SINGAPORE: Staycation packages with more perks and safety measures that are part of a “new normal” have been put in place by coronavirus-battered hotels in Singapore, after being given the green light to reopen their doors this month. Hotel operators that CNA reached out to say they have seen positive […]
LONDON: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will only impose another nationwide COVID-19 lockdown as a last resort, comparing the tool to “a nuclear deterrent” in a Sunday (Jul 19) newspaper interview. Johnson, who is hoping Britain can return to “normality” by Christmas despite fears of a second […]
SAO PAULO: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Saturday (Jul 18) that lockdown measures used to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus “kill” and have “suffocated” the country’s economy. “Without salaries and jobs, people die,” he said referring to restrictions imposed by some states and municipalities. “Lockdown kills,” he […]
GENEVA: The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, with the total rising by 259,848 in 24 hours. The biggest increases reported on Saturday (Jul 18) were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a […]
Funding organisations must invest more resources to overcome hurdles in developing antibody treatments for the coronavirus, say observers. BRUSSELS: As many countries progressively relax their COVID-19 containment measures, preventing a renewed spread of the coronavirus from emerging infection clusters will be key to controlling the pandemic. This will require the […]
DUBAI: President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday (Jul 18) that some 25 million Iranians may have been infected with COVID-19, as Iran reimposed restrictions in the capital and elsewhere. The figure, from a report Rouhani cited in a televised speech, was far higher than Saturday’s official figure for infections of […]
JERUSALEM: Israeli police used water cannons to disperse demonstrators around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence on Saturday (Jul 18) as protests mounted against him over alleged corruption and his handling of the coronavirus crisis. Hit by high unemployment, a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases and reimposed coronavirus curbs, Israelis have […]
NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday (Jul 18) accused world powers of ignoring inequality in global institutions, but said the coronavirus pandemic has created a “generational opportunity” to build a more equal, sustainable world. Delivering the annual lecture for the Nelson Mandela Foundation via internet, Guterres pushed for […]
PARIS: France will enforce mask-wearing in enclosed public spaces including banks, shops and indoor markets from Jul 20, Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Saturday (Jul 18), as part of efforts to curb a resurgence of COVID-19 across the country. The government has accelerated plans to make it compulsory to […]
PARIS: A blaze that broke inside the gothic cathedral in the French city of Nantes on Saturday (Jul 18) has been contained, emergency officials said, adding that the damage was not comparable to last year’s fire at Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. “The damage is concentrated on the organ, which seems […]