MELBOURNE (REUTERS) – Specialised drones are being tested in a programme to boost koala numbers on Australia’s east coast, dropping seeds of gum trees as part of a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) scheme to regenerate bushland torched in the country’s historic bushfires. Gum tree leaves are koala’s main food source, and restoring bushland and forest […]
SYDNEY (REUTERS) – A centre focusing on the security concerns of Pacific island nations will start work in Vanuatu next year, Australia said on Monday (Oct 19), hosting analysts and sharing information on issues from maritime risks to human trafficking and disinformation. The Australia-backed Pacific Fusion Centre in Vanuatu’s capital of Port Vila will also […]
JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Deputy Foreign Minister Mahendra Siregar rebuked Japan last Wednesday (Oct 14), just one day after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to explain his two-day visit to Jakarta, which will start tomorrow (Oct 20). During the telephone conversation, the prime minister, among others, briefed […]
BANGKOK (NYTIMES) – Thai authorities shut down parts of Bangkok’s commercial centre and crippled public rail networks over the weekend in an effort to prevent young demonstrators from continuing their anti-government protests. It didn’t work. Tens of thousands of members of the pro-democracy movement, which has been galvanised by a political awakening among social media […]
Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Monday, Oct 19. Only 3 community care facilities remain in S’pore – with 36 Covid-19 patients The only facilities operating are at D’Resort NTUC, Singapore Expo and Big Box. READ MORE HERE NUS sacks Tembusu College don accused of sexual misconduct Configure The university conducted […]
PESHAWAR (AFP) – Sixteen people were killed when a passenger bus was forced off the road by a landslide in a mountainous area of northern Pakistan on Sunday (Oct 18), officials said. The bus was travelling from the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, to the northern town of Skardu when it was struck by […]
KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS, THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – The Malaysian health authorities reported 871 new coronavirus cases on Sunday (Oct 18), a record daily count, raising the country’s total infections to 20,498. It also recorded seven new deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 187. Malaysia had imposed targeted lockdowns last week as infections […]
BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) – China announced measures that will grant its southern boomtown Shenzhen more autonomy as Beijing seeks to raise the profile of the region as a tech and financial hub amid tensions with the US. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) published a list of reforms for Shenzhen on Sunday (Oct 18) that […]
A 49-year-old Bangladeshi migrant worker was the sole community case reported by the Ministry of Health (MOH) last night. His case is currently unlinked. He was asymptomatic and was detected through routine testing. MOH said that his serological test result has come back positive, indicating a past infection. There were three new coronavirus cases confirmed […]
SINGAPORE – They have been dating for about a year and on Oct 25, Mr Nicholas Lim and his girlfriend Eleanor Teo will be boarding an aircraft together for the first time. The couple’s destination is no far-flung locale, but Singapore Airlines’ restaurant in an A-380 plane, which will be parked at Changi Airport next […]