10 must-reads for today

Former vice-president Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders called for vastly more aggressive government action to battle the coronavirus but split over some of the details along familiar ideological lines on Sunday, as the two Democrats tangled over the right to lead their party.

Stock markets were routed yesterday despite central banks unleashing aggressive measures to support the paralysed global economy. Worries about the worsening coronavirus pandemic sent the Singapore bourse to a new low since 2009. The Straits Times Index is down 26.9 per cent from a 52-week high last April.

Former premier Mahathir Mohamad was returned uncontested as Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman as nominations closed for the party elections, while his son Mukhriz Mahathir is challenging Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin for the presidency. This signalled a prolonged battle for control of the party that was at the centre of the change of power a fortnight ago.

Japanese national Satoshi Uematsu was sentenced to death for killing 19 and injuring 26 others in a horrific stabbing spree at a care home for the disabled in July 2016, in one of Japan's worst mass killings. He had rationalised the rampage as necessary to "cleanse society of its burdens".

Wuhan residents' outburst during an official inspection tour of a quarantined housing estate offers a glimpse into China's long struggle with cover-ups. The Potemkin phenomenon carries costs for sound policy-making, says global affairs correspondent Benjamin Kang Lim.

Environmentally friendly waste collection trucks, with solar mats on their roofs to reduce fuel consumption, will roll out to about 151,000 households in the western part of Singapore on April 1. The National Environment Agency awarded a new seven-year waste collection contract for the Jurong sector to Alba W&H yesterday.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has awarded a team of scientists from Singapore, Japan and South Korea the first Asian research network grant for a study on what causes Asian populations to be predisposed to certain diseases. Founded by Dr Priscilla Chan and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the initiative has funded the study as part of the international Human Cell Atlas collaboration.

Singapore's new home sales last month surged more than 114 per cent from a year ago, driven by competitively priced new projects and defying the coronavirus outbreak and a looming global recession. Persistently low interest rates are also helping to support housing demand. The data excludes executive condominium units.

Singapore Slingers players are grateful that they will continue to be paid until their contracts end, despite the indefinite suspension of the Asean Basketball League in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. But imports Anthony McClain, Marcus Elliott, Jameel McKay and Xavier Alexander will return to the United States at the end of this month despite having contracts that run out between next month and May.

Arts groups in Singapore are bracing themselves for a further blow at the box office with the latest measures to contain the coronavirus. Early ticket sales for the Singapore Repertory Theatre's recently ended production The Lifespan Of A Fact, for instance, took a big hit. Although shows at smaller venues will go on, uncertainty remains over those involving bigger venues and foreign artists.

United States bureau chief Nirmal Ghosh discusses the challenges in fighting the spread of coronavirus in South-east Asia with Indochina bureau chief Tan Hui Yee, regional correspondent Arlina Arshad and Malaysia correspondent Nadirah Rodzi. str.sg/blurb269

Amid the growing risk of Covid-19 importation to Singapore and a number of imported cases coming here to seek medical care, the authorities have implemented more border control measures and issued a travel advisory. Here are the measures that Singapore has announced. str.sg/blurb270