Singapore’s DBS sends 300 staff home after one contracts coronavirus
Singapore’s biggest bank DBS Group Holdings asked 300 staff to leave its head office in the financial district on Wednesday and work from home as a precautionary measure after an employee tested positive for coronavirus.
Pope dismisses proposal to ordain married men as priests in Amazon
Pope Francis, in one of the most significant decisions of his papacy, on Wednesday dismissed a proposal to allow some married men to be ordained in the Amazon region to ease an acute scarcity of priests.
Uzbekistan sends protective equipment to virus-hit China
Uzbekistan is sending 40 tonnes of protective suits, masks and gloves to virus-hit China, the Central Asian nation’s government said on Wednesday, as a fully loaded military cargo plane departed Tashkent.
Italy’s govt presses ahead with new motorway rules: officials
Rome will push ahead with new rules making it easier to revoke motorway concessions, two deputy ministers said, in a move aimed at forcing Atlantia to accept contractual changes following a deadly bridge collapse.
Vietnam needs stimulus package to alleviate coronavirus impact, ministry says
Vietnam must work out a stimulus package this month to help businesses cope with a coronavirus epidemic that is expected to keep the economy from achieving a target of 6.8% growth this year, the planning ministry said on Wednesday.
Lebanon’s banking association calls for paying March Eurobond on time
Lebanon’s banking association said on Wednesday it was necessary to repay a $1.2 billion Eurobond maturing in March on time to protect depositors and preserve the country’s place in international financial markets.
Lebanon to seek IMF technical help: government source
Lebanon will ask the IMF for technical help with a plan to escape financial collapse, including how to restructure its public debt, a government source told Reuters on Wednesday.
Britain and United States asked to investigate UAE ‘war crimes’ in Yemen
A British law firm filed requests on Tuesday with the authorities in Britain, the United States and Turkey to arrest senior officials from the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of carrying out war crimes and torture in Yemen.
Berlin to limit sensitive military tenders to German firms
Angela Merkel’s government said on Wednesday it would restrict tenders for the procurement of sensitive weapon systems to German companies, a protectionist measure by a chancellor who has come out strongly against such barriers.
No coalition without Merkel, say German Social Democrats
Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) signaled on Wednesday they could quit their coalition with Angela Merkel’s conservatives if she is forced out as chancellor, piling pressure on their partners to avoid a snap election as they pick a new leader.
