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Entertainment
AFC President praises health professionals, AFC associations for outstanding responses to COVID-19
By Habib Toumi Kuala Lumpur: Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has praised the outstanding contributions of the frontline health professionals, carers and responders for their tremendous endeavors to help and protect communities across Asia and the world. In a statement posted by AFC, Shaikh…
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Politics
35 million South Koreans to benefit from ‘disaster relief money’ for households
SEOUL: The South Korean government will grant “emergency disaster relief money” to a majority of the country’s households in a one-off stimulus program to help with the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis, President Moon Jae-in said Monday. He also unveiled a plan to seek another supplementary budget during a…
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Politics
COVID-19 pandemic and India
By Pramod Mathur India <Spotfilm> CEO, AJA Senior member NEW DELHI: An Extraordinary Virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit was convened on March 26, 2020. The aim was to discuss challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and forge a coordinated global response. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi had a telephonic conversation with the…
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Politics
South Korea’s culture minister vows utmost help to revive coronavirus-hit arts, tourism
SEOUL: South Korean Culture Minister Park Yang-woo has vowed utmost efforts to help the recovery of the country’s arts, sports and tourism sectors, among the worst hit areas in the COVID-19 pandemic. “The sectors that are getting a particularly acute impact from COVID-19 are culture, sports and tourism. The…
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Culture
Kuwait academics warn against spreading coronavirus rumors
KUWAIT: Posting and circulating rumors and fake news in the time of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak could have detrimental impacts on people’s morale and state’s ability to tackle and overcome the serious health challenge, Kuwaiti academics have warned. “Rumors harm society and spark panic and fear among its members,”…
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East Asia
Music, poetry and paintings – Italians, Chinese inspire one another amid traumatic pandemic
By Shan Jie BOLOGNA: While Italy is at its darkest moment in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, many warm-hearted stories often occur, cheering up people here who have been singing on balconies and painting rainbows to look for hope. Elisa Lanari cried when she read an email sent to her workplace,…
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Culture
South Koreans turn to social media challenges to beat coronavirus blues
SEOUL: When YouTuber Ddulgi uploaded a four-minute video on making dalgona coffee on the global video-sharing platform in mid-February, she did not expect it to turn into a mega-hit garnering over 3 million views in less than a month. Amid “social distancing” measures due to COVID-19, more South Koreans are…
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Society
Popular Seoul park to close on virus fears
SEOUL: A park in southeastern Seoul, famous for its picturesque cherry blossom trees, will close until mid-April as part of precautionary measures to contain the new coronavirus. Seokchon Lake Park in Songpa Ward will close from Saturday to April 12, according to a Facebook post written by ward chief Park…
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Politics
Malaysia announces $57.78 billion stimulus package to deal with coronavirus fallout
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s government will channel RM25 million to the vulnerable groups through the RM250 billion ($57.78 billion) economic stimulus package announced on Friday by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. The funds are to be channelled towards supporting people and businesses most adversely impacted by the economic disruption from the Covid-19 outbreak…
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Society
South Korea again urges social distancing, strict self-isolation amid steady rise in virus cases
SEOUL: South Korea once again urged people to stay home, avoid mass gatherings over the weekend and comply with self-isolation rules if they returned from abroad, as COVID-19 clusters continued to emerge amid a rise in imported coronavirus cases. The 91 new cases, which were detected Thursday and down from…
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