South Korea vows ‘reciprocal’ countermeasures to Japan’s coronavirus travel limits
South Korea said on Friday it will consider countermeasures to Japan’s “unjust, unacceptable” travel restrictions barring visitors from areas which have been hard hit by the coronavirus epidemic.
After heavy strikes, tense calm in Syria’s Idlib as ceasefire comes into effect
Syria’s Idlib region was quiet but tense on Friday with a lull in Russian and Syrian air raids that have pounded the last opposition-held enclave in Syria, residents and opposition sources said, after Turkey and Russia declared a ceasefire.
Guyana’s Granger claims victory as U.S. and EU question vote results
Diplomats and foreign observers on Thursday questioned preliminary results of Guyana’s presidential election as incumbent David Granger claimed victory and the opposition denounced fraud, setting up a showdown in the oil-rich South American nation.
Singapore minister says coronavirus outbreak emerging as pandemic
The coronavirus spreading around the world from China is “starting to look like a global pandemic,” said Singapore minister Lawrence Wong, who co-heads the country’s virus fighting taskforce.
Saudi Arabia reopens Mecca, Medina holy sites after coronavirus closure: state TV
Saudi Arabia reopened two of the most holy religious sites in Islam, Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca and Al-Masjid al Nabawy in Medina, after they were closed for sterilization to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, state TV Al-Ekhbariya reported on Frida…
Coronavirus crisis threatens to silence Japan’s tourist boom
The restaurants at the Exitmelsa shopping center in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district are usually packed with Chinese tourists. But on a recent weekday, many lunchtime tables were empty, a sign of the toll that the coronavirus is taking on tourism.
Japan says virus travel restrictions not too late as South Korea protests
Japan’s government defended tighter travel restrictions on visitors from China and South Korea, saying they were not too late to help slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, as Seoul protested the measures as “excessive”.
China’s Hubei, excluding Wuhan, reports no new coronavirus cases
China’s central province of Hubei, excluding the provincial capital Wuhan, reported zero new cases of coronavirus over 24 hours for the first time during the outbreak, as authorities continued to contain imported infections in other parts of the countr…
Malaysia anti-graft chief who probed 1MDB scandal quits
Malaysia’s anti-corruption chief who investigated the 1MDB fraud said on Friday that she had resigned, the second such exit in the last few days after a party that was defeated in the 2018 general election came back to power.
Australia closes first school after pupil contracts coronavirus
Australia ordered its first school closure on Friday after a 16-year-old pupil tested positive for the coronavirus, as the country’s prime minister warned the public bill for treating infected patients could top A$1 billion ($661 million).
