PARIS: France is to allow the resumption of religious gatherings after a two-month hiatus caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, but worshippers will have to wear face masks, the French interior ministry announced. The ministry said late on Friday (May 22) that it would issue a decree setting out the new […]
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LONDON: Britain, Australia and Canada on Friday (May 22) said they were “deeply concerned” at China’s plans for a new security law in Hong Kong. The foreign ministers of the three countries joined growing global opposition to the move by Beijing to reduce Hong Kong’s separate legal status. They pointed […]
SINGAPORE: Pre-school and primary school students will each be given a face shield and hand sanitisers as they prepare to head back to the classroom from Jun 2. All pre-school teachers and staff members will also receive face shields and an oximeter, as part of an initiative by Temasek Foundation […]
CHICAGO: The United States plans a massive testing effort involving more than 100,000 volunteers and a half dozen or so of the most promising vaccine candidates in an effort to deliver a safe and effective one by the end of 2020, scientists leading the program told Reuters. The project will […]
REUTERS: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd on Friday reported forecast-beating fourth-quarter revenues and profits, as more people shopped online for essentials because of the coronavirus lockdowns. As people stayed indoors and brick-and-mortar stores remained shut during the health crisis, online orders surged, with the company’s core commerce business rising nearly 19per […]
Foreign workers inside Avery Lodge dormitory along 2D Jalan Papan SINGAPORE: The number of COVID-19 cases in Singapore topped 30,000 on Friday (May 22), with 614 new cases reported as of noon. This brings the total number of cases in the country to 30,426. The vast majority of the […]
NEW DELHI: India’s cricket board will not push for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia to be postponed but would consider staging the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October/November slot if it becomes available, a senior BCCI official has told Reuters. This year’s IPL, which is worth almost US$530 […]
BEIJING: China will encourage the people of Taiwan to join it in opposing the island’s independence and promoting China’s “reunification”, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday (May 22), a move likely to worsen Beijing’s poor relations with Taipei. China describes Taiwan as its most sensitive and important territorial issue, […]
MELBOURNE: Tokyo Games organisers face “real problems” staging the Olympics next year as coronavirus infections continue to soar, senior international Olympic official John Coates said. Coates, Australia’s Olympic chief and head of the International Olympic Committee’s inspectorate for Tokyo, said organisers had to assume there would be no vaccine for […]
TOKYO: Japan’s central bank on Friday (May 22) offered hundreds of billions of dollars in additional lending to help small firms in the world’s third-largest economy struggling with the economic devastation wrought by coronavirus. The Bank of Japan expanded its loan programme by 30 trillion yen (US$279 billion), bringing its […]