Must-reads
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
THE BIG STORY
Singapore ministers urge seniors to get vaccinated
Singapore's efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19 were in full swing, as ministers appealed online to seniors to get vaccinated and encouraged those who might have been exposed to the virus to get tested. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also visited the site of mandatory testing for residents of a block in Ang Mo Kio.
THE BIG STORY
More SIA, Scoot crew return to the skies
Nine in 10 Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group pilots and eight in 10 cabin crew are back in the skies, flying at least once a month. This is still a far cry from the hours they were clocking before Covid-19 brought the aviation sector to its knees, but that many are back in their uniforms offers some hope things are slowly but surely recovering.
As the pandemic ravages Indonesia's big population centres on Java island, conditions in neighbouring Bali are on a knife-edge.
At stake for policymakers is preserving Bali's international reputation and avoiding a replay of the desperate scenes of patients scrambling for oxygen and treatment in hospital carparks.
Malaysia's Parliament meets for the first time this year today, amid scepticism that the five-day special sitting will yield any substantial debates on the country's health crisis or ailing economy. The five-day session looks unlikely to feature any debates, ministerial question time or voting on any Bills.
How to engage with South-east Asia better is a question that the White House Asia team is focused on, an expert says. The answers appear to lie in a combination of diplomacy, economics, and viewing the region as important in its own right, rather than simply an extension of China policy, says US correspondent Charissa Yong.
While Malaysian durians can be bought from markets here, some Singaporeans prefer picking them for free. Though it is an illegal activity, many people have waited patiently in areas such as nature reserves for durians to fall. The Straits Times explores why some are willing to risk injury for wild durians.
