Must-reads
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THE BIG STORY
South-east Asian ride-hailing and food delivery giant Grab Holdings intends to go public in the United States through a merger with US-based Altimeter Growth. Its partnership is the biggest blank-cheque company deal ever, and the proposed transaction will give Grab a market value of around US$39.6 billion (S$53.2 billion).
THE BIG STORY
Britain has hit a target to offer a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to all over-50s by the middle of this month, as England's lockdown-weary population toasted a significant easing of restrictions with pints and haircuts. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the country had passed "another hugely significant milestone".
Volunteers distributing fliers in Manhattan's Chinatown last month, in the wake of anti-Asian violence, for the SafeWalks NYC programme, which offers to escort people from train stations.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
WORLD
Asian Americans were the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the United States from 2000 to 2019, the Pew Research Centre has found.
The centre's analysis of the Asian American demographic comes amid a documented rise in incidents of abuse and hate against Asian Americans that prompted condemnation from President Joe Biden last month.
WORLD
The cooling water that has been accumulating at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will be released into the Pacific Ocean after it has been treated to remove all harmful radioactive substances, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's Cabinet has decided. The discharge will begin in two years.
BUSINESS
A new Singapore-headquartered company was unveiled by European multinational (MNC) company Schneider Electric and the Economic Development Board (EDB) in a new venture that could lead to about 100 fresh jobs in areas such as customer service, finance, human resources and logistics.
ST PHOTO: KOK YUFENG
SINGAPORE
A proposal to register bicycles and license cyclists to ride on the roads has garnered resistance from the cycling community, which said making bikes like cars would not make roads safer. But drivers are mostly supportive of some form of licensing for cyclists, saying it would make them more accountable, among other things.
