Singapore Chinatown attack: Woman charged after she allegedly used chopper to assault victim

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): A woman was handed an assault charge on March 21 over her alleged role in an attack in Chinatown earlier this week. Chinese national He Longfeng, 36, is accused of using a chopper to attack another person at the ground floor of People’s Park Complex at around 8.45pm on March 19. In earlier...

South Korean govt approves emergency grants for wildfire-hit regions

SEOUL (Bernama-Yonhap): The South Korean government has approved special financial grants to support recovery efforts in Sancheong and two other regions affected by wildfires, acting President Choi Sang Mok announced during a disaster control meeting. "We will urgently provide a special disaster and safety grant of 2.6 billion won (US$177.4 million) to the three wildfire-affected regions,”...

TNB activates technical, disaster squads ahead of potential K’tan floods

PETALING JAYA: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has activated its technical and disaster preparedness squads ahead of potential floods hitting Kelantan. This comes after the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre issued a flood alert lasting until Monday (March 24) for the state. In a notice, TNB said the teams have been activated to ensure safe electricity supply...

Anwar saves Auntie Woon’s Permatang Pauh ancestral home a second time

BUKIT MERTAJAM: A woman caring for her two brothers, one bedridden and the other a disabled person, was filled with gratitude as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim turned his attention to her dilapidated home in Permatang Pauh town. Anwar, through Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim Chee Keong, who is also the Minister of Human Resources,...

Thailand drafts law to speed up US$29 billion transport link

BANGKOK: Thailand unveiled draft legislation to create a special economic zone in the south of the country that would pave the way for a multibillion-dollar transport project linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The bill would establish a commission to speed up development of the Southern Economic Corridor in the provinces of Chumphon, Ranong, Suratthani and...

Thailand repatriates 4,895 individuals of alleged job scams in Myanmar

BANGKOK/YANGON (Bernama): A total of 4,895 individuals rescued from alleged job scam syndicates in Myanmar have been repatriated to their home countries, according to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Director-General of the Department of Information and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nikorndej Balankura, said that according to the information received on March 11...

Heathrow Airport now ‘fully operational’ after fire shutdown, says spokesman

LONDON (AFP): Heathrow Airport is "fully operational", a spokesman says, a day after a fire at a power station shut down Europe's busiest air hub and caused travel mayhem. The electricity substation blaze closed the London airport for most of Friday (March 21) before some flights began to arrive and take-off later in the evening. "We can...

Eleven pregnant women among hundreds in limbo at Thai-Myanmar border after scams crackdown, group says

BANGKOK (Reuters): Eleven pregnant women are among the more than 2,400 people stuck in limbo on after being pulled out of illicit scam compounds in Myanmar and are in urgent need of medical treatment in Thailand, a civil society group said on Friday. The 11 women are being kept in a camp with harsh living conditions,...

US House chair asks American universities to reveal info on their Chinese nationals

The chair of a US House committee on Wednesday sent letters to six American universities, including Stanford and Carnegie Mellon, requesting information about their policies on Chinese nationals, in the latest congressional attempt to curb the flow of Chinese students to the US over national security concerns. The letters asked the universities’ presidents to provide detailed...

Donald Trump and John Roberts: Two sides of a US judiciary under pressure

(Reuters) -For two of the most powerful men in the United States, Donald Trump and John Roberts, it has been a delicate dance from the start. In 2015, the man who would become the chief executive of the United States assailed the integrity of its chief justice, calling Roberts "disgraceful" and "disappointing" - and, later, an...