These pilgrims are performing a Shinto ritual
which involves plunging into an ice bath
Location: Tokyo, Japan
(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 47-YEAR-OLD PARTICIPANT, NAOAKI YAMAGUCHI, SAYING:"Normally we have more participants and it makes the water temperature a little bit warmer. But this year, there were just twelve people, so the coldness was crazy."
The ritual is said to purify souls
and is held every year in January
Myanmar launched a COVID-19 vaccination programme on Wednesday, with healthcare staff and volunteer medical workers the first to receive shots of the AstraZenca and Oxford University vaccine donated by neighbouring India. Last week, Myanmar received 1.5 million doses of the vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, amid a diplomatic drive by New Dehli to supply neighbouring countries just as regional rival China has also pledged vaccine consignments. "This should create a situation to reduce the rate of infection, so it is such a relief for healthcare workers," Tun Myint, a health ministry official overseeing vaccinations at the Yangon General Hospital, told reporters.
After months of refusing to wear a mask or abandon his cross-country tours, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's infection with the coronavirus was seen by many Mexicans as the price of tempting fate.
Russia and the United States have struck a deal to extend the New START nuclear arms control treaty, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, a move that preserves the last major pact of its kind between the world's two biggest nuclear powers. The White House did not immediately confirm the Kremlin's announcement but said President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed the issue by telephone and agreed that their teams work urgently to complete the extension by Feb. 5, when the treaty expires. Signed in 2010, the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is a cornerstone of global arms control.
Patric Hornqvist scored with three seconds left in regulation and then got the deciding goal in a shootout, leading the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win over the host Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. The Panthers rallied from a 2-0, first-period deficit and also survived a penalty in overtime. Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist for Florida, Aleksander Barkov also scored, and Anthony Duclair had two assists.
Someone has created a free app to digitally utter the new year wishes on our behalf.
Two new teams have joined the Pacific Championship Series (PCS), League of Legends’ (LoL) competitive circuit for Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau, for the Spring Split of its 2021 season.
As the 76th anniversary on Wednesday of the liberation of Auschwitz draws closer, Bill Harvey, who survived the concentration camp, said he was shocked by displays of anti-Semitism during the U.S. Capitol riot. Some of the supporters of former President Donald Trump who broke into and ransacked the seat of Congress on Jan. 6 wore clothes bearing anti-Semitic messages, or displayed Nazi symbols. Harvey, interviewed by Zoom from his Los Angeles home on Monday, expressed concern that the lessons that should have been learned from World War Two's Nazi Holocaust are fading.
Her fans need to be more educated on online scams
Eros STX Global Corporation’s streaming platform Eros Now is launching a Premium Video On-Demand ‘First Day, First Show’ service in India. It will kick off in March with STX Films’ Gerard Butler title “Greenland.” Other STX Films titles that will be made available on PVOD on Eros Now over the next 18 months include “Horizon […]
Sixteen million Peruvians will enter a two-week coronavirus lockdown covering a third of the country at the end of January, Peru's interim president said Tuesday.
PETALING JAYA, Jan 27 — Since the movement control order was put in place, there have been many reports of students going to great lengths to attend online classes. From bad internet...
About 1,200 participants were allowed to fly to Australia for the summer of tennis as thousands of its citizens are unable to return home due to travel restrictions. Players are serving 14 days of isolation during which they are allowed five hours outside their rooms each day to train for the year's first Grand Slam, which has been delayed by three weeks and will be played from Feb. 8-21. But 72 players have been confined to their rooms after passengers on the charter flights that carried them to Australia tested positive to the virus.
WarnerMedia has acquired “There Is No I in Threesome,” a New Zealand-made documentary about a couple exploring an open relationship, and set is as an HBO Max Original. It will have its world premiere at the WarnerMedia Lodge at the Sundance Film Festival and begin streaming on Feb. 11, shortly before Valentine’s Day. A theatrical […]
Hundreds of police guarded the historic Red Fort in the heart of the Indian capital on Wednesday following violent clashes between farmers and authorities in which one person was killed and at least 80 injured. Tens of thousands of farmers, protesting against reforms of the agriculture sector that they say benefit big private buyers at the expense of growers, have been camped on the outskirts of the city for two months to demand the reforms be scrapped. A protest parade of tractors around the city's fringes to coincide with Tuesday's Republic Day celebrations turned to chaos when some farmers diverged from agreed routes, breaking through barricades and clashing with police, who used tear gas and batons to try to restrain them.
Meryll Soriano yesterday said that her son with partner Joem Bascon was planned. The actress said this in a social media post, where she attached a photo showing her and Bascon sitting on a flight of stairs. “When we found out we were parents after planning and trying. Voilà! What a happy day,” she said. ... This article, ‘Happy Day’: Actress Meryll Soriano says baby with Joem Bascon was planned, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company.
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 — The Jaya Grocer outlet at Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang is now closed until further notice, after several staff members tested positive for Covid-19. In a Facebook...
The Chinese government said Wednesday that actions like its warplanes flying near Taiwan last weekend are a warning against both foreign interference in Taiwan and any independence moves by the island. Asked about the flights, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said China's military drills are to show the nation's resolution to protect its national sovereignty and territorial integrity. "They are a stern warning against external interference and provocation from separatist forces advocating for Taiwan independence,” she said at a regular briefing, giving the Chinese government's first official comment on the recent flights.
A Cricket Australia probe Wednesday concluded Indian players were racially abused during the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but cleared six people who were kicked out of the stadium.
The Taliban militant movement gave its backing on Tuesday for a coronavirus vaccination campaign in Afghanistan that has received a $112 million pledge from the World Health Organization’s COVAX programme. The immunisation drive will have to take place amid relentless violence in the country despite the government and the Taliban insurgents opening peace talks in September. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters that the group would "support and facilitate" the vaccination drive conducted via health centres.
IPOH, Jan 27 ― Chinese New Year has always been the busiest period for lion-and-dragon head maker Teh Wing Liang. But not this year. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 46-year-old's business has...
