YANGON (AFP) – A rebel ethnic minority group that unofficially controls a swathe of eastern Myanmar has sentenced a man to death for the kidnap, rape and murder of a six-year-old girl. A member of the armed group, called the Shan State Progress Party, said Wednesday the death penalty was “the only option” for the […]
KUALA LUMPUR – Every Christmas, Mr Euphraim Yuvaraj travels to visit his grandmother and other relatives in Taiping, Perak, some 250km north of Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur. He will not be making the three-hour journey this year, even though travel curbs across most of Peninsular Malaysia were lifted in time for Christmas celebrations. Interstate and […]
JAKARTA – President Joko Widodo on Wednesday (Dec 23) appointed Dr Dante Saksono Harbuwono to a new post of deputy health minister in a Cabinet reshuffle to better tackle the coronavirus crisis. Although Indonesia desperately needs the strong managerial skills of newly-assigned Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin to lead Covid-19 vaccination programme early next year, […]
SINGAPORE – Certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums ended mostly higher in the last tender of 2020 on Wednesday (Dec 23) as motor traders made a last-ditch effort to shore up sales in a year of pandemic and pared down supply. But on average, this year’s main car premium was only slightly higher than last year’s, […]
JAKARTA – With its own phase three clinical trial of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate in limbo, Indonesia said it has asked for data from Brazil, where a similar trial is progressing smoothly. It expects to receive the safety and efficacy data on Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech’s CoronaVac by Dec 28, and hopes to finally start […]
TAIPEI (REUTERS) – Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called on Wednesday (Dec 23) for people to keep calm after the island confirmed its first locally transmitted case of Covid-19 since April 12, as the government announced negative tests so far for the person’s contacts. Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control thanks to early and effective […]
HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) – The sudden re-emergence of Covid-19 in places with the world’s best records for handling the pandemic is sending a discouraging message to health officials: Strategies to fully snuff out the virus don’t work as a long-term solution, and even the most successful places can never let down their guard. After more […]
SINGAPORE – Madam Siti Hajar, a 64-year-old retiree, visits Geylang East Public Library twice a month to look up recipes and baking courses using the computers there. She enjoys going to the library to use its digital resources as the sole computer at home is often used by her children, and there are ambassadors at […]
On Christmas Day, a special light show will brighten the facades of The Fullerton Hotel Singapore and the Merlion at Marina Bay. The show will feature artworks depicting acts of kindness by the community during the past year. Called Share the Moment, the event is one of the key highlights of Marina Bay Singapore Countdown […]
FILE PHOTO: Traders work at Frankfurt’s stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, October 17, 2019. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo(Reuters) – European shares rose on Wednesday as a report that a Brexit trade deal could be struck later in the day cheered investors amid concerns over the passage of a much-awaited U.S. pandemic aid bill. The pan-European STOXX […]