NEW ZEALAND
Film crew sparks anger
The international crew of Avatar 2 have been given special permission to enter the country to begin filming the blockbuster sequel, despite the country’s border being closed to all foreign nationals. The country’s strict lockdown appears to have worked — as it reported no new cases of the novel coronavirus for the 11th consecutive day yesterday — so news that Avatar director James Cameron and 55 members of his crew had arrived in the country on a privately chartered plane over the weekend angered many. Businesses are especially upset, because many have been unable to bring valuable employees home, even if they had previously lived and worked in the country for years. Fifty-six film workers from Los Angeles were given permission to enter by Minister for Economic Develpoment Phil Twyford, under the category “other essential worker.” They are in quarantine for two weeks at the QT Hotel in central Wellington.
SOUTH KOREA
QR code tracker tested
The country is testing a new quick response (QR) code system this week to log visitors at high-risk entertainment facilities, restaurants and churches in a bid to track COVID-19 cases and prevent further spread of the disease. The decision to mandate QR codes to register visitors’ identities came after authorities struggled to trace people who had visited a number of nightclubs and bars at the center of a virus outbreak last month, after much of the information on handwritten visitor logs was found to be false or incomplete. Starting on Wednesday next week, visitors to nightclubs, bars, karaoke clubs, daytime discos, indoor gyms that hold group exercises and indoor standing concert halls, are to be required to use any of a number of commercially available apps to generate a one-time, personalized QR code that can be scanned at the door.
SINGAPORE
Children return to school
With temperatures checked, masks fitted and hand sanitizers at the ready, many children yesterday returned to school after a lockdown of nearly two months. Across the city-state, the hum of the morning rush hour resumed, while staff at schools urged students to maintain a safe distance as they lined up to return to class. With one of the highest COVID-19 tallies in Asia, Singapore has said it would ease restrictions gradually, with the registry of marriages and some businesses, including pet salons, also reopening yesterday. “You have to restart your normal life at some point,” said Harsha Yavagal, who was sending his boys aged five and 12 back to school. “Schools are taking all possible measures to cope with the virus,” he added.
UNITED STATES
SpaceX wins capture-the-flag
The first astronauts launched by SpaceX on Monday declared victory over Boeing in NASA’s cosmic capture-the-flag game. They quickly claimed the prize left behind at the International Space Station nearly a decade ago by the last crew to launch from the US. “Congratulations, SpaceX, you got the flag,” NASA astronaut Doug Hurley said a day after arriving at the space station. Hurley showed off the small US flag during a news conference and again in a linkup with SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. “You can bet we will take it with us when we depart back to Earth,” said Hurley, floating alongside crewmate Bob Behnken. The flag flew on the first space shuttle flight in 1981 and the final one in 2011. Hurley was on that last shuttle crew.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
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