Category Archives: Singapore

Coronavirus treatments: the potential ‘game-changers’ in development

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After positive clinical trials for antiviral drug Molnupiravir, it joins other medicines that have shown promise

The first clinical trial results showing a positive effect for a pill that can be taken at home has been hailed as a potential gamechanger that could provide a new way to protect the most vulnerable people from the worst effects of Covid-19. Molnupiravir joins a growing list of medicines that have shown promise. Here are some of the main developments in treatments so far.

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How are Australia’s neighbours faring in the Covid pandemic?

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Vaccination rates are rising in much of south-east Asia and the Pacific after recent outbreaks, but some of the largest countries are falling behind

While Australians have focused on the Covid waves in Sydney and Melbourne, many of Australia’s neighbours have recently experienced their largest outbreaks so far. This includes Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and even Singapore.

Singapore surpassed Australia’s vaccination target weeks ago, but was now seeing more than a thousand cases a day. Fiji recently had one of the highest rates of Covid cases per capita – peaking at 1,850 cases in the middle of July. But the nation of 889,000 was now regularly administering more than 10,000 new vaccinations a day.

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Singapore reports worst daily Covid case tally in more than a year

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Government pauses reopening plans after 837 new daily infections, despite just four deaths in a month among 80% vaccinated population

Singapore has reported its highest one-day Covid case total in more than a year, with 837 cases recorded on Tuesday.

In response to the growing outbreak, the government has paused reopening plans and reimposed some restrictions.

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Kamala Harris Vietnam trip delayed after two US officials report Havana syndrome

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Press secretary says assessment of safety of vice-president was carried out and she continued her journey

US vice-president Kamala Harris’ trip from Singapore to Vietnam was delayed by several hours on Tuesday by an investigation into two possible cases of the so-called Havana syndrome in Hanoi, administration officials said.

The investigation was in its early stages and officials deemed it safe for Harris to make her scheduled stop in Vietnam, which is part of her trip across Asia meant to reassure allies about American foreign policy amid the tumultuous evacuation of US forces from Afghanistan.

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Kamala Harris accuses Beijing of ‘coercion’ and ‘intimidation’ in South China Sea

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In major speech delivered in Singapore, US vice president says America stands with its allies in the Indo Pacific in the face of threats from China

US vice president Kamala Harris has delivered a sharp rebuke to China for its incursions in the South China Sea, warning its actions there amount to “coercion” and “intimidation” and affirming that the US will support its allies in the region against Beijing’s advances.

“We know that Beijing continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make claims to the vast majority of the South China Sea,” she said in a major foreign policy speech Tuesday in Singapore in which she laid out the Biden administration’s vision for the Indo-Pacific. “Beijing’s actions continue to undermine the rules-based order and threaten the sovereignty of nations.”

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‘Horrific’: Singaporean woman jailed for 30 years after maid tortured and killed

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Judge says Gaiyathiri Murugayan was mentally ill but understood what she was doing in abusing Piang Ngaih Don from Myanmar

Singapore’s high court has sentenced a woman to 30 years in prison for killing her Burmese maid after more than a year of abuse that included starving, torture and beatings.

Singaporean Gaiyathiri Murugayan pleaded guilty in February to culpable homicide among 28 charges related to her abuse of Piang Ngaih Don, who was 24 and subjected to 14 months of beating that culminated in her death in 2016.

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South-east Asian countries battle Covid resurgence amid lack of vaccines

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Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore race to contain clusters as experts warn jabs must be distributed more evenly

South-east Asian countries, including nations that managed to control the coronavirus last year, are struggling to contain recent outbreaks as new variants and vaccine shortages leave populations exposed.

Thailand’s cumulative caseload has more than quadrupled since 1 April, rising to almost 130,000, after infections spread in its cramped prisons, densely populated areas of the capital and construction sites.

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‘Pray for Myanmar’: Miss Universe pageant gets political

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Thuzar Wint Lwin, in dress of besieged Chin minority, highlights brutal repression since coup in Myanmar

In the months leading up to the Miss Universe pageant, most contestants were busy making promotional films and rehearsing for their moment in the limelight. Thuzar Wint Lwin of Myanmar was on the streets of Yangon, protesting against the country’s brutal army.

As the military used increasingly deadly force to crush rallies opposing its February coup, she visited the relatives of those who had been killed, donating her savings. Online, she raised awareness of military violence, despite the risk of retaliation.

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‘Green list’ guide: the countries travellers from England can visit

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The government has revealed the destinations to which quarantine-free holidays will be allowed

The government has just announced its green list for quarantine-free international travel into England. The countries on it are Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, Israel, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, and Portugal, including the Azores and Madeira.

Related: England’s traffic-light system for foreign travel: all you need to know

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‘V is for victory over Covid!’: Singapore goes disco in latest vaccination message – video

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The city state was recently crowned the best place to be in the pandemic, and reported an average of seven daily cases last week. But its latest public health video - an infectious pop song starring comedian Gurmit Singh as his much-loved character Phua Chu Kang, an eccentric contractor - warns the public not to be complacent.

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‘Super app’ Grab to go public in record $40bn Spac merger

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Singapore-headquartered firm offers one-stop shopstyle service, including ride hailing, banking and food delivery

South-east Asian “super app” Grab, which offers services from ride hailing and food delivery to online banking, is to float in the US in a record deal with a so-called Spac investment company that values the business at almost $40bn (£29bn).

Singapore-headquartered Grab, which intends to list on Nasdaq in the US, has struck a $39.5bn merger deal with US-based Altimeter Growth Corp. It is by far the biggest deal to date involving a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) – a so-called “blank cheque” shell company that raises money first and seeks businesses to buy later – which has become the latest trend in global finance over the last year.

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Hidden human rights crises threaten post-Covid global security – Amnesty

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‘Crises will multiply’ if escalating repression by governments under pretext of pandemic ignored, says secretary general

Neglected human rights crises around the world have the potential to undermine already precarious global security as governments continue to use Covid as a cover to push authoritarian agendas, Amnesty International has warned.

The organisation said ignoring escalating hotspots for human rights violations and allowing states to perpetrate abuses with impunity could jeopardise efforts to rebuild after the pandemic.

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Singapore blogger ordered to pay nearly US$100,000 damages to PM for Facebook post

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Blogger argued he had ‘merely shared’ an article without changing content or adding comments

The Singapore high court has ordered a blogger to pay S$133,000 (US$98,825) in damages in a defamation case to the prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong.

Lee sued Leong Sze Hian, a financial adviser, after he shared on Facebook an online news article .

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Australia plans travel bubble with Singapore

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If deal goes ahead Singapore could become a quarantine gateway for vaccinated stranded Australians and other travellers

The Australian government is working on a plan to create a travel bubble with Singapore.

If struck, the deal could also establish Singapore as a quarantine gateway for travellers on their way to Australia, the Age and Sydney Morning Herald report. Deputy prime minister Michael McCormack confirmed the government was working on the plan on the ABC on Sunday morning.

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‘Too good to be true’: the deal with an Isis-linked Australian family that betrayed PNG’s most marginalised

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A sustainable forestry project established to develop some of PNG’s most marginalised communities has become mired in an international corruption scandal

“There is always the stench of corruption around a deal that is too bad to be true or too good to be true,” a full-page advertisement in Papua New Guinea’s Post Courier baldly declared in May 2018.

“Usually, because it’s not true.”

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‘It’s a big deal’: why former protester turned Davos mayor wants WEF back

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Philipp Wilhelm knows local people rely on forum’s revenue – but still thinks world must change

In his youth, Philipp Wilhelm was at the forefront of protests against the World Economic Forum’s annual “extreme capitalism” gathering of the business and political elite in Davos, the Swiss mountain resort where he grew up.

Now, however, Wilhelm is the mayor of the town and his central mission is to ensure the return of the WEF jamboree, which had been scheduled to start next week but was cancelled this year due to the pandemic.

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‘Glamping’ at Singapore airport offers in-tents retail therapy

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Guests grounded by Covid can ‘wake up to the refreshing view of the majestic HSBC Rain Vortex’ or peg a bargain in the shops

Singapore’s Changi airport is charging customers up to $269 per night for the chance to camp in a tent in its retail wing, the latest unusual travel experience aimed at boosting revenue during the pandemic.

Tickets for the “glamping” experience, which have already sold out, offer guests the chance to “wake up to the refreshing view of the majestic HSBC Rain Vortex”, the world’s largest indoor waterfall. Tents are four metres in diameter and come with blankets. Shopping discounts are also included.

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Singapore ‘cruise to nowhere’ ends after passenger tests positive for Covid-19

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The post-pandemic test voyage is open only to city-state residents but 2,000 passengers were confined to their cabins after one contracted the virus

Coronavirus latest updates

A passenger on board a “cruise-to-nowhere” from Singapore has tested positive for Covid-19, the operator Royal Caribbean said on Wednesday.

Singapore has been trialling the trips which are open only to the city-state’s residents, make no stops and sail in waters close by. At 2.45 am on Wednesday morning, the captain of the Quantum of the Seas informed the 2,000 passengers that the ship was to return to dock a day early and that they should stay in their rooms, the Straits Times reports.

At 8.10 the captain confirmed that a passenger had tested positive. Breakfast would be served to passengers in their rooms, he said.

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Cabin fever: tickets for meal onboard Singapore parked plane sell out

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Diners paid up to £360 to eat onboard in latest sign of public appetite for aircraft experience

Diners have rushed to pay up to £360 per head to eat a meal on a stationary plane, in the latest sign of public appetite to recreate the onboard experience without travelling.

Singapore Airlines launched a waiting list after tickets rapidly sold out for two weekends of sittings onboard two stationary A380 superjumbos, with meals at seats and the chance to watch a movie, albeit no longer in-flight.

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Singapore launches Covid-secure luxury cruises … to nowhere

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City state follows Qantas in offering jaunts with no destination with ships half full and masks mandatory

Singapore is launching Covid-secure cruise holidays to nowhere, in the latest attempt to offer a long-distance travel experience with no stops.

Australian airline Qantas drew criticism from environmental groups last month after advertising a seven-hour round trip from Sydney including fly-pasts of famous sights including Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef.

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