MANILA – The Philippines has detected its first case of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus first reported in Britain, the Health Ministry reported on Wednesday (Jan 13) night. The British variant – officially known at VUI-202012/01 or lineage B117 – was found in a resident of Quezon City in the capital region who […]
KUALA LUMPUR – On Dec 5, despite having recorded over 1,000 new Covid-19 cases daily for most of the past month and more than 100 deaths in the same period, Malaysia decided to reopen interstate travel two days later. That led to year-end holidaymakers flocking to popular spots such as Penang and Langkawi, which predictably […]
SINGAPORE – People here should get vaccinated as soon as they are given the chance to do so, urged Education Minister and co-chair of Singapore’s Covid-19 multi-ministry task force Lawrence Wong, as he cautioned against waiting for one’s preferred vaccine choices. While the Government has made purchases and assured the public that there will be […]
JAKARTA (BLOOMBERG) – The search for one of the black boxes from the Sriwijaya Air passenger jet that crashed in the Java Sea last Saturday (Jan 9) has been suspended due to bad weather, Indonesian officials said. Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 plunged into the sea with 62 people on board shortly after taking off from […]
SINGAPORE – A dental clinic in Orchard will be terminated from the Community Health Assist Scheme (Chas) scheme after it was found to have made numerous improper claims for government subsidies. These claims made by Jesselton Dental Clinic at Pacific Plaza exceeded the allowed limit for Chas subsidies and were not accompanied with proper supporting […]
SINGAPORE – Registration for the 2022 school year at 43 Ministry of Education (MOE) kindergartens will open from 9am on Feb 5 to 4pm on Feb 9, said the MOE on Wednesday (Jan 13). There were 29 MOE kindergartens in 2019 and 36 last year. The ministry aims to be operating at least 60 kindergartens […]
SINGAPORE – While watching a movie together on a computer screen at their workplace, a male hospital employee molested his female colleague. When the 20-year-old woman pushed the offender’s hand away, he locked the main door to the room and continued to touch her inappropriately. On Wednesday (Jan 13), the 34-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to […]
TOKYO (REUTERS) – The Japanese government plans to expand a state of emergency it declared for the Tokyo area last week to seven additional prefectures on Wednesday (Jan 13) in an effort to stem the spread of Covid-19, public broadcaster NHK reported. The move comes after the governors of Osaka, Hyogo, Aichi and other hard-hit […]
SEOUL (REUTERS) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for maximum military power and greater nuclear war deterrence, state news agency KCNA reported on Wednesday (Jan 13), as a rare ruling party congress came to a close after eight days of policy discussions. The Eighth Party Congress comes less than two weeks before US […]
SEOUL (BLOOMBERG) – South Korea’s jobless rate hit a 10-year high in December as the country’s worst coronavirus outbreak forced businesses to slash hiring. The unemployment rate reached 4.6 per cent last month, data from the statistical office showed on Wednesday (Jan 13). Economists had forecast the reading to be unchanged from November’s 4.1 per […]