Azerbaijan: Local food products to replace imports
Supermarket in Azerbaijan (Trend) BAKU: Azerbaijan will make a list of locally produced food that will replace imported goods. This follows the decree signed by President Ilham Aliyev on implementing the law “On Amendments to the Tax Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan”. Under the decree, the Cabinet of Ministers has three months to approve […]
Six out of 10 Netflix subscribers globally watched at least one K-drama in 2022
SEOUL: Six out of 10 Netflix subscribers globally watched at least one Korean title on the streaming platform this year, Netflix said Thursday. “The K-Wave is bigger than ever,” Netflix said in a release posted on its global newsroom. “Sixty percent of our members watched a Korean title and Netflix had six of the […]
CIS leaders hold summit in St. Petersburg; Kyrgyzstan to chair in 2023
St. PETERSBURG: The leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are meeting in for an informal two-day summit in St. Petersburg. The summit, at the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is attended by Presidents of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Zhaparov, Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan Serdar […]
South Korea’s ex-President Lee granted special presidential pardon
SEOUL: President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday granted wide-ranging special pardons to former President Lee Myung-bak and a series of high-profile politicians and former officials convicted of corruption and other irregularities during the previous administrations. Former South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, a close confidant of former President Moon Jae-in, was also pardoned with about […]
Sri Lanka’s ousted president Rajapaksa leaves for US
former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left for the United States of America. According to local reports, he boarded a plane for Dubai on the first leg of his travel to the US. He reportedly left Sri Lanka via the VIP Terminal at the Bandaranaike International Airport. Rajapaksa was […]
China to scrap quarantine requirement for international arrivals on January 8
BEIJING: China will scrap the quarantine requirement for international arrivals starting January 8, 2023, the country’s National Health Commission (NHC) said in a statement. NHC said passengers traveling to China need to take nucleic acid test within 48 hours before boarding their flights to China, and that nucleic acid screenings and centralized isolation after arrival […]
Five of world’s top 10 most popular beaches on TikTok are in Asia
Nha Trang is a coastal resort city in southern Vietnam known for its beaches, diving sites and offshore islands. Its main beach is a long, curving stretch along Tran Phu Street backed by a promenade, hotels and seafood restaurants (Photo: Vietnamisawesome). NEW YORK: Five of the world’s top 10 most popular beaches on TikTok are […]
Uzbekistan slashes number of ministries, executive bodies
TASHKENT: The number of executive bodies in Uzbekistan will be reduced from 61 to 28 and the number of ministries will be cut from 25 to 21 while 20 bodies will be abolished starting January 1. In his December 20 address to Parliament, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed administrative reforms to transform the […]
From Kazakhstan to Egypt: The Medal of International Elitist Union of Public Diplomacy
By Ashraf Aboul-Yazid President, Asia Journalists Association CAIRO: The Kazakh writer and translator, Bakhit Rustamov, combines being a writer outside the local borders and a practitioner of popular diplomacy – acting an important role in friendship between the peoples of the world. I met him personally for the first time in Turkey at the Eurasian […]