VIETNAM
European arrivals banned
The country is suspending tourist visas for travelers who have been in the UK, Northern Ireland and Schengen countries 14 days prior to their planned arrival starting today at noon because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an announcement on its Web site. The ban also includes those who “come from” these regions, the statement said, without further explanation. The government is also suspending the issuance of visas on arrivals to travelers from all countries. Diplomatic and business travelers are excluded from the travel ban, which would last 30 days, but face health checks and possible quarantines, the statement said. The decision follows the country’s suspension of visa waivers for nine European countries. Vietnam Airlines announced on its Web site that it would not carry passengers on return flights to Vietnam from London, Paris and Frankfurt beginning today.
UNITED KINGDOM
Local elections postponed
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has postponed May’s local and mayoral elections in England for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson’s office said on Friday. On Thursday, the Electoral Commission watchdog said the polls should be put off until the autumn to “mitigate” the effects of the virus. The elections were due to appoint about 120 English local councils, eight directly elected mayors, including in London, and 40 police and crime commissioners in England and Wales. Eleven people have died due to the virus, with 798 cases confirmed nationwide.
INDIA
Second virus death reported
The country on Friday reported its second coronavirus fatality, a 68-year-old woman in New Delhi who died one day after officials in the capital ordered schools, cinemas and theaters closed. The government said that the woman, who had diabetes and hypertension, and her son had tested positive. It said in a statement that the woman’s son had traveled to Switzerland and Italy last month, and went to hospital in New Delhi on Saturday last week with a fever and cough.
GUATEMALA
US, Canada arrivals banned
The country would from tomorrow widen travel restrictions to fight the spread of COVID-19, banning arrivals from the US and Canada, President Alejandro Giammattei said on Friday. “We are therefore announcing that everyone who arrives from Canada and the United States between now and midnight on Monday will be subject to quarantining,” Giammattei said in a televised address. The president said he had also asked the Mexican government to halt deportations of migrants by land to Guatemala. No cruise ships would be allowed to dock, but public events and school classes would go ahead for the time being, he added. Earlier this week, Guatemala banned arrivals from European countries, China, Iran, South Korea and North Korea.
JAMAICA
PM asks Cuba for aid
Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Friday declared the island a disaster area because of the threat of coronavirus infection and said that the country is seeking 100 Cuban nurses to help it to cope. “We are trying as hard as possible to contain the spread of the virus,” Holness said on Twitter, adding that he was imposing travel curbs on people arriving from the UK. Jamaica has reported eight cases of COVID-19 infection.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
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