US coronavirus cases hit new global record, rising over 55,000 in single day

The United States reported more than 55,000 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, the largest daily increase any country has ever reported, according to a Reuters tally. A surge in coronavirus cases across the United States over the past week has put President Donald Trump's handling of the crisis under the microscope and led several governors to...

Coronavirus: Hongkonger who spent 3 months at airport finally enters city

A traveller who spent three months living inside Hong Kong International Airport amid the Covid-19 travel lockdown is a Hongkonger and has entered the city without needing to undergo quarantine, the Post has learned. The individual departed Canada on a Cathay Pacific flight heading to Vietnam in March but ended up remaining at the airport due...

Indonesian Ministry claims ‘antivirus necklace’ prevents Covid-19, experts beg to differ

The Agriculture Ministry plans to release a eucalyptus-based “antivirus necklace” that minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo claims can help prevent Covid-19 transmission. The “antivirus necklace” was “invented” by the ministry’s Health Research and Development Agency (Balitbangtan) and will be mass-produced next month, he said. It is one of four products developed by the ministry’s researchers intended to treat...

Bali holds mass prayers for reopening from coronavirus lockdown

Bali conducted mass prayers on Sunday as the Indonesian resort island prepares to reopen to tourists shut out due to the Covid-19 pandemic. More than a thousand people attended a prayer at Besakih Hindu temple in the town of Karangasem, expressing gratitude for the handling of the new coronavirus on the island and seeking blessings for...

J&J loses bid to overturn baby powder verdict, but damages cut to $2.9 billion

A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday rejected Johnson & Johnson's bid to throw out a jury verdict in favour of women who blamed their ovarian cancer on its baby powder and other talc products, but reduced damages by more than half, to $2.12 billion (S$2.9 billion). The Missouri Court of Appeals lowered the original $4.69 billion...

Judge orders Brazil president Bolsonaro to wear a mask due to Covid-19

A Brazilian judge ordered President Jair Bolsonaro to wear a mask in public after the right-wing populist attended political rallies without one in the middle of the world’s second-worst coronavirus outbreak. Federal Judge Renato Borelli ruled in a decision made public on Tuesday that Bolsonaro was subject to a fine of 2,000 reais (S$540) a day...

Taiwan investigates possible first local coronavirus case in 2 months

Taiwan has put more than 100 people under quarantine while it investigates its first possible local case of coronavirus infection in more than two months, a Japanese woman who tested positive last week, the government said on Wednesday (June 24). Taiwan's early and effective response has kept the pandemic at bay, with just 446 infections and...

Public memorial and funeral for Stanley Ho to be held in early July

The funeral of Stanley Ho Hung-sun, patriarch of Asia’s largest casino empire and the “King of Gambling” for more than half a century, will be held early next month, a family spokesman said on Wednesday. There will be a public memorial for the man, whose very name is synonymous with Macau’s rise to overtake Las Vegas...

Ex-policeman who lied mother was ill to borrow cash jailed for six weeks in Hong Kong

A former Hong Kong policeman who lied about his mother being critically ill to obtain a loan of HK$55,150 (S$9,900) from three officers has been jailed for six weeks. West Kowloon Court heard that Lam Chung-man duped three subordinates into lending him the money in May 2018 under the pretence that he needed quick cash to...

China loses appetite for salmon, seafood on coronavirus contamination worries

China's appetite for salmon and other seafood has crashed this month, after a resurgence in coronavirus infections in Beijing was traced to chopping boards for imported salmon in a wholesale food market in the capital. Exporters all the way to Europe are feeling the pinch as the virus scare prompts supermarkets and e-commerce players such as...