SINGAPORE
‘No hurry’ on plastics ban
Singapore is not “in a hurry” to ban plastic bags because it burns the waste to produce energy, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu (傅海燕) said on Wednesday. As the nation incinerates plastic waste to generate power, the value of banning plastic bags “is a little different” than for other countries, the Today newspaper reported her as saying.
INDONESIA
Virus ‘opportunity’ hailed
President Joko Widodo yesterday called on citizens to turn the COVID-19 pandemic into an advancement opportunity and pledged healthcare reforms ahead of the country’s 75th anniversary of independence. Widodo told members of parliament and top officials that the resilience and capacity of health services must be improved on a massive scale. “This crisis has forced us to change our way of work, from standard ways to outstanding ways, from ordinary ways to extraordinary ways, from a long and complicated procedure to a smart shortcut,” Widodo said. “We must undertake fundamental reforms in the way we work, our readiness and speed are being tested.”
NEW ZEALAND
Outbreak spreads south
A new outbreak of COVID-19 has spread beyond Auckland, health officials said yesterday. Minister of Health Chris Hipkins said there were 12 more cases of community transmission and one probable. Two of the infections were found in the North Island town of Tokoroa, about 210km south of Auckland, despite a strict lockdown of the nation’s largest city. Later yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended the Auckland lockdown until Aug. 26.
UNITED STATES
Shower changes mooted
The administration of President Donald Trump said that it was working to change the definition of a showerhead to let more water flow. Since 1992, federal law has dictated that new showerheads, regardless of the number of nozzles, should not pour more than 9.5 liters of water per minute. A proposal on Wednesday would allow each nozzle to spray 9.5 liters, not just the overall showerhead.
UNITED STATES
Biden urges blanket masks
Former vice president and presidential hopeful Joe Biden on Thursday called for a nationwide mask mandate. “Wearing the mask is less about you contracting the virus, it’s about preventing other people from getting sick,” Biden said. “This is America. Be a patriot. Protect your fellow citizens. Step up, do the right thing. Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months at a minimum — every governor should mandate mandatory mask wearing.”
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
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