SYDNEY (REUTERS) – Australia amended its national anthem to remove reference to the country being “young and free” amid calls to recognise that its Indigenous people are the oldest continued civilization in the world. The change to “for we are one and free” took effect on Friday (Jan 1). “We live in a timeless land […]

SEOUL (REUTERS) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un marked the new year with a letter to the country’s citizens and a visit to the tomb of his father and grandfather, state media reported, but gave no immediate sign he would give a speech as he has in past years. In the letter, Mr Kim […]

BEIJING (REUTERS) – China reported 19 new Covid-19 cases on Dec 31, down from 25 cases a day earlier, the national health authority said on Friday (Jan 1). The National Health Commission said in a statement that 10 of the new cases were imported infections originating from overseas. The nine locally transmitted cases came from […]

LONDON (Reuters) – The United Kingdom exits the European Union’s orbit on Thursday, turning its back on a tempestuous 48-year liaison with the European project for an uncertain post-Brexit future in its most significant geopolitical shift since the loss of empire. Brexit, in essence, takes place at the strike of midnight in Brussels, or 2300 […]

LONDON (Reuters) – The United Kingdom exits the European Union’s orbit on Thursday, turning its back on a tempestuous 48-year liaison with the European project and entering a post-Brexit future whose details are still uncertain after years of drama over the departure. Brexit, in essence, takes place at the strike of midnight in Brussels, or […]

SINGAPORE – Vaccinations against Covid-19 began on Wednesday (Dec 30) with the first Pfizer-BioNTech jabs administered to 40 healthcare workers at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). The Straits Times answers some of the questions that have arisen about the vaccine. Q Will front-line and essential workers be allowed to stay in their posts […]

MANILA (REUTERS) – A province of islands in the southern Philippines will seal itself off for an initial two weeks from Monday (Jan 4) to keep out a new Covid-19 variant found in nearby Malaysia, its governor said. Sulu, home to more than 900,000 people, currently has just two known active cases of the coronavirus, […]

LONDON (Reuters) – The United Kingdom exits the European Union’s orbit on Thursday, turning its back on a tempestuous 48-year liaison with the European project for an uncertain Brexit future that will shape the fortunes of its people for generations to come.FILE PHOTO: The hat of anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray is pictured outside the gates […]

DHAKA (THE DAILY STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has starkly revealed the other face of globalisation, particularly in the context of international migrant workers. Integration of global labour market created a scope for the marginalised people of developing countries to benefit from the globalisation process through accessing employment overseas. At the […]

BEIJING (XINHUA) – China will step up epidemic prevention and control during the upcoming Spring Festival travel rush and strengthen emergency response, in an effort to ensure safe travel of the public. “China takes seriously uncertainties in the epidemic situation in winter,” Premier Li Keqiang said at a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday (Dec […]