DHAKA (THE DAILY STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Winston Churchill’s comment in November, 1947 that “democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried before” remains as pertinent today as it was when he stated it in the immediate post war period. The fight against fascism in the […]
TOKYO (REUTERS) – Support for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s Cabinet tumbled nearly 13 points due to dissatisfaction with the government’s response to a resurgence in the coronavirus, a weekend Kyodo News survey showed. Support for Mr Suga’s Cabinet dropped to 50.3 per cent from 63.0 per cent a month earlier, with the disapproval rating […]
Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Monday, Dec 7. Phase 3 unlikely by end of year unless more use TraceTogether, experts say The uptake of TraceTogether is 50.8 per cent, a far cry from the 70 per cent target. READ MORE HERE S’pore continuing to seek new travel bubble partners despite […]
SEOUL (REUTERS) – South Korea reported 615 new coronavirus cases on Monday (Dec 7), the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said, capping a month of triple-digit daily increases that have driven the nation’s largest wave of infections in nine months. On Sunday authorities said they will impose heightened social distancing rules for the capital […]
SANYA (REUTERS) – Millions of domestic tourists are descending on China’s southernmost island province of Hainan, presenting a surreal contrast with grim hospital scenes, shuttered restaurants and stifling home quarantine elsewhere in a virus-ravaged world. Known at home as the “Hawaii of China”, the island, about the size of Taiwan, has been free of coronavirus […]
SYDNEY (REUTERS) – Australia’s second-largest city welcomed its first international passenger flight in five months on Monday (Dec 7), an arrival that will test the state of Victoria’s revamped hotel quarantine system. Australia has since March closed its borders to non-citizens, but airports serving Melbourne, Victoria’s capital, stopped accepting any arrivals in late June after […]
TOKYO • Call it a special delivery: After six years in space, Japan’s Hayabusa-2 probe is heading home, but only to drop off its rare asteroid samples before starting a new mission. The fridge-sized space probe, launched in December 2014, has already thrilled scientists by landing on and gathering material from an asteroid 300 million […]
SINGAPORE – Associate Professor Stephen Lim spent much of his childhood dazzling audiences in regional and international competitions with his mastery of the electric organ. When it came to choosing a career, however, he put aside plans to become a pianist and composer, and chose academia. Today, Prof Lim is a psychology lecturer at the […]
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s ruling coalition appeared to be descending into open conflict on Sunday, the eve of a make-or-break week for the European Union’s 1.8 trillion euro ($2.2 trillion) 2021-2027 budget and coronavirus recovery fund.FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, January 18, 2018. REUTERS/Francois LenoirPoland and […]
JAKARTA (REUTERS) – Indonesia received its first shipment of coronavirus vaccine from China on Sunday (Dec 6), President Joko Widodo said, as the government prepares a mass inoculation programme. Mr Widodo said in an online briefing that the Southeast Asian country received 1.2 million doses from China’s Sinovac Biotech, a vaccine Indonesia has been testing […]