China’s growing influence in Hollywood is forcing the US to grapple with fundamental questions involving values, artistic integrity and self-censorship as economic and political tensions rise between the two giants, film industry analysts say. US Attorney General William Barr last month assailed US media and entertainment companies for being too willing to collaborate with China. “I suspect...
A new coronavirus outbreak in Vietnam spread to two more provinces on Wednesday (Aug 5), the country's Health Minister said, as the Covid-19 task force declared the contagion "under control" in the central city where the outbreak began. Aggressive contact-tracing, targeted testing and strict quarantining had helped Vietnam contain earlier outbreaks, but it is now battling...
Different from most women in their 20s, Zhang Wanting chose to work with farmers instead of taking a position as a college lecturer after gaining her master's degree in finance from overseas. Now her eco farm has become one of the most famous agricultural tourist attractions in the city of Shenyang, Liaoning province, demonstrating the nation's...
Broadcaster Al Jazeera said Malaysian police had raided its office in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, amid an investigation into a programme it aired on the country’s treatment of undocumented foreign workers during the coronavirus pandemic. The July 3 programme, entitled “Locked up in Malaysia’s lockdown”, prompted a backlash in the Southeast Asia nation, with authorities branding...
Two residents of a flat in Compassvale were messaging some friends on WhatsApp amid the Covid-19 outbreak when one of them suggested having a social gathering at the unit. The court heard that Leong Chee Mun, 37, and his fiancee, Cassie Ong Shi Hong, 32, agreed to host the event at their home on May 8...
Criminal defence lawyer Charles Yeo has been appointed chairman of the Reform Party (RP), while oil and gas company director Mahaboob Batcha is the new party treasurer. The party announced the appointments in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Aug 5), which it said were part of party renewal following the recent general election. But the move has been...
A massive explosion of an ammonium nitrate fertiliser depot that rocked Lebanon’s capital city Beirut on Tuesday (4th August) evening has reportedly killed 73 people and injured nearly 4,000 locals. The blast not only caused destruction in the area, but also caused damage to several other buildings located a few kilometres from the location. Sadly, among...
A young and handsome idol messages you on Facebook and asks to continue a personal relationship online. Dream — or scam — come true? Unfortunately, a Malaysian woman living in Johor Bahru took it for real and is now left broken-hearted and RM60,000 ($20,000) poorer. The woman, a 50-year-old marketing manager who identified herself as Kai Li, told local Chinese newspaper...
Visitors to Universal Studios in Singapore will now have to pass through facial recognition scanners to enter the park, in the city-state’s latest foray with a technology that has stoked privacy concerns. Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), which owns the sprawling area of tourist attractions, hotels and restaurants in which the park sits, said the scheme which...
The Chinese entertainment scene is reeling from shock after the body of Taiwanese veteran TV host Luo Pei-ying was discovered last night (Aug 3). According to media reports, Pei-ying had been uncontactable over the last few days and a friend went to her home at 9pm — only to find the 59-year-old unresponsive and slumped on...
