BEIJING: China is poised to ease border restrictions to allow some foreigners — including from the US, India and Australia — back in, provided they have taken a Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine. The country has been closed to most foreigners since last March to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which
PARIS: Our weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world: You horny devil Cute, chunky 107-stone female seeks caring Japanese male for companionship and maybe more… Emma, a Taiwanese white rhino at the country’s Leofoo Safari Park, has been learning Japanese for her first date with a sauve older
TOKYO: Japan has decided to exclude overseas spectators from the Tokyo Olympics over fears an influx of visitors could bring an increase in coronavirus infections, local media reported Tuesday. Kyodo News said the government had concluded it was “not possible” to allow fans from abroad to attend this summer’s Games,
SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter boss Jack Dorsey is selling his first tweet at auction, with bidding Saturday reaching $2 million in a sign of the appetite for virtual objects authenticated through blockchain technology. “just setting up my twttr,” Dorsey tweeted on March 21, 2006. On Friday he posted a link to
NUSEIRAT, Palestinian Territories: The moment Maram al-Amawi gets back from school, she slips on the 3D-printed mask that covers her face and treats her severe burns from a blaze at a Gaza bakery. But she doesn’t go out in the streets for fear of being made fun of. Eight-year-old Maram
PARIS: Novak Djokovic will on Monday set a new landmark of 311 weeks as world number one, surpassing Roger Federer whose hold on a record-equalling 20 Grand Slam titles is now firmly in the Serb’s sights. The 33-year-old Djokovic, already the winner of 18 majors, has time on his side
SYDNEY: The gleaming pageantry of Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade couldn’t be dulled by a Covid-forced venue change Saturday as marchers moved from the streets to a stadium. Revellers usually line the traditional parade route through the city’s LGBT hub, but due to Covid-19 concerns, the event was held inside the
Los Angeles: Nine great apes at San Diego Zoo have become the first non-human primates given Covid-19 vaccinations, officials at the California zoo said Friday. Four orangutans and five bonobos were given two doses each of an experimental vaccine created specifically for animals by a veterinary pharmaceutical company. The inoculations
PANAMA CITY: The Miss Panama organisation announced that starting this year, the pageant would include transgender women “who have completed all their legal and medical procedures” in its competition. The contest, which is responsible for choosing the country’s representative for the Miss Universe pageant, said the decision was made “after
STOCKHOLM: One of the best-known modern technologies owes its name and logo to a Viking-era king with a bad tooth: a quarter century ago, two engineers hatched the idea for the moniker “Bluetooth” over beers. At the end of the 1990s, Sven Mattisson, a Swedish engineer working at telecom group