A 97-year-old Russian World War II veteran has been inspired by the fund-raising efforts of Captain Tom Moore. She says she can't walk around a garden to gather donations like the 100-year-old British veteran did, but she is posting war stories online every day to raise money for the families of Russian medics who have died fighting COVID-19.

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 275,000 with almost 4 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.

At the end of July, the US and the EU escalated their respective sanctions regimes against Russia following the Kremlin’s intervention in the Crimea/Ukraine crisis, as well as recent issues pertaining to access to the MH17 crash site. By annou...

On 1 April 2020, the President of the Russian Federation signed Federal Law No. 98-FZ On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation on Disaster Management and Emergency Response, which introduces a number of measures in differe...

Following close consultation with IFI's including the IFC, World Bank and EBRD, Tunisia has launched a review process to aid with the structuring and implementation of new PPP projects. Eversheds Sutherland was privileged to have been spec...

The Central Bank of Malaysia or Bank Negara Malaysia (‘BNM’) on 18 July 2019 issued another policy document which sets out its requirements to the nation’s Financial Institutions (‘FIs’) management of technology risk. W...

The Tunisian Government makes a huge step towards the deregulation of the renewable power market by amending the 2016 auto-consumption regime. The Decree 2020-105 has amended the 2016 auto-consumption regime legal framework. The 2016 regulation requ...

(MENAFN - Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 9 Trend: The May edition of the influential Russian magazine "Natsionalnaya Oborona" (National Defe... ......

The Mideast’s wealthiest countries depend on foreigners to do jobs their citizens won’t. But the virus has hobbled the arrangement and drawn attention to its inequities. ......

MOSCOW (AP) " Russian President Vladimir Putin marked Victory Day, the...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's capital has shut down more than 2,100 nightclubs, hostess bars and discos after dozens of coronavirus infections were linked to club goers who went out last weekend as the country relaxed social distancing guidelines. The measures imposed Saturday by Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon came after the national government urged entertainment venues around the nation to close or otherwise enforce anti-virus measures, including distancing, temperature checks, keeping customer lists and requiring employees to wear masks. Park said the entry bans on the facilities will be maintained until the...

The Red Square...

Moscow sent over a dozen military transport planes with equipment and specialists to Italy back in March to help the country in its efforts to stop the spread of the COVID-19 infection. ......

Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See other free reports here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin marked Victory Day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, in a ceremony shorn of its usual military parade and pomp by the coronavirus pandemic. In neighboring Belarus, however, the ceremonies went ahead in full, with tens of thousands of people in the sort of proximity that has been almost unseen in the world for months....

An American newspaper stressed in a report: Although the US government has intensified its rhetoric and economic pressure on Iran, it seems that in fact, the main focus on Iran in its national security strategy is shifting to Russia and China. According to Fars News Agency, the administration of US President Donald Trump has intensified its rhetoric about Iran’s alleged threat this year. On the other hand, military officials and experts believe that the US military has reduced its presence in the Persian Gulf region and has withdrawn its ships, military aircraft and missiles. No US aircraft carrier has been replaced in the region since Theodore Roosevelt sailed from the Persian Gulf to...

Ensuring sex workers’ rights was essential, not just for the workers themselves, but for any country’s wider society, including public health

The post Ensuring Russia’s Sex Workers’ Rights Essential for Wider Gender Equality appeared first on Inter Press Service.

In an abrupt about-face, the Justice Department on May 7 said it is dropping the criminal case against President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, abandoning a prosecution that became a rallying cry for the president and his supporters in attacking the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation.

Turkey’s state-run aid agency on May 8 distributed food packages and hygiene kits among 180 refugee families in Tunisia.

Russia on May 8 marked Turkey's efforts in Syria's Idlib province with an aim to free the key M4 highway from radical groups.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP

The post Asia-Pacific Response to COVID-19 and Climate Emergency Must Build a Resilient and Sustainable Future appeared first on Inter Press Service.

As coronavirus pandemic continues, Asian actors, directors and social influencers concerned over increased instances of harassment and racism.

[Tunis Afrique Presse] Tunis -Four more cases of Coronavirus contamination have been confirmed as of May 8, 2020, out of 1,453 screenings carried out, bringing the total number of cases of infection since the beginning of the epidemic to 1,030, the Ministry of Public Health announced Friday.

We will never fully know what Iran and Russia actually think of Assad or each other’s historic role in Syria.

The Iranian islands of the Persian Gulf will be turned into residential areas, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Chief Alireza Tangsiri announced on Wednesday. Tangsiri said the decision came according to an order issued by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The announcement was made as Iran marked the National Persian Gulf Day on Wednesday.

The Donald Trump administration stepped up its criticism of Russia’s role in Libya’s civil war on Thursday.

China and Russia must fulfil their duties as recognised world leaders and work together to defeat Covid-19, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday, in the latest show of solidarity between the long-term allies.Likening the global health crisis to the second world war, which in China is often referred to as a war against fascism, Xi said that Beijing would continue to provide support to Moscow as it battled the deadly disease.“Being among the main victor powers…

US President Donald Trump called on Thursday for involving China in new arms control talks with Russia, telling Russian leader Vladimir Putin that they need to avoid a “costly arms race,” the White House said.“President Trump reaffirmed that the United States is committed to effective arms control that includes not only Russia, but also China, and looks forward to future discussions to avoid a costly arms race,” a statement said.Trump and Putin spoke by phone, also discussing the coronavirus…

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday said the coronavirus pandemic keeps unleashing “a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scaremongering” and appealed for “an all-out effort to end hate speech globally”.The UN chief said “anti-foreigner sentiment has surged online and in the streets, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories have spread, and Covid-19-related anti-Muslim attacks have occurred”. Migrants and refugees “have been vilified as a source of the virus – and then denied…

In the seven years that Guangzhou native Grace Hexiaoya has called Spain her home, she has mastered the language, become enamoured with the weather and developed a soft spot for all the friendly people that she has met. She likes it in Madrid, where she works behind the counter at the I Love Dulces corner shop and confectionery store. Hers is one of the many Asian faces that can be seen running the Spanish capital’s vital food shops, even as the country – one of Europe’s hardest-hit by the…

As the coronavirus death toll surpasses 250,000 and the world scrambles to find a vaccine, a new scientific task force is headed to the wilderness to try and stop the next pandemic.After decades of patchy global investment into researching the linkages between animal and human health, more than 40 scientists will embark on an Australian government-funded programme that will teach veterinary surgeons in Southeast Asia and the Pacific how to detect infectious diseases – before they make the leap…

The United States has reached a settlement to recover more than US$49 million involving Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, the US Department of Justice said.The government of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak set up the 1MDB fund in 2009 to promote economic development.The US justice department has estimated more than US$4.5 billion was siphoned out of Malaysia by high-level fund officials and their associates between 2009 and 2014 in a scandal that has also embroiled Goldman Sachs…

New coronavirus cases are rising in Indonesia’s provinces despite the government’s efforts to contain the outbreak in Jakarta, as hundreds of thousands of migrant workers in the capital seek ways to bypass a travel ban to return to their hometowns to observe the Eid al-Fitr holiday.Scientists are worried the mass wave of travellers could lead to the virus spreading from Jakarta and its satellite cities of 30 million, the epicentre of the pandemic, to the provinces where hospital facilities are…

The Indonesian government said on Thursday it was seeking clarification and investigation from the Chinese and South Korean governments over the deaths of four Indonesian seamen working on a Chinese longliner.The request follows South Korean media reports quoting Indonesian crew members of Chinese-flagged Long Xing 629 tuna longliner as saying their crewmates were denied medical treatment and subjected to physical abuse.Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told a press conference that she spoke with…

Southeast Asian nations already straining from the United States-China tug of war for regional influence are likely to avoid supporting Washington’s drive for Taiwan to be granted observer status for a top-level meeting of the World Health Organisation, analysts have said.Even though the leaders of these countries understand the “moral and logical” arguments for allowing Taiwanese delegates to attend the annual meeting on May 18 – which will be live-streamed because of the coronavirus pandemic …

Malaysia’s politics took another dramatic turn on Friday ahead of its first parliamentary sitting in months as the speaker of the house accepted a motion by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad to launch a no-confidence vote against his replacement, Muhyiddin Yassin.Mahathir, however, has conceded that he does not believe he has the numbers required to command the majority support of parliament, claiming that Muhyiddin had won over supporters by giving them government roles. “Maybe we will…

President Vladimir Putin told Russians they are “invincible” when they stand together as the country on Saturday marked the 75th anniversary of the end of second world war on lockdown from the coronavirus.With the number of virus cases surging and authorities urging Russians to stay in their homes, celebrations of this year’s Victory Day were muted after the Kremlin grudgingly agreed to postpone plans for a grand parade with world leaders.Instead of columns of military hardware and thousands of…

Ratri Anindyajati had plenty of things to worry about when she, her sister and her mother became the first three people in Indonesia to catch the coronavirus. Little did she know that personal abuse and social stigma would be among them.But that was exactly what came her way after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo revealed to a stunned nation on March 2 that Indonesia had recorded its first two infections. Though he did not name the victims, their details soon leaked out; Anindyajati’s younger…

Rising job losses and persistent xenophobia over the origins of the coronavirus are leading to growing resentment against Chinese migrant workers in Indonesia. Last week, legislators in Southwest Sulawesi province rejected the planned arrival of about 500 workers hired by the Chinese-backed PT Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry and PT Obsidian Stainless Steel despite permits being issued by the central government in Jakarta. The provincial governor Ali Mazi told state news agency Antara he…

Malaysia’s on-again-off-again political partners Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim said “it’s time” to restore an election mandate that they won two years ago, issuing a statement together for the first time since internal bickering in February led to the collapse of their ruling coalition. The two leaders – now in the opposition – said the current government led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin wasn’t the choice of voters at ballot boxes and does not have a mandate to rule. The statement…

Russia has become Europe's hotspot in the coronavirus pandemic.

Hong Kong doctors have performed Asia’s first heart transplant using a new technology invented in the United States that keeps the organ warm, beating and supplied with blood during the transfer, in a medical breakthrough that will enable more life-saving operations across borders.Dr Timmy Au Wing-kuk – chief of Queen Mary Hospital’s cardiothoracic surgery department, which carried out the medical procedure – hailed the Organ Care System as a success story that could not only allow up to five…

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JAKARTA: Indonesia has summoned China’s ambassador to clarify the deaths of four Indonesian crew from two Chinese-flagged vessels, Indonesia’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, after...

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Central Asia is improving food safety measures to share with the world some of the more than 8000 plant species, as well as livestock, from the region.

Collecting sex-disaggregated data on asset ownership is an important step in achieving gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in Asia and the Pacific.