Turkish ruling party, lawyers clash over cleric comments on homosexuality
A suggestion by Turkey’s leading Muslim cleric that homosexuality causes illness has prompted a clash between President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party and the country’s lawyer assocations over freedom of expression.
Netherlands reports 400 new coronavirus cases, 43 deaths – health authorities
The Netherlands’ number of confirmed coronavirus cases has risen by 400 to 38,245 health authorities said on Monday, with 43 new deaths.
To push telework, Japan taking another look at ancient ‘seal’ custom
With efforts to promote telecommuting lagging despite the coronavirus crisis, Japan is taking another look at an ancient custom that stubbornly remains an analogue anomaly in an otherwise high-tech nation: the need to stamp documents with seals.
Belgian COVID-19 hospital entries at lowest since lockdown start
Belgian hospitals admitted the lowest number of COVID-19 patients since the start of the lockdown almost seven weeks ago, figures showed on Monday, a week before the country starts to ease restrictions.
Tokyo reports fewest new coronavirus cases in 4 weeks, calls for vigilance
Metropolitan Tokyo confirmed 39 more cases of coronavirus infection on Monday, Governor Yuriko Koike said, the fewest since March 30 and the second consecutive day of new cases below triple digits.
Coronavirus forces delay in U.S. extradition case against Assange
Hearings in the U.S. extradition case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will not go ahead next month as scheduled because of the coronavirus lockdown which prevents lawyers from attending court, a British judge decided on Monday.
China police detain three linked to censored coronavirus archive
Chinese police have detained two people who contributed to an online archive of censored articles about the coronavirus outbreak, a friend and a family member of one told Reuters on Monday.
Healthy again, British PM says too risky to relax lockdown yet
Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to work on Monday after recovering from COVID-19 and warned that it was still too dangerous to relax a stringent lockdown wreaking havoc on Britain’s economy, for fear of a deadly second outbreak.
China to keep coronavirus tests focused, stops short of wider testing
China will focus testing for COVID-19 on high-risk groups such as people from infected areas or with symptoms, the head of a top state research institute said on Monday, suggesting that authorities are not about to rush into large-scale testing.
Indonesia hopes for return to ‘normal lives’ by July
Indonesia hopes its citizens will be able to resume normal lives by July, as the Southeast Asian nation targets lowering new coronavirus infections by June, its COVID-19 task force chief Doni Monardo said on Monday.
