THAILAND
Travel curbs announced
The government has said it would classify all travelers into three groups under intensified surveillance for the new coronavirus as officials try to prevent a wider outbreak in the tourism-reliant nation. People coming from China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Iran and Italy will be subject to mandatory 14-day self-quarantine, the Tourism Authority of Thailand said in a statement. They must apply for visas and present health forms at check-in certifying they are at no risk of developing COVID-19, or they will be denied boarding. Arrivals from another group of 11 countries with local transmission have to report symptoms to officials for at least 14 days. The country yesterday reported 32 new cases of COVID-19 in the largest daily jump in infections since the outbreak began, bringing its total tally to 114, health officials said.
SOUTH KOREA
Number of new cases fall
The country yesterday morning reported 76 additional cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, the lowest daily increase in new infections since Feb. 21. The numbers raised the total for the country to 8,162. The death toll increased by three to 75, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. It said 120 people had recovered and were released from quarantine over the past 24 hours, raising the number of recovered to 834. A majority of cases in the country has been reported in the southeastern city of Daegu and nearby areas.
JAPAN
New virus cases rise by 64
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare yesterday announced 64 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours. The ministry said that the country has 780 cases plus 697 others from a cruise ship that was stranded in the country, for a combined total of 1,477. The ministry said the death toll has risen to 29, including seven former cruise ship passengers. The new cases come from 13 prefectures, including Hokkaido, Tokyo and Osaka.
IRAN
Death toll hits 724
Tehran yesterday said the COVID-19 outbreak has killed another 113 people, pushing the death toll in the country to 724. The country is suffering from the worst outbreak in the Middle East, with 13,938 cases and even senior government officials testing positive. There are concerns that the number of infections is much higher than the confirmed cases reported by the government, with some lawmakers having questioned the official toll. It is also unclear if local hospitals are able to cope with the influx of new cases, with at least 2,500 new infections announced in just the previous two days. State TV last week reported that hospitals in some areas were overwhelmed.
HONG KONG
Reports put on ‘Minecraft’
A virtual library housing censored articles from around the world has been created within the video game Minecraft by press freedom group Reporters Without Borders. The group said it had put work by banned, exiled or killed journalists in five countries — Egypt, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Vietnam — on an open server, making it available for players to view, despite local censorship laws. “In these countries, where Web sites, blogs and free press in general are strictly limited, Minecraft is still accessible by everyone,” the group said in a news release. “These articles are now available again within Minecraft, hidden from government surveillance technology.”
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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