Malaysia to stop using Sinovac vaccine after supply ends: Minister

People receive doses of the Sinovac vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in a vaccination truck in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 12, 2021.Reuters Malaysia's health ministry on Thursday (July 15) said the country will stop administering the Covid-19 vaccine produced by China's Sinovac once its supplies end, as it has a sufficient number of other vaccines for...

2 KTV lounges in Parklane mall closed due to likely Covid-19 spread; KTV cluster grows to 88 cases

Two KTV lounges at Parklane Shopping Mall in Selegie will be closed from Friday (July 16) to July 30, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday night. The lounges are Las Vegas KTV and Tuberose KTV at 35 Selegie Road, which is the address of the mall. This to break any potential chain of transmission and...

Dirty air makes Covid-19 worse, beta variant deadlier than original

People line up for nucleic acid testing at a makeshift testing site in a park following the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, on a polluted day in Daxing district of Beijing, China, on Jan 26, 2021.Reuters Here is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and...

Ex-Mediacorp actress Chris Tong’s livestream suddenly interrupted by male flasher

Three Malaysian celebrities went on Instagram Live to discuss the #benderaputih (white flag) campaign in the country but their good intentions were disrupted when a man hijacked the stream to flash his private parts. Last Saturday (July 10), former Mediacorp actress Chris Tong — who is now based in Malaysia — and radio DJs Nicholas Ong and Phoebe...

Amazon shuts down Chinese retailer’s 340 stores, freezes $27m of its funds

Amazon.com has closed 340 online stores operated by one of the platform's largest Chinese retailers in the first half of this year, as the US e-commerce giant intensifies its crackdown against paid reviews and other violations. The action was taken against stores run by Shenzhen Youkeshu Technology Co. for allegedly violating Amazon's rules, without providing any details,...

North Korea rejected AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine over side effects, says think-tank

North Korea has rejected planned shipments of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine that were being organised under the global Covax distribution scheme due to concerns over side effects, a South Korean think-tank said on Friday (July 9). Covax has said it would provide nearly two million doses of AstraZeneca's shots to North Korea. The first batch had been...

Taiwan asks US not to cause ‘misunderstanding’ after flag tweet removed

Taiwan has asked its office in Washington to remind the United States not to cause "unnecessary speculation or misunderstanding" after the White House deleted a social media post on Covid-19 vaccine donations that included Taiwan's flag. The White House Covid-19 Response Team this week posted on Twitter an image giving details of US vaccine donations globally,...

Chinese gang masquerading as relationship saviours detained for fraud

Shanghai authorities busted a fraudulent gang of “relationship saving masters” after they swindled over seven million yuan (S$1.5 million) from more than 500 people across China. The Shanghai Municipal Police said 69 people were detained under suspicion of pretending to be relationship counsellors despite having zero training and not attempting to help their clients . On a...

Umno withdraws support for Malaysia PM Muhyiddin, calls on him to resign

Malaysia's biggest political party and key ally in the ruling coalition withdrew support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin late on Wednesday (July 7) and called on him to resign for failing to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) to pull support came just hours after Muhyiddin appointed a senior...

Malaysia PM appoints new deputy amid coalition infighting

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Wednesday (July 7) named defence minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob as his deputy, in a move that could ease tensions with a key ally in the ruling coalition. Muhyiddin's tenure since he came to power in March last year has been plagued by tensions with the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)...