KUALA LUMPUR – Educator Sujietra Jayaseelan was meant to set up a physical after-school coaching centre for children in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, but her plan was scuppered in March when Malaysia imposed a partial shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. After observing her own children study at home when schools were shut, she […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The text of a $908 billion bipartisan COVID-19 relief plan is set to be released as early as Monday and will be split into two packages in a bid to win approval, a person briefed on the matter said.FILE PHOTO: United States House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) leaves the House floor […]

City dwellers around the world turned to bicycles as the pandemic forced urban areas to restrict public transit. In the crowded Philippine capital, that meant weaving through notoriously bad traffic. By Kimberly dela Cruz and Mike Ives MANILA — Nikko Flores bought his first bicycle with borrowed money when public transit was restricted in the […]

KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) – Malaysia’s maritime agency said on Sunday (Dec 13) it had seized more than two tonnes of crystal methamphetamine worth RM105.9 million (S$35 million) from a boat off the country’s west coast, its largest haul of the drug. Malaysia has made several record busts of crystal meth in recent years. The authorities have […]

SINGAPORE – There were seven new coronavirus cases confirmed at noon on Sunday (Dec 13), taking Singapore’s total to 58,320. All were imported cases who had been placed on stay-home notices on arrival in Singapore. No cases from the community or within worker dormitories were announced on Sunday by the Ministry of Health (MOH). More details will be […]

KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) – Mr Yubaraj Khadka, a worker in Malaysia for Top Glove Corp, took two photos in May of fellow employees crowding into a factory of the world’s biggest maker of medical-grade latex gloves. As the coronavirus pandemic raged, the photos seen by Reuters show dozens of workers lined up less than a […]

KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) – Mr Yubaraj Khadka, a worker in Malaysia for Top Glove Corp, took two photos in May of fellow employees crowding into a factory of the world’s biggest maker of medical-grade latex gloves. As the coronavirus pandemic raged, the photos seen by Reuters show dozens of workers lined up less than a […]

Now that the excitement about discovering vaccines to combat Covid-19 has somewhat climaxed, the focus is turning to how to get these preventive shots from laboratories and into the immune systems of eagerly waiting patients without contamination along the way, or loss of potency. Indeed, that may prove the difficult part, especially in an Asia […]

By this time next week, Singapore will know if its dreams of having hawker culture inscribed on the Unesco intangible heritage list have come true. The intergovernmental committee in charge of the final verdict is convening from tomorrow to Dec 19, during which the official result of the nomination will be announced. The historic moment […]

JAKARTA – Indonesian police said yesterday that it has arrested suspected Jemaah Islamiah (JI) leader Zulkarnaen, the man said to be behind the 2002 Bali bombing. Police said that he was arrested “without resistance” late on Thursday (Dec 10) in Purbolinggo, East Lampung regency, Lampung on Sumatra Island. His house was also raided. Zulkarnaen, whose […]