More New Zealand Women Take Up Self-Employment: Statistics

WELLINGTON, Jul 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The number of self-employed women increased almost 14 percent to 143,500 in the year to Mar, 2021, New Zealand’s statistics department, Stats NZ said, today. The term “self-employed without employees” can include people who are starting their own business, sole traders, independent contractors, freelancers, or…

China Will Continue Supporting Pacific Island Countries In COVID-19 Fight: FM Spokesperson

BEIJING, Jul 15 (NNN-XINHUA) – China will continue to provide support, within its capacity, to Pacific island countries in need, so that they can ultimately prevail over the pandemic, said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson yesterday. Zhao Lijian made the remarks, during a daily news briefing, when asked to comment on…

New Zealand’s Alert Level System For COVID-19 Needs Urgent Revamp: Researchers

WELLINGTON, Jul 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) – New Zealand’s Alert Level system for the COVID-19 needs an urgent revamp, to suit the evolving pandemic, said University of Otago researchers, in an article in journal Lancet Regional Health. The researchers said, the current alert level system was designed for last year’s pandemic context,…

Indonesia Reports Record Daily COVID-19 Cases At 54,517

JAKARTA, Jul 15 (NNN-ANTARA) – Indonesia yesterday recorded 54,517 newly-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, marking the highest daily spike and bringing the total tally to 2,670,046, the Health Ministry said. The ministry also reported, COVID-19-related death toll added by 991 to 69,210. Additional 17,762 recovered patients…

Israel Should Abide By Peace Agreements With Palestine: Palestinian PM

RAMALLAH, Jul 15 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammed Ishtaye, said yesterday that, Israel should abide by the peace agreements it has signed with Palestine, to advance a serious political process. The prime minister made the appeal, during a meeting with former U.S. Representative, Robert Wexler, in the West Bank…

Japanese Gov’t Proposes Record Rise In Minimum Hourly Wage To 8.4 USD

TOKYO, Jul 15 (NNN-NHK) – A panel of the Japanese government, yesterday, proposed a plan to raise the average minimum hourly wage by a record 28 yen (0.25 U.S. dollars) to 930 yen (8.4 dollars) in fiscal 2021, local media reported. The labour ministry’s advisory panel, proposed the 3.1-percent increase…

Iran Reports 23,371 New COVID-19 Cases, 3,440,400 In Total

TEHRAN, Jul 15 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran yesterday reported 23,371 new COVID-19 cases, raising the country’s total infections to 3,440,400. The pandemic has so far claimed 86,391 lives in Iran, up by 184 in the past 24 hours, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education said. A total of 3,069,943…

Archaeologists Uncover Remains Of Jerusalem’s Wall Destroyed 2,600 Years Ago

JERUSALEM, Jul 15 (NNN-PNN) – Archaeologists uncovered the remains of one of ancient Jerusalem’s city walls, which was destroyed by the Babylonians about 2,600 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority said yesterday. The 30-metre missing section of the wall, connects its northern and southern sections that were already exposed decades…

Egypt’s Tourism Sector Anticipates Boom When Countries Lift Lockdowns, Travel Bans: Official

by Mahmoud Fouly CAIRO, Jul 15 (NNN-XINHUA) – The Egyptian tourism sector recovered by 40 percent amid COVID-19 precautionary measures, eyeing further recovery after more countries lift relevant lockdowns and travel bans, said chairman of Egypt’s Tourism Promotion Authority (TPA), in a recent interview with Xinhua. “We’ve reached 40 percent…

“Moving Forward” Unveiled As Common Concept Of Tokyo Olympic, Paralympic Ceremonies

TOKYO, Jul 15 (NNN-NHK) – “Moving Forward” has been unveiled, as the common concept of all four opening and closing ceremonies, of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, organisers announced here last night. The Tokyo 2020 organising committee, announced in a statement that, the final preparations are being made for…