Morning Briefing: Top stories from The Straits Times on Oct 5

Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Tuesday, Oct 5.


Singapore passes law to counter foreign interference after 10-hour Parliament debate

Bill was passed with 75 MPs saying “yes”, 11 from the WP and PSP objecting, and two NMPs abstaining.   

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Pritam calls for more checks in law on foreign interference to guard against abuse

The new law gives exceptional power to the executive branch, said the WP chief.

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Foreign interference law is necessary, but so too is good communication

Given the need for Fica, a whole-of-government and whole-of-society effort is now needed to double down on transparency commitments, says senior political correspondent Grace Ho.

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8 seniors die from Covid-19 complications; 2,475 new cases in S’pore

5 of them were vaccinated, 3 were unvaccinated, and all had various underlying medical conditions.

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Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp partly reconnecting after nearly six-hour outage

Experts said the disruption could be the result of an internal mistake, though insider sabotage was possible.

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Home recovery programme didn’t start well but ‘things are improving day by day’: Ong Ye Kung

It was in the middle of a trial run but the country has planned ahead for the spike in cases.

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Analysis: A confused population cannot pull together to fight the Covid-19 pandemic

Frequent changes in Covid-19 policies send conflicting messages to the public, says senior health correspondent Salma Khalik.

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Grandmother hospitalised after taking ivermectin to ‘protect herself’ against Covid-19

She did so on urging of her church friends, but fell violently ill on second day of taking pills. 

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Delayed Hanoi SEA Games expected to be held in May 2022

Public not enthused amid Covid-19; March-April possible if Asian Indoor Games are postponed.

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S’poreans explore the world safely: Pandemic travel tips from four women

The stories of these travellers demonstrate how it is possible to explore the world again with peace of mind.

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