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A long queue of travellers at the departure hall of Gimpo International Airport in Seoul yesterday during the Golden Week holidays.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
WORLD
The impact on tourism from movement restrictions, control measures and reduced flights to curb the spread of Covid-19 is especially glaring this week across East and South-east Asia during the Golden Week holidays. Chinese travellers, whose top destinations in the past included Thailand, Japan and Singapore, are settling for domestic travel.
TOP OF THE NEWS
The road to recovery from the coronavirus pandemic will be long and hard, and Singaporeans must be under no illusion that everything will return to normal once the circuit breaker ends or infection numbers come down, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday in his May Day message.
WORLD
Indonesia is stepping up health checks of returning migrant workers at key borders amid the Covid-19 crisis. To illustrate the magnitude of this homecoming, the Foreign Minister said that as many as 68,614 Indonesians arrived from Malaysia alone between March 18 and April 29.
WORLD
China has no interest in interfering in the US presidential election, it said yesterday, after President Donald Trump (right) said he believed Beijing would try to make him lose his re-election bid. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Beijing hoped the United States will not drag China into its election politics.
OPINION
From remote jungles to the teeming cities of Asia, millions are at great risk from not just the health hazards posed by Covid-19 but also an "epidemic of empty pockets", says associate editor Ravi Velloor (below).
HOME
Food companies are stepping up and donating food to migrant workers in dormitories and other groups in need. Dole Packaged Foods Worldwide has teamed up with non-profit organisations in Singapore to deliver cartons of fruit bowls and canned fruits to nearly 300,000 underprivileged Singaporeans.
HOME
The Law Society of Singapore has cautioned against "hungry wolves in sheep's clothing" as it investigates a website touting an expensive programme to help law students and graduates secure internships and jobs. The site had also claimed legal work has largely dried up due to the Covid-19 crisis.
BUSINESS
DBS Group has forecast its annual profit before allowances at around last year's levels, but set aside record-high quarterly provisions owing to the coronavirus pandemic, which pulled down profit by 29 per cent. The bank joined global lenders in provisioning higher credit losses to guard against the fallout from the virus crisis.
SPORT
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said that the Covid-19 pandemic is an opportunity to strengthen the relevance of the Olympic movement, and that a post-virus world will need sport. He also called for reforms to be made to the sporting calendar to ensure sustainability.
LIFE
Science-fiction thriller Upgrade is among today's Film & TV Picks. A new offering on HBO Go, this 2018 film is about a mechanic who gets a bionic upgrade after thugs kill his wife and leave him a quadriplegic. The Leigh Whannell film ripples with adrenaline and clever plotting.
Straits Times Digital
VIDEO
Safe distancing ambassadors
Employed by Enterprise Singapore, these safe distancing ambassadors conduct daily checks at 92 shopping malls across Singapore. They tell us more about their roles. str.sg/blurb347
VIDEO
How to cut your own fringe
Could not get to your regular barber or hairdressing salon before it was shut? Maison Hair hair director Ken Chong gives a quick tutorial on how to cut your own fringe at home. str.sg/blurb348