Month: February 2020

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday called on the public to cooperate in a “tough battle” to contain the coronavirus outbreak in coming weeks as the country prepares to hold the Olympic Games in Tokyo as planned.“To be frank, we cannot win this battle through the efforts of the government alone,” Abe told a news conference two days after calling for all schools nationwide to be closed for more than a month. The abrupt decision caught teachers, parents and their employers off guard,…

Malaysia’s king on Saturday appointed Malay nationalist leader Muhyiddin Yassin as the country’s new prime minister, dramatically upending expectations that the 94-year-old elder statesman Mahathir Mohamad would keep his job after cobbling together support at the eleventh hour following a fraught five days of leaderless turmoil and frantic horse-trading in the country.In a statement, the palace said Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah had conducted interviews with all MPs last week and found that…

At least 18 people were killed and dozens more injured when a passenger train rammed into a bus on Friday in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, officials said.The incident took place in Sukkur district, where the incoming Pakistan Express – on its way from Karachi to Lahore – hit the bus, which was heading to Sargodha in central Punjab province.“At least 18 people have been killed and 55 wounded,” said Rana Adeel, a deputy commissioner in Sukkur, warning that the death toll could rise as some…

A US-Philippines troop agreement recently scrapped by President Rodrigo Duterte could still be salvaged, a senior diplomat said on Friday, boosting hopes in both countries of retaining one of Asia’s oldest military alliances.Talks were taking place to find a solution, but the alliance would prevail, recognising the importance of the United States as a global power, said Jose Manuel Romualdez, Philippine ambassador to Washington.“From what I’m told, the door is not totally shut,” he told a forum…

As Malaysia is plunged into a political impasse after Mahathir Mohamad unexpectedly resigned as prime minister, there are questions on whether a change in government will lead to yet another review of mega-projects, including the China-backed East Coast Rail Link (ECRL). The US$11 billion rail project, which is part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was at first suspended, then reviewed and renegotiated, before being reinstated about a year later. The review came after the Pakatan…

Residential rents in Singapore rose to a three-year high in 2019, with prices boosted by strong overseas demand that signals the city state’s continuing appeal among expatriates.Rents climbed 1.4% last year, according to real estate agency OrangeTee & Tie Pte, using data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority.The number of leases signed reached a decade-high 93,920 units last year, said Christine Sun, head of research and consultancy at OrangeTee & Tie.Demand for rental flats in Singapore…

South Koreans have taken to the internet to spread rumours and express their frustrations and anger at the controversial Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which is linked to more than 50 per cent of the country’s confirmed coronavirus infections. This came as the South Korean government on Wednesday said it had finally received a directory of all 210,000 members of the religious group, after several days of discussions with its leaders. A member of a Shincheonji church in Daegu, 300km southeast of…

Mahathir Mohamad had looked all set to reclaim his position as prime minister of Malaysia – until his on-off rival Anwar Ibrahim claimed the position for himself on Wednesday, announcing he had the backing of Mathathir’s former ruling coalition.Under Malaysian convention, the prime minister is the individual who can command the majority of the 222-man lower parliamentary house. Until midday Wednesday, Mahathir had been the only man who looked likely to be able to do that. But in a dramatic…

The Chinese embassy in Singapore has rapped a former senior diplomat in the city state for an op-ed where he argued, among other things, that the coronavirus epidemic had dented the Chinese Communist Party’s credibility with its citizens.Bilahari Kausikan, who retired as permanent secretary of the Singapore Foreign Affairs Ministry in 2013, described China’s handling of the crisis as a consequence of its Leninist value system, where a vanguard party has absolute control of state and society.He…

Hundreds of people returning home to parts of Asia, the United States and Britain from the mainland Chinese province of Hubei and the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship are facing an additional two weeks in government quarantine.Health authorities want to isolate them in case they end up testing positive for Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, which has sickened over 80,000 people and claimed more than 2,700 lives, mostly in mainland China.The conditions of their…