एशिया – Page 106 – आवारा मुसाफिर

Coronavirus scare on Singapore cruise ship was false alarm

December 10, 2020523 Views

A suspected COVID-19 case aboard a “cruise-to-nowhere” from Singapore which forced the ship to return to dock and nearly 1,700 guests to isolate was a false alarm, the government said on Thursday. Passengers on Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas vessel were held in their cabins for more than 16 hours on Wednesday after an 83-year-old man was tested positive for COVID-19 aboard the ship when he sought medical help for diarrhoea. Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas cruise ship docks at Marina Bay Cruise Center after a passenger tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during a cruise to nowhere, in Singapore, December 9, 2020. REUTERS/Edgar Su But Singapore’s health ministry said on Thursday the man did not have the virus after three subsequent tests on land came bac...

क्रूजखबरनामाघटनाएंसिंगापुर

‘Cruise-to-nowhere’ actually takes nowhere

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

December 9, 20201864 Views

Passengers confined to cabins after Royal Caribbean cruise ship detects COVID-19 in Singapore Hundreds of passengers on a Royal Caribbean ‘cruise-to-nowhere’ from Singapore were told to stay in their cabins until contact tracing was complete after a COVID-19 case was detected, forcing the Quantum of the Seas ship back to port, authorities said. Royal Caribbean and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said all guests and crew of the Quantum of the Seas who had close contact with the 83-year old infected male guest have subsequently tested negative for the virus. Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas cruise ship docks at Marina Bay Cruise Center after a passenger tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during a cruise to nowhere, in Singapore, December 9, 2020. REUTERS/Edga...

इंडोनेशियाखबरनामाघटनाएं

Efforts to restart tourism in Bali

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

December 9, 2020593 Views

UNWTO has concluded a first in-person visit to Bali since the start of the pandemic. The delegation met with key figures from the Government of the Republic of Indonesia to advance collaboration as the country gets ready to reopen its borders to international visitors and restart tourism. In partnership with Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, UNWTO hosted a special Capacity Building Workshop on Restarting International Tourism in Bali. The workshop counted on the participation of more than 30 leaders from across the tourism sector, with a further 150 experts and leaders joining virtually. Discussions focused on the government’s strategy to restart tourism, including the formulation of policies, procedures, health infrastructure and imm...

खबरनामाघटनाएंसऊदी अरब

First woman competes at Middle East’s top falconry show

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December 8, 2020541 Views

Athari Alkhaldi stands out amid a sea of men and falcons at the Middle East’s top falconry competition: the first Saudi woman to qualify and participate in the event. “With my participation ... I proved I am here, that women can join this field, that it’s not only restricted to men,” she said, alongside her falcon Ma’aned. Falconry is an important part of the desert heritage of Arabs of Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries going back thousands of years. Athari Alkhaldi, the first Saudi woman to qualify and participate in the King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival, holds a falcon during the show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 1, 2020. Courtesy of King Abdulaziz Falconry Media Center/Handout via REUTERS The two-week King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival, which gathers more than 4,000 ...

खबरनामाघटनाएंनेपाल

Mount Everest becomes 86 cm taller!

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

December 8, 2020562 Views

Mount Everest is higher than previously thought, Nepal and China said on Tuesday, settling a long-running conflict over the height of the world’s tallest peak that straddles their shared border. Kathmandu and Beijing had differed over its exact height but after each sent an expedition of surveyors to the summit they have agreed that the official height is 8,848.86 metres (29,031.69 feet), a bit more than their previous calculations. Everest is an “eternal symbol of ... friendship between Nepal and China,” said Nepali Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, announcing the findings of their surveys on a video call with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Mount Everest, the world highest peak, and other peaks of the Himalayan range are seen through an aircraft window during a mountain ...

खबरनामाघटनाएंचीन

China’s COVID-free ‘Hawaii’ chases local tourist dollar with a vengeance

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

December 7, 2020934 Views

Millions of domestic tourists are descending on China’s southernmost island province of Hainan, presenting a surreal contrast with grim hospital scenes, shuttered restaurants and stifling home quarantine elsewhere in a virus-ravaged world. Known at home as the “Hawaii of China”, the island, about the size of Taiwan, has been free of coronavirus for six months, drawing eager shoppers to duty-free malls, couples seeking a sub-tropical backdrop for wedding pictures, and surfers just looking to “breathe freely”. October arrivals of 9.6 million, according to official data, exceeded the year-earlier figure, before the pandemic struck, by 3.1%, although foreign visitors slumped 87%. That was a far cry from February, when arrivals had dropped almost 90%. A couple poses for pictures durin...

खबरनामाघटनाएंजापान

Japan may resume inbound tourism from spring

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December 6, 2020913 Views

Japan’s government is considering the resumption of inbound tourism on a limited basis from the spring as Tokyo prepares to host a delayed summer Olympics, the Asahi newspaper reported on Sunday. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s administration is leaning toward allowing small tour groups from Asian countries where coronavirus infections are well under control, such as China and Taiwan, the Asahi reported without citing sources. Japanese government officials did not return calls from Reuters seeking comment. Suga’s government has launched a subsidy programme to revive domestic tourism, a key driver of economic growth in recent years, but the scheme has been criticised because Japan is struggling with a third wave of coronavirus infections. New cases have spiked to record hig...

कंबोडियाखबरनामाघटनाएं

Cher says Kaavan will live life as an elephant, not a prisoner

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December 3, 2020730 Views

Pakistan’s lonely elephant Kaavan began his new life in a Cambodian wildlife sanctuary on Tuesday, the result of years of campaigning for his relocation by U.S. singer Cher. She was there to see him beginning to explore his new home and said: “You know this is amazing for him... his life is going to be the life of an elephant and not the life of a prisoner.” Kaavan in Cambodia The 36-year-old elephant had spent most of his life at a zoo in Islamabad, before being moved on Tuesday to the Kulen Prum Tep Wildlife Sanctuary in Oddar Meanchey Province, to start a new life with some 600 other elephants. Cher had written songs pressing for Kaavan’s release from grim, isolated conditions at Islamabad Zoom and she had spent the last few days with him in Pakistan. Cher waits for Kaav...

इस्राइलखबरनामाघटनाएंफिलस्तीन

Dark Times: Both Holy sides of conflict wall gearing up for dismal Christmas

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December 2, 2020535 Views

On both sides of the West Bank Barrier the signs are dismal for the coming festive season. Its dark and gloomy over the region what normally used to be beaming with tourists at this time of the year so close to Christmas. While Jerusalem is yet to come with the terms with the new normal, Bethlehem has announced that it is ‘not going to cancel its Christmas.’ As night grips Jerusalem’s walled Old City, its ancient alleyways become a ghost town of haunting shadows and light. Mornings used to reveal bright picture-postcard scenes of tourists from around the world stopping to buy souvenirs at Palestinian shops as they made their way to biblical sites holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians. A man closes a shop at night amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, at a market in J...

खबरनामाघटनाएंथाईलैंड

Thailand sees first trickle of tourists in October as curbs ease

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

November 26, 2020489 Views

Thailand recorded its first 1,201 foreign tourists in October since a ban in April aimed at averting coronavirus outbreaks, as the country gradually opens up to a select number of visitors to help its struggling, tourism-reliant economy. Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy contracted 6.4% in the third quarter from a year earlier after the second quarter’s 12.1% slump as most virus restrictions were eased, but an absence of tourists is limiting the recovery. The 1,201 foreign visitors in October is a fraction of the 3.07 million arrivals in the same month last year. Tourism ministry data showed the latest visitors included 471 from China, 231 from neighbouring Cambodia, 178 from Middle East countries and 116 from Europe, all travelling on special 90-day visas that require two...