Category: Asia News

On Monday, Israel’s coronavirus cabinet decided to impose the curfew due to the recent rise in Covid-19 cases…reports Asian Lite News

The night curfew in Israel, which was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, is likely to be cancelled, country’s state-owned Kan News has reported.

On Monday, Israel’s coronavirus cabinet decided to impose the curfew due to the recent rise in Covid-19 cases, Xinhua reported.

However, legal difficulties, pointed out by Israel’s Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri, will prompt the Israeli government to consider other restrictions at its meeting on Wednesday.

The difficulties came from the position of the Israeli health ministry, according to which the curfew is ineffective, and this can lead to petitions to the High Court against the legality of the curfew, said the report.

Another cabinet decision, which is not expected to be canceled, regulated that passengers returning from abroad would be required to undergo a coronavirus test at the airport as a condition for entering quarantine at home. Those who refuse to take the test would be required to enter quarantine at hotels.

Also read:Israel’s annual budget deficit sets record

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech last month agreed to provide Israel with 8 million doses of the vaccine, which Britain became the first country to administer on Tuesday…reports Asian Lite News

Israel received an initial shipment of Pfizer Inc coronavirus vaccines on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, a day earlier than first announced.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech last month agreed to provide Israel with 8 million doses of the vaccine, which Britain became the first country to administer on Tuesday.

The prime minister’s office said in a statement Netanyahu would be at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport when a plane carrying the first shipment of the vaccine lands later on Wednesday.

Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said earlier this week a first batch of vaccines would arrive in Israel on Thursday to be administered on the elderly and other high-risk populations.

Israeli media reported Wednesday’s shipment would be small and used in a trial run to test transportation and storage procedures, while a larger batch containing 110,000 doses would arrive on Thursday.

Israel, with a population of 9 million, has reported 347,497 coronavirus cases and 2,925 deaths.

Also read:Israel’s annual budget deficit sets record

“The pain and trauma inflicted on us in 1971 motivate us to seek an end to genocide anywhere and demand justice for the victims of this heinous crime,” said Hasina…reports Sumi Khan

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that on March 25, 1971, the Pakistani occupation forces unleashed brutal mass killings on the innocent civilian population of erstwhile East Pakistan.

The massacre was carried out to deny the “Bangalee” nation their legitimate demand for self-determination and annihilate their ethnic political identity, the PM added.

Hasina also said: “On this day, let us reaffirm our commitment to ‘never again’ to genocide for the sake of humanity and global peace.”

“The pain and trauma inflicted on us in 1971 motivate us to seek an end to genocide anywhere and demand justice for the victims of this heinous crime,” she added.

“On the occasion of the ‘International Day of Commemoration and ‘Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime’ as well as the ’72nd anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide’, Bangladesh joins the international community in paying solemn tribute to the victims of genocide throughout the history of the world and reiterates its firm commitment to preventing such heinous crimes,” Hasina said.

The PM added that Bangladesh is among the few countries that have experienced one of the worst forms of genocide during the War of Liberation in 1971.

Hasina called upon the international community to undertake concerted action to address the root causes of genocide, identifying early signs and ensuring justice to the victims to prevent the recurrence of any future genocide anywhere in the world.

She added that to pay deep homage to the victims of the Genocide of 1971 and uphold the country’s commitment to prevent these crimes against humanity, the country’s parliament has decided to observe March 25 as ‘Genocide Day’ and accordingly the day is observed every year in Bangladesh and all over the world by the Bangladeshi people, who love their motherland.

Also read:Pak Man Kills Christian woman on rejection

The office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has denied rumours about his health, it was reported.

On Monday, Mehdi Fazaeli, an official at Iran’s Office for the Preservation and Publication of the Works of the Leader of the Revolution, denied the rumours, Xinhua quoted semi-official Fars news agency as saying.

“Whether the enemy likes it or not, the leader is in good health and cheerful, carrying out his duties according to the usual routine,” Fazaeli said in a tweet.

On December 5, American magazine Newsweek, citing an Iranian journalist, reported that “Khamenei has transferred power to his son Mojtaba over health concerns”.

Khamenei, the second Supreme Leader of Iran, has been in office since 1989.

He was previously President of Iran from 1981 to 1989.

Khamenei is the longest serving head of state in the Middle East, as well as the second-longest serving Iranian leader of the last century, after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Also Read: US sanctions block Iran’s purchase of vaccine

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