Isolating Indonesia palm workers to spend Eid holiday on plantation
Thousands of Indonesian palm oil workers who are in lockdown on plantations due to the coronavirus outbreak will have to stay put for Eid celebrations this weekend, rather than go home to celebrate the end of Ramadan with their families.
Uzbekistan to liberalise electoral, media law
Uzbekistan plans to liberalise its electoral and media laws, the government said on Friday, in a move that could make its tightly controlled political system more open and reduce Western criticism of its record on democracy and human rights.
Trapped migrant workers suffer from Lebanon’s dollar crisis, lockdown
Temitope can’t find work in Lebanon since the Nigerian domestic worker escaped her employer’s house last month.
UK government took decision to stop mass testing and tracing in March: advisers
Britain decided to end mass testing and contact tracing of those with or suspected of having COVID-19 in March because a surge in new cases at that time would have been beyond the system’s capacity, government advisers said on Friday.
Pakistan’s PIA aircraft with 107 passengers on board crashes in Karachi: officials
A PIA aircraft with 99 passengers and eight crew members on board crashed on Friday in a residential area of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, officials said.
Giant ‘noble’ thiof gives Senegalese fish-lovers crumbs of comfort
Senegalese shoppers have found one small piece of comfort among all the coronavirus chaos – a dive in the price of thiof, a fish at the heart of their national dish.
Yemen’s health system ‘has in effect collapsed’ as COVID spreads: U.N.
The new coronavirus is believed to be spreading throughout Yemen where the health care system “has in effect collapsed”, the United Nations said on Friday, appealing for urgent funding.
Iran leader hails armed support for Palestinians against ‘tumor’ Israel
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday denounced Israel as a “tumor” to be eliminated and hailed Tehran’s supply of weaponry to Palestinian armed groups fighting against it.
Schools should decide whether to reopen, says UK public health chief
It should be for British schools to decide when to reopen following nationwide closures to stem the spread of the coronavirus and some have the confidence to do so, a senior health official said on Friday.
Indian PM offers help to cyclone stricken Kolkata, Bangladesh counts cost
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, peering down from his aircraft on Friday, saw the devastation and flooding caused by the most powerful cyclone to strike India and Bangladesh in more than a decade, before he landed in the stricken city of Kolkata.
