Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
Bangladesh announces COVID-19 farm relief package, India seen extending lockdown
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DHAKA: Bangladesh on Sunday (Apr 12) announced a relief package worth about US$1.7 billion to help farmers struggling because of restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus, with neighbouring India expected to further extend its nationwide lockdown. Bangladesh has extended its lockdown by 11 days to Apr 25, a move that could exacerbate
Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
COVID-19 cases, deaths rise in India’s biggest slum
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NEW DELHI: Coronavirus cases in Mumbai’s densely populated Dharavi slum – one of Asia’s biggest – have risen to 43 including four deaths, officials said on Sunday (Apr 12) as they ramp up testing in a race to contain the spread of the illness. Since the first virus death in early April, Indian authorities have stepped
Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
COVID-19: 9 in 10 Singaporeans will receive S$600 payout on Apr 14
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SINGAPORE: Nine in 10 Singaporeans will on Tuesday (Apr 14) receive the S$600 one-off cash payout announced as part of the Solidarity Budget earlier this month, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Sunday. Last Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced that all adult Singaporeans aged 21 and above would receive a one-off Solidarity Payment
Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
China steps up scrutiny of inbound travellers as imported COVID-19 cases hit record
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SHANGHAI: China is stepping up scrutiny of inbound foreigners and tightening border control after the number of single-day imported coronavirus cases set a record, helping double the daily number of newly detected infections. New confirmed cases in mainland China reached 99 on Apr 11 from 46 the previous day, with all but two involving travellers
Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
‘I owe them my life’: Out of intensive care, UK’s Boris Johnson praises medics
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LONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he owes his life to the staff of Britain’s state-run National Health Service, in his first comments since being released from intensive care for treatment for COVID-19. Johnson, 55, was taken to St Thomas’s Hospital in central London a week ago, suffering from persistent symptoms of the disease caused
Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
Sri Lanka Catholic church forgives 2019 Easter suicide bombers
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COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic Church said Sunday (Apr 12) it had forgiven the suicide bombers behind the attacks that killed at least 279 people last Easter. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith told an Easter mass – broadcast from a TV studio because of the coronavirus pandemic – that “we offered love to the enemies who tried to
Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
Indonesia orders COVID-19 transport curbs ahead of Ramadan exodus
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JAKARTA: Indonesia has imposed curbs on public transport ahead of the annual exodus to home villages that marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the government said on Sunday (Apr 12). About 75 million Indonesians usually stream home from bigger cities at
Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
Malaysia’s AirAsia founders not taking salary; staff members accept up to 75% pay cut
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KUALA LUMPUR: The founders of Malaysia’s AirAsia Group will not take salaries and its staff has agreed to an as much as 75 per cent cut in pay due to the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on the airline, its chief executive said late on Saturday (Apr 11). Tony Fernandes said in an Instagram
Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
Wet markets in China’s Wuhan struggle to survive COVID-19 blow
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WUHAN, Hubei: Fish and vegetable merchants are reopening stalls at wet markets in China’s central city of Wuhan as it lifts a months-long lockdown against the coronavirus pandemic, but their future looks uncertain with few customers as the virus stigma persists. The virus, which has infected 1.6 million people and killed 106,000 in 214 countries,
Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
Rising unemployment from COVID-19 fight threatens China’s poverty targets
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BEIJING: Although China is claiming success in its battle against the coronavirus, millions have lost their jobs in the economic fallout, throwing into jeopardy an ambitious target to eradicate poverty this year. Beijing has been working to fire up the economy again after bringing it to a near standstill to curb the spread of COVID-19,
Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
Overtime for French coffin industry as COVID-19 deaths surge
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JUSSEY, France: It’s a grim truth that times are good for the coffin business when they’re bad for people, and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception. At a factory belonging to Europe’s largest coffin maker, OGF, in eastern France, workers are doing overtime to meet demand from families parting with their loved ones. Advertisement Advertisement
Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
Traditional Japanese seal system hampers telework for some
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TOKYO: Some Japanese office workers are facing a small, but insurmountable hurdle to staying home under the state of emergency declared in parts of the country over the virus: personal signature stamps. A reliance on paper filing systems in parts of Japan’s business world is forcing employees to go into work to put their unique seal
Written by Gabriel HerveyApril 12, 2020
Pandemic spells death sentence for India’s non-virus patients
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NEW DELHI: Liver patient Shahjahan’s family feared the worst when a New Delhi public hospital told her to leave because her bed was needed in a coronavirus unit. The 40-year-old mother had been on a ventilator with an acute infection for almost two weeks when she left Lok Nayak hospital on Tuesday night (Apr 7). Advertisement
Commentary: The battle over office leave has been worsened by the coronavirus
Commentary Commentary Annual leave rosters were always a nightmare to devise but now they have become impossible, says the Financial Times’ Pilita Clark. Don’t get too comfortable when working from home. (Photo: Unsplash/Designecologist) 12 Apr 2020 04:54PM(Updated: 12 Apr 2020 05:00PM) Bookmark LONDON: At the start of this year I made a plan to spend