The Asia Pacific region is standing together to cooperate regionally to address the transnational threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The surge in online learning in the People’s Republic of China during the coronavirus outbreak highlights the importance of infrastructure, platforms and the preparedness of teachers, students and parents.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need to strengthen programs and policies affecting older persons both in times of crisis and afterward.

With the impacts of the pandemic on food and nutrition being felt around the region, planning is needed to avoid higher food prices, decreased nutrition and reduced food security. 

In the fragile energy scenario of small Pacific islands, contingency plans are crucial to keep the lights on during a crisis.

The pandemic demonstrates that disasters are triggered by multidimensional risks and hazards, and that a country’s approach to urban resilience needs to be multifaceted.

The pandemic provides an opportunity for regional financial cooperation on reforms to make Asian banks more resilient to crises.

The production processes and supply chains that feed into the production of masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment must be secured.

Now is the time to ramp up actions on resilience so that society can beat the COVID-19 crisis while reducing the impact of climate threats.

With timely and well-targeted programs, policy makers can prevent the health crisis from deepening into a wider economic and financial crisis. This could sow the seeds of economic recovery.  

These charts illustrate how Asian and global stock markets reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic, with market reaction closely following local outbreaks and then moving in unison with global markets amid other shocks.

The pandemic is producing more household waste and increased amounts of dangerous medical waste. We need to manage these changes for our immediate safety and for the long-term welfare of our communities.

The pandemic reinforces the need for reliable energy services to support healthcare. Clean, renewable power is a good place to start.

მილიონობით ოჯახი, რომელიც კოვიდ-19-ის გავრცელებამდეც ღარიბი და დაუცველი იყო, ახლა დილემის წინაშე დგას — როგორ იკვებონ, იმკურნალონ და უბრალოდ გადარჩნენ. ჩვენ ვალდებულნი ვართ დაუყოვნებლივ ვიმოქმედოთ და დავიცვათ ისინი, ვისაც ახლა ეს ყველაზე მეტად სჭირდება.

Governments in Asia and the Pacific must think about two things when restarting their economies: when to do it and how.

Hunger and malnutrition were an increasing problem worldwide before the pandemic. Restrictions imposed to curb disease spread have disrupted local and international food supply chains, making the problem even more urgent.

До начала пандемии голод и неправильное питание становились все более серьезной проблемой во всем мире. Ограничения, введенные для обуздания распространения болезни, разрушили местные и международные цепочки поставок продовольствия, что делает проблему еще более актуальной.

As the pandemic continues, the supply chains producing vital personal protective equipment are starting to fail, causing shortages. Countries and international organizations can fill these gaps by working together.

A forward-looking, regional approach is needed for countries in Central Asia to respond to the pandemic and prepare for future public health threats.

A gender-sensitive response is crucial to this global health emergency.

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Trinidad and Tobago loves its "heights" -- and a skilful cyclist on a homemade bike that reaches 10-12 feet in height does not disappoint.

Tens of thousands of Hongkongers are participating in flash mob performances of the new protest song “Glory to Hong Kong” in the streets and in shopping malls across the city.

Like other sci-fi before it, it imagined the present year as a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

The Central Government has approved around 93 percent of the total planned housing units under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U). By far, as many as 1.03 crore housing units have been sanctioned across the country under the said scheme. To provide affordable pucca houses to the homeless population of the country, the Central Government has approved over 1 crore houses in urban parts of the country under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U). Against the humongous target of 1.2 crore units, the Government has sanctioned nearly 1.03 crore units across the States and Union Territories (UTs). Of the approved units, approximately 61 lakh units are under-construction and nearly […]

A California appeals court on Tuesday overturned most of a 2017 jury verdict awarding Quincy Jones $9.4 million in royalties and fees from the Michael Jackson estate over the use of Jones-produced Jackson hits in the concert film "This Is It" and two Cirque du Soleil shows.The state's 2nd District C...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Wednesday the German soccer league Bundesliga can resume playing later this month, ending a two-month pause prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.Merkel made the announcement as one of a range of containment measures being relaxed, following a meeting with the c...

The United States is rallying support to back Taiwan's observer status in the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, leading into its annual meeting May 17-21."Today, I want to call on all nations, including those in Europe, to support Taiwan's participatio...

Online purchases rose by more than 11 percent on-year in March amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Statistics Korea said on Wednesday that total online transactions amounted to about US$10.3 billion, which accounted for about 28 percent of all retail sales, the highest proportion on record.Food was the main ...

A meme based on an image from a video clip of Lisa, a member of K-pop girl group Black Pink, has gone viral among global celebrities on Twitter. Lisa uploaded the 1 minute, 20 second video, which shows her performing a sexy dance routine, on her personal YouTube channel on April 20. Hollywood celebr...

Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong faces two major legal hurdles over his underhand takeover of management control from his incapacitated father, who fell into a coma after a heart attack in 2014.The first legal hurdle is an ongoing investigation into Samsung BioLogics, which is accused of intentionally inf...

The nominal Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, who is in a vegetative state, remains Korea's richest man and one of only four Koreans on Bloomberg's list of top 500 billionaires in the world. The others are acting Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong, Seo Jung-jin, CEO of biopharmaceutical company Celltrion, and K...

A unanimous Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the convictions of two political insiders involved in the "Bridgegate" scandal that ultimately derailed the 2016 presidential bid of then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The justices found evidence of deception, corruption and abuse of power in the sch...

Messaging app giant Kakao posted record sales in the first quarter thanks to increasing demand for services during the coronavirus epidemic.The company said Thursday that sales for January to March jumped 23 percent on-year to over W868.4 billion, and operating profit soared 219 percent to over W88....

Genres: Comedy and Romance Running Time: 92 min. Directed by: Woody Allen Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Elle Fanning Synopsis: A young couple arrives in New York for a weekend where they are met with bad weather and a series of adventures.

"Eight," the new single by singer IU and Suga, a member of boy band Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS, swept many global music charts shortly after its release on Wednesday."Eight" reached No. 1 on major music-streaming sites here including Melon. It also topped iTunes charts in some 59 countries.The ...

The KLPGA Tour has raised the total purse for its first major championship of the season, which resumes next week after a break of several months due to the coronavirus epidemic.The KLPGA said Thursday that it decided to raise the prize money for the KLPGA Championship from W2.3 billion to W3 billio...

President Moon Jae-in's approval rating has stood at over 60 percent for a third week running despite the dire state of the economy.Moon, who marks his third year in office this weekend, seems to owe his recovered popularity to the relatively smooth handling of the coronavirus epidemic. But it also ...

The government will stockpile 100 million face masks to prepare for a second wave of coronavirus but will also send them to about 70 countries in need."We've already allocated the budget necessary to stock up 100 million masks," Minister of Food and Drug Safety Lee Eui-kyung said Thursday. "Some 70 ...

Japan has fast-tracked the approval of the anti-viral drug remdesivir to be used to treat COVID-19 patients in that country.Speaking to reporters Friday in Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga confirmed the rare fast-track, four-day approval of remdesivir by the Ministry of Health,...

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Islamabad : The coronavirus pandemic has increased the transgender persons' socioeconomic vulnerability and isolation, so short and long-term measures, especially by the government, are imperative to support them and ensure alternate means of livelihood in the changing environment.This was the...