Malaysia’s COVID vaccination programme expected to be completed end of 2021 or early 2022
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Health Ministry plans to complete the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the country by the end of 2021 or early next year. Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the vaccination programme would involve three phases with the first phase expected to start in March involving half a million vaccines for frontline workers. […]
South Korea aims to vaccinate 70% of population by September
SEOUL: South Korea aims to get 70 percent of its population inoculated by September and start the first vaccination next month, with so-called “herd immunity” here predicted to be created by November, health authorities said Monday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced a set of core tasks for this year, which includes […]
GCS International Board meeting approves major international events, online programs for 2021
By Seok-Jae Kang GCS International Secretary-General Vice President of the Asian Journalists Association SEOUL: The 2021 GCS International Board of Directors Meeting was held at the conference room of GCS International in Seoul, Korea, on January 21. At the board meeting, held in both on- and off-line formats, the board members unanimously approved the […]
Mongolia’s Prime Minister resigns following protests over alleged mishandling of mother, baby
LAANBAATAR: Mongolia’s parliament has overwhelmingly voted to accept the resignation of Prime Minister of Mongolia Khurelsukh Ukhnaa. Local news agency Montsame said that 95.2 percent of the lawmakers present at the parliament voted in favor of accepting the resignation. Under Mongolia’s law, the prime minister’s resignation the entire cabinet, formed in July 2020, will […]
K-pop celebs a growing force for tourism in pandemic-hit South Korea
SEOUL: On a chilly January afternoon, four young men are at a white and wooden kitchen studio set up at a traditional Korean house, cooking up a street-meets-royal Korean dish. They are Woobin, Hyeongjun, Seongmin and Allen — members of nine-piece rookie boy band Cravity — who are making gungjung tteokbokki, a less spicy and […]
Oman research project hopes to produce COVID-19 medicine from frankincense
MUSCAT, OMAN: Research studies to produce medicines capable of fighting COVID-19 from frankincense trees in Oman, on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia, are being undertaken jointly by the University of Nizwa and the University of Oxford. The Frankincense (boswellia saca) trees are most famed for their resin, a milky-white substance extracted by harvesters […]
Excellent effect on high-risk patients: Chong Kun Dang announcing COVID-19 treatment
SEOUL: Chong Kun Dang, a South Korean pharmaceutical company, has announced that the effectiveness of COVID-19 treatment “Nafabeltan” at clinical trials has been proven. Nafabeltan is effective in treating COVID-19 patients with more severe conditions. “Nafabeltan has excellent treatment effects for high-risk patients,” an official from Chong Kun Dang said on January 14. COVID-19 patients […]
Malaysia: Judiciary will continue to uphold law, justice throughout emergency, PM says
KUALA LUMPUR: The government has given its assurance that the judiciary will continue to function to uphold the law and justice throughout the emergency period. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the Perikatan Nasional government will continue to defend the independence of the judiciary and would never interfere in matters of the courts. “The judiciary will […]
Free COVID-19 vaccines for all Koreans; inoculation to start next month
SEOUL: President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the government would provide all South Korean people with free-of-charge COVID-19 vaccines in phases starting next month. “[The government] will make sure that all of the people will be inoculated free of charge in accordance with priorities,” he said in his New Year’s address, assuring that inoculation will […]
UAE: Mandatory PCR testing every 14 days for government employees, except those who took COVID-19 vaccine
DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has announced that employees of all ministries and federal entities will be required to undergo mandatory COVID-19 PCR testing every 14 days starting January 17. In a circular issued, the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources said the decision is part of the government’s efforts to limit the […]