and several state […]
SINGAPORE (REUTERS) – Myanmar’s refined fuel imports have stalled as protests over the military coup have shut banks and government offices, while a depreciation of its currency has driven up costs, five industry sources said. Myanmar relies heavily on gasoline and diesel imports as its refineries are too small and old to meet its fuel […]
(NYTIMES) – I begged my 12-year-old to help me with the pandemic task of learning to dye my hair at home. I could have done it myself, but I’ve learnt that small opportunities to feel useful and successful are good for kids’ mental health. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. […]
SINGAPORE – More than 20 roads in the north-east of Singapore and the eastern parts of the island will be assessed to determine if portions of them can be reclaimed for cycling paths, in what is likely to be the first such study on this scale. They include stretches along heavily utilised roads such as […]
SINGAPORE – Streetside parking spaces in certain parts of the Tai Seng area could be removed to make space for the construction of cycling paths within the next decade. Besides possibly removing parking spaces along Joo Seng Road, MacTaggart Road, Kim Chuan Road and Tai Seng Avenue, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will also study […]
SINGAPORE – In WhatsApp texts, Facebook messages, e-mails and face-to-face meetings with residents in his Ulu Pandan ward, MP Christopher de Souza found a vast majority in favour of retaining Dover Forest – with only “very few” requests seeking its clearing. “The forest has been adopted by many of the residents and made to become […]
WELLINGTON (REUTERS) – New Zealand will use its platform as host of an Asia-Pacific trade group in coming months to seek a global approach to coronavirus vaccinations that would eliminate tariffs on goods needed to fight Covid-19. Amid concerns that smaller nations may be left behind in vaccinating their populations, New Zealand – one of […]
KABUL, Afghanistan — When his soon-to-be fiancée, Najiba Hussaini, was killed in a Taliban suicide bombing in Kabul, Hussain Rezai didn’t know how to grieve for her. “I had lost my love, but I wasn’t allowed to mourn,” said Mr. Rezai, a 33-year-old government employee. Though they had traveled to Daikundi Province to seek her […]