Testing the waters: South Korea’s waterparks open under new anti-virus measures
Only a handful of rubber floats tumbled down the giant slide at South Korea’s largest waterpark on Friday, its first day back in business since the coronavirus pandemic hit.
Dutch PM now says ‘Black Pete’ tradition will disappear
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said his attitude towards “Black Pete”, a figure from pre-Christmas celebrations that has been criticised as a racist caricature, had undergone “great changes” in recent years.
Malaysia reports 19 new coronavirus cases, one new death
Malaysia reported 19 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday, taking the cumulative total to 8,266 infections.
Germany’s Merkel, China’s Li to hold video conference: spokesman
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will hold a video conference on Thursday to discuss the coronavirus pandemic, economic policy and international issues, a German government spokesman said on Friday.
India set to reopen temples, malls but no sprinkling of holy water
India will throw open shopping malls, restaurants and places of worship that typically attract large crowds next week, officials said, even though coronavirus infections are rising at the fastest daily rate than at any time in the past three months.
U.S. military commander says China pushing territorial claims under cover of coronavirus
China is using the coronavirus as a cover to push territorial claims in the South China Sea through a surge in naval activity meant to intimidate other countries that claim the waters, the commander of U.S. Forces in Japan said on Friday.
France denies harbouring Venezuela opposition leader Guaido in Caracas
France denied on Friday that Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido had taken refuge at any of its diplomatic sites in Caracas after the Venezuelan foreign minister said he was hiding in the French embassy.
Britain’s Sunak picks ex-official Hughes to head budget watchdog
British finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday he had picked Richard Hughes, a former senior official at Britain’s Treasury and the International Monetary Fund, as the next head of the country’s influential budget watchdog.
Fuel leak risk at Arctic mining site flagged by Russia years before spill: RBC
A Russian safety watchdog warned a subsidiary of mining giant Norilsk Nickel in 2017-2018 about dozens of violations at a fuel site in the Arctic where a huge leak of diesel fuel occurred last week, the RBC media portal reported on Friday.
Macron demands release of French-Iranian academic Adelkhah
France demanded on Friday that Franco-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah, whom Tehran has sentenced to six years in prison, be released immediately, saying her detention was harming trust between the two countries.
