From Foreign Waters

  New Zealand is facilitating the virtual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Summit because of a pandemic that has kept the global borders closed to practically all travelers for a very long time.   In her address, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated that the Summit would chalk a path towards recovery from this crisis.    The 21 APEC leaders will discuss areas where members will cooperate on easing out border checks for trade and economic growth instead of attempting to settle longstanding disputes.   However, profound strains remain between the 21 countries. These tensions have brought up issues regarding who can join a Pacific trade alliance and whether America will get an opportunity to host future meetings.   Tensions are expected, however, during this week’s talks among the 21-economy group over Taiwan’s bid to join a regional trade pact and the United States’ bid to host the 2023 round of meetings. | @Reute...

  The UAE is moving forward towards robust economic growth in 2021 after emerging as one of the first countries in the world to resume its recovery process from COVID-19 repercussions. On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published its latest World Economic Outlook report, projecting an increase in the UAE's economic growth for 2021 to 3.1 percent. This is in line with the UAE's remarkable handling of the Coronavirus pandemic which facilitated early resumption of economic activities in the country by May 2020 compared to other nations in the world. A recent report published by the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA) underlined that the UAE, the second-largest economy in the region, has shown exceptional efforts to overcome the economic impact of the pandemic. The Central Bank of the UAE is also looking forward to sturdy GDP growth this year with the government's continuous efforts to diversify the economy, strengthen private investment and boost spendin...

Countries across the world are currently fighting a war against a common enemy - the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. In this battle to save the citizens from a global health pandemic, international cooperation or multilateralism is certainly the best defence. An array of experts and analysts have identified the global health crisis as the most precarious threat to human life since World War 2. Therefore, they have argued that multilateralism and maintaining global commons are crucial to getting through this crisis. IMF's chief economist Gita Gopinath has also advocated the need for multilateral cooperation as vital to the health of the global economic recovery as the world faces the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. However, it has been witnessed that countries are individually implementing measures in response to the crisis, side-lining international cooperation. While the world governments were compelled to take draconian steps to contain the spread of the virus and...

In effort to handle impact due to coronavirus, the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) announced that it is currently offering public mental health consultations. This program will be launched to help people overcome the uncertain developments amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It considers as crucial as physical health services, especially in the midst of daily activities confined in the house due to large-scale social restrictions and anxiety-inducing news updates on the coronavirus. “People who are starting to be struck by anxiety must be guided by experts in the field. We are trying to help people’s situation from turning bad that would overshadow the coronavirus itself,” said KSP Moeldoko in a meeting with the national service system for mental health on Tuesday, April 21. There are three main strategic steps that the service offers, that is comprise of public education, initial consultation, and guidance. Moeldoko also rallied everyone to contribute to the...

Many workers have been abandoned by their governments during a difficult period when the world is fighting the virus.  The United Arab Emirates is extremely concerned that some governments are not making any efforts to bring their citizens home.  Due to the growing threat of the spread of coronavirus, many enterprises are closing down, people are losing their jobs.  And despite the fact that the UAE extended the visa for migrant workers who are in the country, this does not solve the situation of those who are left without work or urgently need to go to their family.  Many states have already taken measures to repatriate their citizens, sent charters for them and provided security upon arrival at home.  At the same time, most migrants are still in a difficult situation, since the governments of their states are not taking any action.  Indian Ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor said New Delhi cannot repatriate a large number of its citizens, trying to ...

Coronavirus outbreak has led to changes in alcohol drinking patterns of the people across the countries. However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released a statement on Monday warning the people of higher health risks from alcohol consumption amid COVID-19 pandemic. WHO’s Regional Office for Europe released an advisory reminding the people that drinking alcohol does not guarantee protection from COVID-19 virus. The international body also published a factsheet clarifying about the claims that high-strength alcohol can kill the virus, calling it a "dangerous myth". WHO added that consumption of high-strength alcohol can result in severe health issues, including death, particularly if it is adulterated with methanol. The health organization also pointed out that alcohol consumption weakens the immunity system of the body and can lead to a range of communicable and noncommunicable diseases and mental health disorders. These can make a person more exposed and vuln...

The US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs intends to examine the circumstances surrounding the emergence of coronavirus, in particular the role of China and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the spread of infection.  This was announced by committee chairman Ron Johnson.  “ Where did it all begin?  Was it Transmitted from animal to human?  Was he distributed from a laboratory in China?  Perhaps there were best intentions to develop different methods, methods of treating coronavirus as a whole.  We need to know what role WHO could play in hiding this information, ”he said.  In addition, senators intend to find out why the United States was not sufficiently prepared for the possible danger, why the necessary medical equipment and drugs are manufactured abroad and there is a shortage of them in the country, as well as how the virus spread, and what was WHO's primary response to the outbreak.  The Senate believes...

Contact tracing is a technique to find out how many people have come in contact with an infected person and then figuring out the entire web of people those individuals interacted with. The tracing is done through smartphone's Bluetooth signals, which would identify with whom all the owner of the device recently met, level of proximity and duration of the meeting, if it was long enough to catch a contagion. As the tracing goes on, a warning message is sent to all those who came in contact with the infected person, along with a local health authority. The technique would help prevent the outbreak of the deadly diseases like COVID-19. Since the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus, many tech companies have been working on building various applications to conduct a similar tracking, but their major limitation came in terms of scale, features, software or region. On Friday, Technology giants Apply and Google announced their joint project to develop a contact tracing ap...

The novel coronavirus continues to be a global challenge as nations fight to contain the pandemic, while pregnant women are at a greater risk as pregnancy suppresses the immune system. As per the World Health Organization, few diseases can cause illness during pregnancy, yet the chances of Covid-19 are uncertain. There is very little data available, and research is currently underway to understand the impacts of the coronavirus infection on pregnant women. Presently there is no evidence that they are at a higher risk. However, they're advised to take precautionary measures and stay safe from exposure to the Covid-19, the WHO added. Commonly, a pregnant woman visits hospital for regular checkup and tests till the due date with the gynecologist, but during the Covid-19 lockdown, things have changed a lot. According to doctors, pregnant women usually experience fatigue, anxiety, mood swing, nausea, and backache. However, adding to the symptoms for the first time, they are f...

The pandemic outbreak of coronavirus has changed the course of life and made face-masks, deserted roads, temperature checks-points, police check-posts, house quarantine, work from home, and virtual meetings our new normal. While coughing and sneezing has become a taboo, social distancing has become a global cure against this contagion. Today, with failing health systems, crippling economies, blocked supplies and dying populations, the world needs to stand together more than ever. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 crisis is bringing out the worst of human element - whether its banning export of essential commodities at national level, or non-sharing of resources at state level or stockpiling greedily at an individual level.   Like most of the nations across world, India is also under complete lockdown and in such circumstances falling sick even with an influenza can be a very daunting experience. A few weeks ago due to a sinus attack I was feeling sick and went to the nearest chemi...

As the globe fights the battle against the deadly Coronavirus pandemic, people are coming together to help each other in these tiring times. Amid the efforts made by people from across the countries to help each other, Women’s March co-founder and Islamist activist Linda Sarsour kickstarted a fundraiser under the aegis of the pandemic. However, it has been alleged that the Sharia law apologist is making capital out of the Coronavirus pandemic to raise donations for American Islamic Relief Organization called Baitumaal USA, which has ties with the Islamist terror group Hamas. Linda Sarsour has started the campaign to raise money for the terror organization through its “COVID-19 Emergency Fund and their support of the people of Gaza”. As per reports, Sarsour's Baitulmaal organization has raised several eyes for its terror support. It is listed as a partnering organization with the Unlimited Friends Association for Social Development (UFA), which allegedly has ties with the terro...

In the world, apparently, now they will divide the time into what happened before the coronavirus pandemic, and what happened during and after it.  In any case, the virus made adjustments to relations between people, countries, forcing them to reconsider their views on many problems or postpone their solution until better times.  Recently it became known that this is exactly what the European Union and the USA did.  EU High Representative Josep Borrel over the phone discussed with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to join forces to contain and overcome the coronavirus.  This was reported by the press service of the European External Action Service.  “The parties discussed the coronavirus pandemic.  High Representative Borrel emphasized the importance of cooperation and international solidarity.  In light of the global dimension of this challenge and relying on a significant transatlantic partnership, the EU and the US have the opportunity to ma...

On Thursday  Earlier this week china shared what it considered to be a major victory in its battle against the contagion as between 18 March and 22 March, the Chinese city of Wuhan did not reported any new cases of the virus through domestic transmission. Wuhan, which was once the epicentre of the disease - Covid-19, was the place from where the deadly virus emerged about four months ago. The no new domestic case was a huge achievement for the country, where over 80,000 people got infected by this monstrosity.  But on March 26, the country reported its first locally transmitted infection in three days and adopted stricter preventive measure including closing its international borders to foreigners, even those with residency permits. Over the fear of a second wave, the WHO-Chinese report last month suggested "a clear recognition and readiness of the need to immediately react to any new COVID-19 cases or clusters as key elements of the containment strategy are lifted." ...

The United Arab Emirate displayed a true sprit of humanity, as the Gulf nation stepped forward not only to help its own people but also the citizens of other nations during the distressed times of global pandemic. At the beginning of the month, the Emirates’ Health and Community Protection Ministry issued a warning, urging its citizens and foreign residents not to travel abroad and sent 215 foreigners it evacuated from hard-hit Hubei in China to a quarantine set up in its Emirates Humanitarian City. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed also sponsored the transfer of Yemenis and Sudanese city from Wuhan in China. Yemen’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed Abdullah al-Hadrami expressed gratitude towards UAE on the minsitry’s official Twitter account for its “cooperation and help” in the evacuation process. The tweet said the students were welcomed in the UAE and were temporarily put in quarantine before they got clearance to return home (Yemen). Wuhan is the Chinese city which was first to b...

Arab Ambassadors praised the UAE's humanitarian stance and its ongoing support for other countries, stressing that its initiative in China is a major humanitarian gesture not alien to the country, which is always the first to lead charitable and humanitarian work. “A quantity of welcome from the moment we arrived with the plane from Wuhan Airport until at Abu Dhabi Airport, and from there to the Emirates Humanitarian City, which beautifully equipped to receive us, was a surprise that I did not expect.” Said Ahmed Fateh Al-Aleem, a Sudanese student evacuated from China by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) special plane, revealing a great happiness for the kind welcome and the generous hospitality, humility and humanity of the Emirates people.  About 200 Sudanese from China left the country to UAE, on Emirates Airlines, to put them in quarantine for 25 days, before returning to the capital, Khartoum. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Su...

The Swedish government is demanding the release of a national of a country detained in China, publicist Gui Minhai, who was sentenced on Monday to 10 years in prison for spying for a foreign country.   About this on Tuesday on Twitter writes Foreign Minister Anne Linde.    "She noted the report on the verdict against Gui Minhai. Now we are trying to get more information. We did not have any indictments and access to court hearings. The government continues to demand the release of Gui Minhai and providing us access to our citizen to provide consular support," she said  she.   The mid-level court of Ningbo City (Zhejiang Province, East China) on Monday sentenced Gui Minhai to 10 years in prison for spying for a foreign state.   According to the verdict, the defendant was found guilty of "illegal intelligence activities abroad."   By court order, he will be "deprived of political rights for five years."   Gui Minghai is a Hong Kong-...

In Japan, a cruise ship with 3,711 people on board is quarantined after the discovery of at least eight suspected cases. 3,711 people aboard Carnival Japan's Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama Bay, in Japan. After landing a passenger in Hong Kong who tested positive for the coronavirus, at least eight other people experienced symptoms of contagion and fever. Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said adding that checks are underway on 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members. The number of coronavirus infections exceeded 20,400 in China, with 3,235 new cases confirmed. According to the latest official data, 64 deaths have occurred in the country, all in the province of Hubei, outbreak of the virus, and the total tall therefore rises to 425. While 635 infected, they have been discharged from hospitals. There is also a second victim outside of China after one death in the Philippines, a 39-year-old man lost his life in Hong Kong in hospital. ...