Bangladeshi migrant worker MD Sharif Uddin used to spend his days off with friends outside his cramped Singapore dormitory, but coronavirus curbs have for 18 months left him stuck inside during his spare time.More than 300,000 migrant workers, many of them from South Asia, live in dorms in the prosperous city-state, where they are typically packed into shared rooms and sleep on bunk beds. The vast complexes were hit by COVID-19 and locked down at the start of the pandemic, while rest

After being let go from his part-time job as a waiter last year during the pandemic, Danny Goh hit rock bottom.For eight months, he struggled to find work to support his wife and four young children.

Singapore's healthcare system is at risk of being "overwhelmed" by surging coronavirus infections, government officials warned Wednesday, a day after the city-state expanded quarantine-free travel as it shifts its approach to dealing with the pandemic.The health ministry reported 18 deaths on Wednesday – Singapore's highest toll in a single day – and 3,862 more cases, just shy of the record 3,994 tallied the day before. "At the current situation, we face cons

Singapore's parliament late Monday passed a law aimed at preventing foreign interference in domestic politics, which the opposition and activists have criticised as a tool to crush dissent.The law, approved after a marathon session that stretched to near midnight, would allow authorities to compel internet service providers and social media platforms to provide user information, block content and remove applications used to spread content they deem hostile.Groups and individuals involved

A survey of senior Singapore-based business leaders conducted by BBC Global News in June 2021 has found that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how they consume, engage and share the news.

United States (US) Vice President Kamala Harris vowed "enduring engagement" in Asia on Monday, offering reassurances of Washington's commitment to the region even as the US completes its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover.The hard-line Islamists' swift return to power a week ago, and desperate scenes of thousands trying to flee, have cast a shadow over the US' status as a global superpower.But on a visit to Singapore, her first stop on a trip

United States (US) Vice President Kamala Harris began a trip to Asia Sunday where she will offer reassurances of Washington's commitment to the region after the chaotic US pull-out from Afghanistan and Taliban takeover.The hard-line Islamists' swift return to power a week ago, and desperate scenes of thousands trying to flee, have cast another shadow over the US' status as a global superpower.But on her visit, which includes stops in Singapore and Vietnam, Harris will seek to a

Tiziano Terzani was no fan of Singapore. The Florentine writer and journalist explored every corner of Asia. He had witnessed the fall of Saigon to the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong, and the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday warned the United States (US) against aggressively challenging China, saying Washington's increasingly hard-line views could be "very dangerous."He said the US had moved from an approach of healthy competition with China to the view that America "must win, one way or another.""There is (US) bipartisan consensus today on one thing, which is relations with China," he told the Aspen Security Forum."But th

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that Beijing's expansive claims in the South China Sea have "no basis in international law", taking aim at China's growing assertiveness in the hotly contested waters.Austin's broadside came at the start of his first trip to Southeast Asia as United States (US) defence secretary, as he seeks to rally allies in the region as a bulwark to China.President Joe Biden's administration wants to reset relations with Asian countrie