Month: May 2021

Singapore will impose a 21-day quarantine on most inbound travellers and bring back tighter social-distancing controls including closing gyms and fitness centres, as authorities respond to a flare-up in Covid-19 cases.The news has put a cloud over the city state’s efforts to launch a travel bubble with Hong Kong later this month and host major events like the Shangri-La Dialogue in June.From Friday 11.59pm, all inbound travellers except those from Australia, Brunei, China, New Zealand, Taiwan,…

Chew Shou Zi, the newly-appointed chief executive of ByteDance-owned TikTok, has just taken on one of the biggest jobs in tech and steering the globally successful short video app through choppy political waters will prove a daunting task, say analysts.The fast-growing app has faced regulatory challenges around the world – no more so than in the US, where former president Donald Trump deemed it a national security threat because of the data it collects. Chew’s predecessor, Kevin Mayer, resigned…

The Philippines has taken the gloves off in its dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea, with its top diplomat dropping the F-bomb as he demanded the withdrawal of Chinese vessels near the Scarborough Shoal.Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jnr dispensed with diplomatic niceties as he took to Twitter on Monday, calling China an “ugly oaf” and demanding it “get the f*** out” of Philippine maritime waters. His colourful language followed reports that Chinese coastguard ships had harassed…

The UK said on Sunday it was sending an extra 1,000 oxygen ventilators to Covid-struck India, as a group of doctors staged their own intervention by offering long-distance telemedicine from Britain.British authorities have already sent 495 oxygen concentrators and 200 ventilators to India as the country grapples with a devastating surge in coronavirus cases, and are shipping three larger production units, dubbed oxygen factories.The 1,000 additional ventilators will come from British surplus…

Myanmar security forces opened fire on some of the biggest protests against military rule in days on Sunday killing eight people, media reported, three months after a coup plunged the country into crisis.The protests, after a spell of dwindling crowds and what appeared to be more restraint by the security forces, were coordinated with demonstrations in Myanmar communities around the world to mark what organisers called “the global Myanmar spring revolution”.“Shake the world with the voice of…

Workers and union leaders dusted off loudhailers and flags that had stayed furled during coronavirus lockdowns for slimmed down but still boisterous May Day marches on Saturday, demanding more labour protections amid a pandemic that has turned economies and workplaces upside down.In countries that mark May 1 as International Labour Day, the annual celebration of workers’ rights produced a rare sight during the pandemic: large and closely packed crowds, with marchers striding shoulder to…

With plunging profits, Cambodia’s largest casino is set to slash 1,300 jobs and pay redundant staff a fraction of the severance money they are legally owed, the workers’ union and advocates said, as the Covid-19 pandemic threatens labour laws worldwide.NagaWorld resort – with almost 1,700 luxury rooms, themed gaming halls, karaoke lounges, spas and an underground shopping centre in the capital, Phnom Penh – told more than 15 per cent of staff that they will be laid off in the next few weeks…