BANGKOK (THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION) – Thailand on Tuesday (Dec 29) said it would allow undocumented migrant workers from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to work in the country legally for about two years to curb the spread of Covid-19. Migrants have to sign up online and be registered by an employer before mid-September in order to […]
BEIJING – The Chinese capital of Beijing in the past two weeks has been edging toward a state of alarm, as a flurry of Covid-19 cases in the city sparked mass testing, lockdowns of some residential areas, and caused mass gatherings and performances to be cancelled. Some 18 locally transmitted cases, the first domestic infections […]
SINGAPORE – For 13-year-old Teng Xin Rui, more days schooling from home will mean fewer early starts. The Secondary 1 student at Bedok South Secondary School has to get up at 5.30am every morning to make it in time for school, a struggle similar to what many students here face on a daily basis. “I think […]
BANGKOK – A Singapore company plans to sue a Myanmar military conglomerate over its “oppressive” behaviour, alleging that its appeals for greater transparency and accountability for their joint venture have been ignored. The unprecedented action is expected to increase scrutiny of a military whose vast commercial dealings allow it to operate with impunity, say human […]
SINGAPORE – Schools will conduct home-based learning (HBL) for students for at least two days a month, starting from the third term of next year, with the practice set to become part of the new normal, coronavirus pandemic or not. This change will affect all secondary school and junior college students, with every secondary school […]
JAKARTA (REUTERS) – Indonesia is finalising deals to secure 50 million doses of coronavirus vaccines from drugmakers Pfizer and AstraZeneca, the country’s new health minister said on Tuesday (Dec 29). Mr Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the deal with AstraZeneca would be finalised before year-end, while an agreement with Pfizer would be signed in the first […]
SINGAPORE – There were 13 new coronavirus cases confirmed as at Tuesday noon (Dec 29), all of which were imported. They were placed on stay-home notices or isolated on arrival in Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH). There were no new community cases and none from worker dormitories. Tuesday’s cases take Singapore’s total to 58,542. […]
SINGAPORE – Over 40,000 families in 32 primary schools will be taking part in Back to School with Dad in the upcoming school year, starting on Jan 4 and Jan 5. The initiative, which encourages fathers to accompany their children to school on the first two days, is organised by the Centre for Fathering and […]
SYDNEY (AFP) – A father and son have been rescued in the remote Australian outback after their car became bogged in floodwaters, forcing a 12-hour trek for help. A 10-year-old boy and his father were among a group of travellers whose car became stuck near Queensland’s Mount Isa on Sunday night, RACQ LifeFlight Rescue said […]
BENGALURU (REUTERS) – India has found six people who returned from Britain in recent weeks infected with a more infectious strain of the coronavirus that has prompted a wave of panic and border closures around the world. All six patients have been kept in isolation, the health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday (Dec […]