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Vietnam buys Indian rice for first time in decades
MUMBAI/HANOI: Vietnam, the world’s third biggest exporter of rice, has started buying the grain from rival India for the first time in decades after local prices jumped to their highest in nine years amid limited domestic supplies, four industry officials
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A tale of two cities – Wuhan and New York
CNN news headlined: “Thousands packed the streets to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged, as other cities worldwide were deserted”. This is the modern story of “A Tale of Two Cities”, the historical novel by Charles
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Sensex, Nifty hit record high as country approves COVID-19 vaccines
BENGALURU: Indian shares hit record highs on Monday to kick off the first trading week of the new year, after the country gave emergency use approvals to two coronavirus vaccines over the weekend, lifting investor sentiment. The blue chip NSE
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Japan eyes declaring another state of emergency for Tokyo, vicinity: PM
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Monday the government would consider declaring a state of emergency for the Greater Tokyo metropolitan area as coronavirus cases climb and strain the country’s medical system. The possible emergency declaration would mark
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The Muslim Council of Britain to launch legal action against Sri Lankan government’s ‘forced cremations’
London: The ongoing ‘forced cremation’ policy by the Sri Lankan Government of COVID-19 deceased has included a 20-day old baby and over 100 Muslims according to sources. In response to this, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has set up
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S. Korea confirms COVID-19 variant from arrivals from Britain
SEOUL: South Korea’s health authorities on Monday confirmed the country’s first cases of a more transmissible COVID-19 variant from three arrivals from Britain, Yonhap News Agency reported. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the South Korean nationals
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COVID-19: M’sian woman among five new cases in S’pore
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed that one of the five imported COVID-19 cases in the republic announced Sunday is a 23-year-old Malaysian woman who served her Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at a hotel here. The MOH said she was transferred to another dedicated facility on
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Indonesia names new Health Minister
JAKARTA: While Indonesia recorded another 7,514 new positive cases of COVID-19 on Dec 23, hopes are now focused on the newly appointed Health Minister to deal with the virus infection which continues to rise. Budi Gunadi Sadikin, 56, took his oath as the island republic’s
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Japan prosecutors questioned ex-PM Abe over dinner functions spending
TOKYO: Japan’s Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been questioned by prosecutors over allegations that his political group illegally covered part of the cost of dinner receptions for supporters, sources close to the matter said Tuesday. The prosecutors, who questioned
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Singapore gets Asia’s 1st batch of Pfizer-BioNTech Jab
ANKARA: Singapore has received the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to arrive in Asia, officials announced Tuesday, reported Anadolu Agency quoting the statement of Singapore Airlines (SIA). The statement said it has delivered the first shipment of the vaccines to the country,
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