COVID-19 has killed more than 500,000 people worldwide, made millions more ill, and continues to wreak havoc. But as the saying goes – and without wishing to downplay this human tragedy in any way – it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good.
2020 is supposed to be a vibrant democratic year for a number of regions in Indonesia. It has been scheduled that on 23 September this year voters in approximately nine provinces, 24 regencies, and 37 cities throughout the archipelago will go to polling stations and decide their next local leaders.
Certainty is like a rainbow: wonderful but relatively rare. More often than not, we know that we don’t know. We may seek to remedy this by talking to people who may know what we want to know. But how do we know that they know? If we cannot ascertain whether they actually do know, we must trust them.Historically, we have bestowed our trust on the basis of science, experience, or divine inspiration.
Just a few weeks after the first COVID-19 cases started appearing outside China, South Korea launched a system for broadcasting the exact profiles and movements of individuals who had tested positive for the disease.
Widespread lockdowns and border closures aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic have interrupted global supply chains and largely paralysed the global economy.
Clothing and appearance have a long, profound, and evocative history in the Philippines. It has been influenced by a multiplicity of factors which include but not limited to class, culture, era, values, tastes, gender hierarchies, religion, customs, ideologies, and the prevailing and evolving psychology of Filipinos.
At the 36th ASEAN Summit via teleconferencing on Friday (26 June), some Southeast Asian leaders boldly raised the issue of the South China Sea (SCS) and China’s bullying behaviour while ASEAN chair Vietnam called for a rules-based order in the SCS.“While the entire world is stretched thin in the fight against the pandemic, irresponsible acts and acts in violation of international law are still taking place, affecting the environment of security and stability in certain regions, including our
Like the leading character in a long-running television series, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has kicked off the latest crisis on the Korean Peninsula with familiar theatrics. After cutting off all communications with South Korea earlier this month, the Kim regime bombed the building in which it had previously hosted South Korean diplomats. It has redeployed troops into demilitarised border areas and issued renewed threats of violence against the South.
There is no denying that single-use plastic has been a lifesaver in the fight against COVID-19, especially for frontline health workers. It has also facilitated adherence to social-distancing rules, by enabling home delivery of basic goods, especially food.
The days when cyberspace could be regarded as a lawless wild west are long over. The internet has become a critical part of our global infrastructure, and attacks against its core functions, especially in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, should be treated as the existential threats that they are.The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the internet is a critical – and uniquely global – part of our infrastructure.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is in the news mostly for the wrong reasons nowadays. Many people regard it as an ineffective policeman of an outdated rulebook that is unsuited for the challenges of the 21st-century global economy. And WTO members generally agree that the organisation urgently needs reforming in order to remain relevant.Recent months have brought further challenges.
By the time COVID-19 reached South Asia, it had already penetrated most other regions of the world. Pakistan was one of the first in the region to be hit. In late February, Shia pilgrims who had come in contact with Chinese pilgrims while visiting holy sites in Iran brought it home with them. Not long after, Indian expatriates visiting from the United States (US) carried the virus to India.
