‘Chasing the virus’: How India’s largest slum beat back a pandemic on July 2, 2020When coronavirus claimed its first victim in India’s largest slum in April, many feared the disease would turn its narrow, congested streets into a graveyard, with social distancing or contact tracing all but impossible. But three months on, Mumbai’s Dharavi offers a rare glimmer of hope with new infections shrinking, thanks to an aggressive strategy […]
Ruff deal: Animal shelter braces for surge as expats abandon QatarBy: Agencies on July 2, 2020When stray puppy Izzy was rescued from a stretch of wasteland in Qatar, she was so dehydrated she could barely stand and was close to death. One of many abandoned and stray animals struggling to survive on the scorched streets of the wealthy Gulf state, she is set to be adopted by a German family, […]
Young Italians pick cows over clubbing in ItalyBy: Agencies on July 2, 2020While her friends sleep off hangovers, 23-year-old Vanessa Peduzzi is doing a dawn check on her livestock, one of a growing number of Italian youths ditching the fast lane for a farmer’s life. “It’s a tiring, demanding job, but I like it,” she told AFP as she walked through the wood-lined pastures high above Lake […]
Thailand schools reopen with strict hygiene rulesBy: Agencies on July 2, 2020Mask-wearing pupils catching up with friends at one Bangkok high school were quickly told to spread out as they headed back to lessons on Wednesday after months of distance learning due to coronavirus restrictions. The teenagers, resuming classes along with all other public school students in the kingdom, chatted animatedly before being called to sit […]
Japan begins charging for plastic bagsBy: Agencies on July 2, 2020Retailers in Japan began charging for plastic bags Wednesday, a move aimed at curbing Japanese consumers’ love for packaging and finally bringing the country in line with other major economies. Shops including the ubiquitous convenience stores can decide how much to charge customers for the bags, with a common price being three yen (around three […]
Where barbeque culture began? on July 1, 2020Asador Etxebarri is almost too perfect. Even to those who have dined there, the restaurant occupies something of a mythical place in the mind’s eye. Was it real? Does it actually exist? The setting seems improbably flawless: Axpe, a tiny Basque village surrounded by green pastures and rugged, mist-shrouded mountains. The restaurant in an old […]
Carl Reiner, American comedy pioneer, dead at 98By: Agencies on July 1, 2020Carl Reiner, a driving force in American comedy as a writer for television pioneer Sid Caesar, partner of Mel Brooks and creator and co-star of the classic sitcom “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” has died at age 98 of natural causes, his assistant said on Friday. His career spanned seven decades and every medium from […]
Orthodox Patriarch says turning Hagia Sophia into mosque would be divisiveBy: Agencies on July 1, 2020Converting Istanbul’s sixth century Hagia Sophia back into a mosque would sow division, the spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians warned on Tuesday, ahead of a Turkish court ruling on a building that has been a museum since 1934. President Tayyip Erdogan has proposed restoring the mosque status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, […]
Los Angeles delays movie theatre reopenings after rise in coronavirus casesBy: Agencies on July 1, 2020Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Monday announced he was taking a “hard pause” on when movie theaters in the city can reopen, citing an increase in coronavirus cases. Los Angeles County is the biggest movie theater market in the United States. “We have hit a hard pause on opening any more businesses such as […]
Book encapsulates words of wisdom by intellectualsBy: Amjad Parvez on June 30, 2020Words of wisdom on sporadic issues flow during interviews or dialogue with famous literary personalities, published in quarterly ‘Tasteer’ edited by Naseer Ahmad Nasir. Editor Tanzeela Arooj had collected these interviews in different era in her book ‘Bolte Auraq’. The first part of the review was published on June 24, 2020 that covered the time […]