The latest figure surpasses the previous record of 678 confirmed on Wednesday, amid growing concerns over the virus resurgence and the impact on the medical system..reports Asian Lite News
The Tokyo metropolitan government on Thursday confirmed a record number of 822 new coronavirus cases, marking the first time single-day infections have topped the 800-mark in the Japanese capital.
The latest figure surpasses the previous record of 678 confirmed on Wednesday, amid growing concerns over the virus resurgence and the impact on the medical system, reports Xinhua news agency.
The capital city now accounts for a total of 48,717 confirmed cases and 532 deaths.
Earlier in the day, the metropolitan government had raised its alert level to the highest on its four-tier scale regarding the strain on the medical system brought about by the recent surge in coronavirus cases.
The local government raising the alert level marks the first time it has done so since the outbreak of the virus in the country.
Hospitals in the capital of 14 million have been forced to use ordinary beds to treat patients with Covid-19.
A panel of medical experts warned at a meeting of officials monitoring the virus situation, as the medical system in some quarters has begun showing signs of buckling under the strain.
Since mid-November, the number of coronavirus cases has been rising exponentially in Tokyo, the hardest hit by the virus among Japan’s 47 prefectures.
With cases also rising nationwide, some medical professionals believe the country is currently in the grip of a “third wave” of infections.
Japan has so far reported more than 188,000 coronavirus cases and 2,623 deaths.
Israel is aiming to attract around 100,000 tourists from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) annually, Tourism Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen said during a virtual press conference in Dubai. Addressing the Minister said: “Tourism is key to building a lasting peace between countries, and Israel looks forward to welcoming travellers from the UAE.”
Direct flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv have already been launched, Xinhua news agency reported.
Dubai-based budget carrier flydubai has started operating 14 flights a week offering a double daily service between Dubai International Airport and Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport.
Israel’s Israir, meanwhile, was the first Israeli airline to operate a commercial flight to Dubai.
Farkash-Hacohen is expecting there will be 25 weekly flights between UAE and Israel beginning next month.
She added that “the visa-free entry for citizens of the two countries will take effect by end of this month or early January, and this will reduce the bureaucracy when visiting the two countries”.
Israeli Tourism Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen (Official Twitter Profile)
The UAE and Israel signed a mutual visa waiver agreement, enabling Emirati and Israeli travellers to obtain visa-on-arrival.
At the moment, however, Farkash-Hacohen noted Israel is still limiting the influx of tourists due to the pandemic.
“We grade countries based on their level of Covid-19 infection,” she added.
Travellers returning from “red” countries (those with high levels of Covid-19 cases) are required to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival in Israel.
The Health Ministry, meanwhile, currently lists the UAE as a “green” area.
The development comes as Israel and the UAE agreed to formally normalise their relations in mid-August and signed a normalisation agreement at the White House on September 15.
The Arab states of the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco have recognised Israel in recent months.
Also on Wednesday, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) signed an agreement to explore potential opportunities for collaboration and cross-listing of securities, a state media report said.
The MoU will facilitate the development of channels of communication to foster co-operation between the two exchanges and contribute to the growth of the capital markets in the UAE and Israel.
This was the first time an Arab exchange has entered into a commercial relationship with the state of Israel, according to the media report.
A 20-day break in intra-Afghan negotiations and coming transition in the United States form the backdrop of Taliban’s latest visit to Islamabad…reports Asian Lite News
A delegation from Taliban’s Qatar- based political office is reaching Islamabad on Wednesday on a three-day trip for consultations on ongoing Afghan peace process.
The delegation led by Taliban’s deputy chief for political affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Barader will meet Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during its stay in Islamabad, the Dawn reported.
The visit is taking place on Pakistan government’s invitation, a Taliban spokesman said.
A 20-day break in intra-Afghan negotiations and coming transition in the United States form the backdrop of Taliban’s latest visit to Islamabad.
Afghan government and Taliban negotiators have taken the break to consult their principals on the negotiations on the agenda of the talks.
Meanwhile, the change at the White House next month, intensified fighting in Afghanistan and lack of clarity about the next venue for the talks have inserted an element of uncertainty into the process.
Taliban delegation’s visit follows closely on the heels of a trip by US Special Envoy for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad to Islamabad on Monday.
The anxiety in Washington about the break was obvious from the envoy’s social media messages.
Amb Khalilzad, after his arrival in Islamabad, tweeted: “Tragically, the war continues. The need for a political settlement, reduction in violence, and a ceasefire remain urgent.”
“Given how much is at stake, it is imperative that there is no delays in resumption of talks and they must resume on Jan 5 as agreed,” he said in another tweet.
Pakistan this year not only helped the US and Taliban sign their agreement, but also facilitated the start of intra-Afghan negotiations and more lately the agreement on rules and procedures for the dialogue.
The Prime Minister, during his visit to Kabul last month, assured the Afghan leadership of Pakistan’s cooperation for reduction in violence in Afghanistan. He told President Ashraf Ghani that “we will do whatever is within our reach”.
Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa in his meeting with Amb Khalilzad assured him of Pakistan’s continued support for efforts for regional peace and stability.
The rocket will be filled with propellant and readied for launch in late December.reports Asian Lite News
China’s Long March-8 Y1 rocket was vertically transported to the launching area of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China’s Hainan Province on Wednesday, according to the China National Space Administration.
Next, the rocket will be filled with propellant and readied for launch in late December, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Last week, China launched two satellites for the detection of gravitational waves into planned orbit.
The launch took place at 4.14 a.m. from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, reports Xinhua news agency.
The two satellites, which compose the Gravitational Wave High-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) mission, were launched by a Long March-11 carrier rocket.
Thursday’s launch was the 355th mission of the Long March rocket series.
Without counting the migrant workers, fewer than 4,000 people have tested positive in Singapore…reports Asian Lite News
New data shows that 152,000 foreign workers – 47 per cent – have been infected.
In comparison, it is estimated less than 11 per cent of London’s population have been infected since the pandemic began, the BBC reported.
Without counting the migrant workers, fewer than 4,000 people have tested positive in Singapore.
The men, the majority of whom live in large dormitories where several men share a room amid cramped facilities, have essentially been quarantined from the rest of the population since cases exploded in April.
Over the past months, infections in both the general population and the migrant dormitories have dropped to almost zero and authorities have just announced a further easing of restrictions for the general population.
But Singapore’s foreign workers – typically low-wage migrant labourers from South Asia who largely work in the construction and manufacturing sectors – still face restrictions on their freedom of movement which will only be gradually lifted next year.
PIC CREDIT: IANS
“There is no justification for Singapore to treat migrant workers like prisoners,” Alex Au of the charity Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) said. “Many have been locked in for eight months.”
The new figure is a combination of the normal PCR coronavirus tests – which check whether a person currently has the virus – and a separate drive of serology tests which trace whether a person has had it at in the past.
Around 54,500 workers have tested positive in the PCR test while another 98,000 were found via the serology test. The previous number had been public before, while the latter was released only on Monday.
Singapore’s Health Ministry said that by August, the entire worker population had been tested at least once, with either of the two types of tests.
The ministry said anyone who tested positive was isolated including those that were found to only have carried the virus in the past. Authorities also said they provided the workers with medical care and assistance.
The combined 152,000 cases among the foreign workers make up almost half of the 323,000 workers living in dormitories across the island state.
PIC CREDIT: IANS
But with some 65,000 workers’ serology tests still pending, the percentage might still go up.
“These new figures don’t surprise us,” Mr Au said. “During the middle of the year, workers who tested positive were telling us that they were told to stay in their rooms and not taken into isolation. They remained in contact with their room-mates.”
“But this is history,” Mr Au said. “We’re more concerned that Singapore continues to treat the workers as prisoners even though the same statement by the ministry says that ‘since October, no new cases were detected in the dormitories on many days’.”
He argues that since the active infection rate is virtually zero and workers are tested regularly every two weeks, there is no reason to place such hard restrictions on them.
PIC CREDIT : IANS
The country’s first coronavirus cases were were registered in January but a meticulous contact tracing programme managed to keep the infections in check initially.
But when the virus began spreading among migrant workers, authorities struggled to trace and isolate all of the infected and numbers began to skyrocket in that community.
Out of Singapore’s 58,341 total positive PCR tests to date, 93% have been among that migrant worker community.
In response to the high infection rate, many of the dorms – often holding thousands of workers – were placed under quarantine in April, essentially locking the workers inside.
The people of Bangladesh on Wednesday celebrated the 50th Victory Day. On December 16, 1971, Lt. Gen Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, the Chief Martial Law Administrator of East Pakistan and Commander of Pakistan Army forces located in East Pakistan had signed the Instrument of Surrender the led to the formation of Bangladesh.
Niazi had signed the Instrument and Surrender in the presence of Jagjit Singh Aurora, who was representing the Indian and Bangladesh Forces in Dhaka.
The country was liberated from the Pakistani occupation on the day after a nine-month-long bloodstained War of Liberation in 1971.
At the time of surrender only a few countries had provided diplomatic recognition to the new nation. Over 93,000 Pakistani troops surrendered to the Indian forces and Bangladesh Liberation forces, making it the largest surrender since World War II.
Bangladesh was born as an independent country under the leadership of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the cost of supreme sacrifice of three million people and the honour of nearly half a million women.
Though the pandemic Covid-19 has almost paralysed the whole world barring the people from attending any public gathering in person, the celebration of the Victory Day got a different dimension.
The day is set to be celebrated as Mujib Borsho, on the occasion of the birth centenary of Bangabandhu from March 2020-March 2021, just ahead of the country’s golden jubilee year of Independence to be celebrated in 2021.
Sheikh Hasina.
On behalf of President M. Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina their representatives laid the wreath at the altar of the National Memorial around 6.30 a.m.
Both of them paid rich tributes to the martyrs of the Liberation War by placing wreaths at the National Memorial in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, marking the 50th Victory Day.
After placing the wreath, the representatives stood there in solemn silence for a while as a mark of profound respect to the memories of the martyrs of the Great War of Liberation in 1971.
Bangladesh’s first government was sworn in in front of local and foreign journalists officially and it began its duties. With the Declaration of Independence on March 6, the country was officially declared as an independent sovereign state.
Bangladesh sought admission to the UN with most voting in its favour, but China vetoed this as Pakistan was its key ally.
The US, also a key ally of Pakistan, was one of the last nations to accord Bangladesh recognition.
To ensure a smooth transition, in 1972 the Simla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan. The treaty ensured that Pakistan recognised the independence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of the Pakistani PoWs.
India treated all the PoWs in strict accordance with the Geneva Convention, rule 1925 released more than 93,000 Pakistani PoWs in five months. Further, as a gesture of goodwill, nearly 200 soldiers who were sought for war crimes by Bengalis were also pardoned by India.
Bangladesh government has organised elaborate programs to celebrate the day at the national level, maintaining the health guidelines in face of the global pandemic Covid-19.
The programs include a 31-gun salute, placing of wreaths at the monuments to pay homage to martyrs, hoisting of the national flags atop all government, semi-government and private offices as well as offices of autonomous bodies across the country, decorating city streets with miniature national flags and colourful festoons, and illumination of important buildings and establishments, roads and street islands at night.
Improved diets will be served to inmates of jails, hospitals, orphanages, and vagrant homes across the country.
Speaking via video conference here on Monday, Norov said the digital economy and cross-border e-commerce will play an increasingly important role in rebuilding the world economy after the Covid-19..reports Asian Lite News
Vladimir Norov, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), said the coronavirus pandemic, despite its enormous damage to public health and global economy, had brought new opportunities by accelerating digital transformation.
Speaking via video conference here on Monday, Norov said the digital economy and cross-border e-commerce will play an increasingly important role in rebuilding the world economy after the Covid-19 in terms of achieving economic growth, increasing the competitiveness of economies and improving the quality of lives, thus contributing to sustainable development goals, reports Xinhua news agency.
“In times of Covid-19, global online retail sales are on the rise, and additional jobs are being created,” he added, according to a statement issued by the Islamabad-based think tank, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
The SDPI has organised a four-day conference titled, ‘Sustainable Development in the Times of Covid-19’, according to the statement.
“This year’s SCO Summit concluded while finalizing an action plan for the implementation of the SCO development strategy 2025, which focuses on the early recovery of our economies from the pandemic,” the SCO Secretary-General said.
SDPI Joint Executive Director Vaqar Ahmed said that the action plan for the SCO development strategy is comprehensive and would provide an opportunity for all member countries to cooperate.
He said the digital transformation approach of SCO is welcomed and various sub-regional economic corridors will contribute to regional integration.
The spokesperson called on the two sides to uphold the spirit of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, focus on cooperation and manage differences, so as to promote the sound and steady development of bilateral ties…reports Asian Lite News
China on Tuesday called to boosting bilateral ties with the US after the American Electoral College officially certified President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November 3 presidential election.
Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a query on the Electoral College vote on Monday that certified Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s victory, reports Xinhua news agency.
“China has noticed the election results,” Wang said, adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping had sent a congratulatory message to Biden on November 25.
The spokesperson called on the two sides to uphold the spirit of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, focus on cooperation and manage differences, so as to promote the sound and steady development of bilateral ties.
On Monday, electors from every US state gathered at Capitols across the country and voted 306 for Biden and 232 for President Donald Trump.
The former US Vice President has now officially surpassed 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the White House.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram to Biden and congratulated the latter on his victory following the Electoral College vote.
This was the first congratulatory message by Russia to Biden since he was projected the winner just days after the November 3 election.
Members of US Congress are expected to certify the Electoral College vote on January 6, 2021, after which Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President on January 20.
JERUSALEM, Jan. 23, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during the 5th World Holocaust Forum at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, on Jan. 23, 2020. Dozens of world leaders gathered on Thursday in Jerusalem to commemorate 75 years for the liberation of the Auschwitz camp and called on to combat the resurgence of modern-day anti-Semitism. (Yonatan Sindel/JINI via Xinhua/IANS)
Putin wished Biden a successful tenure and said he personally “was ready for cooperation and contacts” with the President-elect, the statement said…reports Asian Lite News
Moscow, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) — Russian President Vladimir Putin (Sputnik via Xinhua/IANS)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a telegram to US President-elect Joe Biden on his victory in the November 3 American presidential election, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a congratulatory telegram to Joe Biden on the occasion of his US presidential election victory,” TASS News Agency quoted the Kremlin as saying in a statement.
Putin wished Biden a successful tenure and said he personally “was ready for cooperation and contacts” with the President-elect, the statement said.
The message from the Russian President further said that despite differences, the US and Russia can help solve many world problems, RT News reported citing the Kremlin statement.
The congratulatory message came hours after after Biden won the US Electoral College vote that officially determines the presidency.
The members of the Electoral College officially sealed Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s election on Monday after they met in state legislatures.
Joseph R. Biden @JoeBiden has been declared the winner of the US presidential election. Congratulations from Vladimir Putin: https://t.co/l3CdwE51xt
They voted 306 for Biden and 232 for President Donald Trump.
This is the first congratulatory message by Russia to Biden since he was projected the winner just days after the November 3 election.
At that time, Russia had said that it was “proper to wait for the official results” referring to certification of the outcome by the US Electoral College, which voted on Monday in favour of Biden.
“The current President has announced certain legal procedures. This is what makes the situation different. Therefore, we believe it’s right to wait for the official results of the elections to be announced,” RT News quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskovas saying at the time.
Jerusalem, Sept. 13, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a briefing on COVID-19 pandemic in Israel at his office in Jerusalem, on Sept. 13, 2020. Israel will reimpose a nationwide lockdown for three weeks, beginning on Friday, to slow a rapid resurgence of coronavirus infections, the government decided on Sunday. (Yoav Dudkevitch/JINI via Xinhua/IANS)
This is the third time the 71-year-old Prime Minister has entered a quarantine after coming into contact with people diagnosed positive for the virus….reports Asian Lite News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has self-quarantined after coming into contact with a person who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his office said.
“Following an epidemiological inquiry, the Prime Minister will enter isolation until Friday after meeting with a verified coronavirus patient,” Xinhua news agency quoted the office as saying in a statement on Monday.
Netanyahu underwent a Covid-19 test on Sunday and Monday and was found negative, the office added.
This is the third time the 71-year-old Prime Minister has entered a quarantine after coming into contact with people diagnosed positive for the virus.
In April, he had to enter isolation twice in the same week after being exposed to Covid-19 patients.
Israel has reported a resurgence of the virus outbreak, with a total of 358,293 diagnosed cases and 3,003 deaths, according to figures issued by the Health Ministry.
