SAO PAULO: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro led a throng of motorcyclist supporters through the streets of Sao Paulo on Saturday – and got hit with a fine for failure to wear a mask, in violation of local pandemic restrictions.

The conservative president waved to the crowd from his motorcycle and later from atop a sound truck, where helmeted but largely maskless backers cheered and chanted as he insisted that masks were useless for those already vaccinated – an assertion disputed by most public health experts.

Sao Paulo’s state government press office said a fine – equivalent to about USD 110 – would be imposed for violation of a rule that has required masks in public places since May 2020. Bolsonaro’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The procession of cyclists wound out of the city and back, arriving at Ibirapuera Park, where the president clambered atop a car to defend his denunciation of masks for the vaccinated. “Whoever is against this proposal is because they don’t believe in science, because if they are vaccinated, there is no way the virus can be transmitted,” he said.

Vaccines are designed chiefly to protect recipients from getting sick, not necessarily from being infected. While studies show many vaccines reduce viral load, and likely spread, not all varieties have been fully studied.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, “The risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection in fully vaccinated people cannot be completely eliminated as long as there is continued community transmission of the virus.”

Less than 12 per cent of Brazil’s population so far has received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Ministry of Health, and many Brazilian experts say masks can only be abandoned after the majority of the population has been vaccinated.

Bolsonaro also was fined for failure to wear a mask during a rally with supporters in May in the northeastern state of Maranhao. Governors of that state and Sao Paulo have been feuding with Bolsonaro over their restrictive measures to stifle the spread of the coronavirus.

Tirana (Albania): The Albanian Parliament on Wednesday impeached President Ilir Meta for violating the constitution and discharged him from the post.

In an extraordinary session, the parliament voted 104-7 to discharge the president. Three abstained. The final approval comes from Albania’s Constitutional Court within three months.

A report of a parliamentary investigation concluded that Meta had violated the constitution with his biased approach against the ruling Socialists during the April 25 parliamentary electoral campaign. The report said Meta violated 16 articles and also incited violence.

Ilir Meta has betrayed the mission of the president of … Albania, Prime Minister Edi Rama said in his speech before the vote. Ilir Meta has humiliated the constitution.

Meta has denounced the investigation and impeachment attempt, arguing they are illegal.

There was no reaction from Meta during the debate or after the vote. During the parliamentary debate Meta continued his daily agenda, awarding a medal to a folk music ensemble.

In late April, 49 governing Socialist lawmakers asked for the investigative committee. They accuse Meta, a former Socialist prime minister who left the party many years ago, of inciting instability and violence in the Balkan nation and siding with the political opposition ahead of the election. They say Meta should be impeached for failing in his constitutional duty to guarantee national unity.

The governing Socialist Party ended up winning a landslide of 74 of parliament’s 140 seats in the April 25 election, winning their third four-year term.

President of the Republic’s acts, behavior and approach … run counter to his constitutional role and position, said the report. It said Meta should be removed from the post of the President of the Republic for grave violation (of the constitution).

Albania’s presidency is largely ceremonial but carries some authority over the judiciary and the armed forces. The role is also generally understood to be apolitical, but Meta has regularly clashed with Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist government.

Since assuming the office of president in 2017 with the support of the ruling Socialists, Meta has opposed their agenda, blocking the nominations of ministers and vetoing legislation.

Meta has accused Rama of running a kleptocratic regime and concentrating all legislative, administrative and judiciary powers in his hands.

Meta argues that the outgoing assembly is in a post-election transition period and therefore is ineligible to conduct such investigation activities. The parliament elected in April is not formally seated until September.

NEW DELHI: The Dominica High Court has adjourned the bail hearing of fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi till June 11, local media reports stated.

The bail hearing took place before high court judge Wynante Adrien-Roberts through video-conferencing on the plea of Choksi’s local legal team comprising Julien Prevost, Wayne Norde, Wayne Marsh and Cara Shillingford-Marsh.

The government side represented by Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Sherma Dalrymple “strongly objected” to Choksi’s plea calling him a flight risk, Dominica News Online reported.

The judge adjourned the matter till June 11, it said.

The high court is also hearing a separate matter of habeas corpus filed by Choksi’s team in which the hearing has also been adjourned.

Choksi had mysteriously gone missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda where he has been staying since 2018 as a citizen.

He was detained in neighbouring island country Dominica for illegal entry after a possible romantic escapade with his rumoured girlfriend.

His lawyers alleged that he was kidnapped from Jolly Harbour in Antigua by policemen looking like Antiguan and Indian and brought to Dominica on a boat.

The businessman was also brought before a Roseau magistrate on the orders of high court judge Bernie Stephenson, hearing the habeas corpus matter, to answer charges of illegal entry where he pleaded not guilty but was denied bail.

SINGAPORE: A Singapore polytechnic lecturer of Chinese-origin has been suspended from teaching duties for allegedly making racist remarks towards an interracial couple of a half-India and a half-Chinese descent, local media reported on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) said the Chinese-origin lecturer has been suspended.

The polytechnic is aware of the video, the Channel News Asia quoted an NP spokesperson on Monday.

“We regret that the individual in question is a member of our staff. We take a very serious view of the matter as the remarks made by the individual are highly offensive, disrespectful and goes against our staff Code of Conduct and values as a community,” said the spokesperson.

“We are investigating this matter internally, including considering the appropriate disciplinary action to be taken. Meanwhile, the staff in question has been suspended from his teaching duties.”

The polytechnic cannot comment further as police investigations are ongoing, said the spokesperson.

The police said on Sunday night that a 60-year-old man was assisting with investigations, after confirming that reports had been lodged and investigations were ongoing.

In the video uploaded by Dave Parkash, a man in a red polo shirt with the word “Singapore” across it can be heard telling Parkash and his girlfriend to date people of their “own race”.

The man in red, who acknowledged he is a “Chinese Singaporean”, then added: “I’ve got nothing against you personally, but I think it’s racist that the Indian prey on a Chinese girl.”

When Parkash, 26, called him a racist, the man in red agreed that he was.

In the video, Parkash said he is “half Indian, half Filipino”, while his girlfriend is “half Singaporean Chinese, half Thai”.

Parkash was with his girlfriend, Jacqueline Ho, 27, on Saturday night in Orchard Road when they were approached by the Chinese man, who said that it was a disgrace for a Chinese girl and an Indian man to be together, among other disparaging remarks.

Shocked at the remark, Parkash confronted the man, while Ho began recording the nine-minute-long video.

Parkash said that by posting the video online, he hoped that people will know it is “not okay to shame others based on their race and skin colour”.

Sharing the video on Facebook on Sunday, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam wrote: “I used to believe that Singapore was moving in the right direction on racial tolerance and harmony.

Based on recent events, I am not so sure anymore.

“If it’s accurate – then it’s horrible. It seems like more people are finding it acceptable, to make ‘in your face’ racist statements – openly. And some try to explain away, each time something like this happens,” he continued, adding that this is “quite unacceptable” and “very worrying”.

TOKYO: Japan is set to expand and extend a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas through May 31 as the coronavirus continues spreading and uncertainty grows about safely holding the Olympics just 11 weeks away.

The current emergency in Tokyo and Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures in the west is scheduled to end Tuesday.

Instead, officials are seeking an extension in those areas and to expand the virus-control measure to Aichi in central Japan and Fukuoka in the south.

Officials in charge of Japan’s COVID-19 response are seeking experts’ endorsement of the plan, and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will announce the measures later Friday.

Tokyo logged 591 new cases of coronavirus infection Thursday, a slight dip from when the state of emergency began in the capital last month, but far above a target of 100 that some experts recommend.

The extension deepens uncertainty over a speculated May 17 visit by International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach and if Japan, one of the world’s least vaccinated nations, can safely host the Summer Olympics postponed from last year and scheduled to be held July 23-Aug 8.

Despite criticism for being slow to take virus measures, Suga has been reluctant to hurt the already pandemic-damaged economy and pledged to keep the state of emergency “short and intensive,” though experts said just over two weeks would be too short to effectively slow the infections.

The ongoing emergency is Japan’s third and came only a month after an earlier measure ended in the Tokyo area.

Less stringent, quasi-emergency will be expanded to eight prefectures from the current six where bars and restaurants are required to close early.

Japan has about 616,000 cases including about 10,500 deaths since the pandemic began.

The country has managed so far without any enforced lockdowns, but people are becoming impatient and less cooperative to virus measures, making them less effective.

Medical systems in hardest-hit Osaka have been under severe pressure from a COVID-19 outbreak there that is hampering ordinary health care, experts say.

A number of patients died at home recently after their conditions worsened while waiting for vacancy at hospitals.

Past emergency measures, issued a year ago and then in January, were toothless and authorized only non-mandatory requests.

The government in February toughened a law on anti-virus measures to allow authorities to issue binding orders for nonessential businesses to shorten their hours or close, in exchange for compensation for those who comply and penalties for violators.

Shutdown requirements for bars, karaoke and most entertainment facilities will stay in place until the end of May, but department stores will be allowed to operate for shorter hours.

Wearing masks, staying home and other measures for the general public remain non-mandatory request.

The government has also been criticized over its snail-paced vaccination rollout, which has covered only 2 per cent of the population since inoculations began in mid-February.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern plans to marry her longtime partner during the southern summer.

In an interview Wednesday on the Coast radio breakfast show, Ardern said she and Clarke Gayford have finally set a date for their wedding after announcing they were engaged two years ago.

But Ardern wouldn’t be drawn on the exact day other than to say it would be during the Southern Hemisphere summer, which runs from December through February.

“When I say we’ve got a date, that doesn’t mean we’ve actually told anyone yet,” Ardern said on the show.

“So, I feel like we should probably put some invites out.”

Ardern and Gayford have a 2-year-old daughter, Neve. Ardern in 2018 became just the second elected world leader in modern history to give birth while holding office.

Gayford is Neve’s primary caregiver and a presenter on a TV fishing show.

Ardern was asked on the show if she was going to be modern and have a bridesman at her wedding rather than the more traditional bridesmaid.

“I feel a bit too old to have a bridal party,” said Ardern, who is 40.

“I don’t know if it’s just me, but for some reason I just feel like there are some things that, because I’m getting on a bit, I just need to forego.”

Ardern had previously joked about the awkwardness of Gayford’s proposal atop a hill in the coastal town of Mahia.

What was supposed to be a romantic moment was gate-crashed by a police protection officer, some locals, and a couple of dogs that tried to eat the chocolate Gayford had brought with him, she said at the time.

The Coast radio interview offered a chance for some lighter and more personal discussion than Ardern’s typical political interviews.

The hosts also asked if Ardern had plans for Mother’s Day on Sunday.

“I know of none, except for the fact that I said something to Clarke about it yesterday, and there was a long pause. He said, When is it?’,” Ardern said.

“And so, I’m not expecting much.”

KATHMANDU: Authorities in the Nepalese capital on Wednesday extended the lockdown in Kathmandu and surrounding districts till May 12 due to the spike in COVID-19 cases.

Nepal on Tuesday recorded yet another highest single-day rise of 7,660 new cases of the coronavirus.

The health ministry also confirmed 55 new deaths in the past 24 hours, which is so far the highest number of fatalities recorded in a single day.

The local authorities have extended the ongoing prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley till May 12.

The decision to extend the lockdown by another one week in three districts Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur comes as the COVID-19 cases continue to rise every day across Nepal, authorities said.

The first phase of lockdown comes to an end on Wednesday midnight.

During the lockdown period, all transportation services except those operating for emergencies remain shut and markets remain closed.

However, grocery stores can operate between 7 am and 9 am only, according to officials.

Prohibitory orders have been imposed in Kathmandu Valley and some other districts since April 29 with the outbreak of second wave COVID-19 pandemic.

Out of 77 districts across the country, lockdown is in place in 42 districts.

Nepal has also halted all domestic flights this week and international flights would be stopped from Thursday.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday decided to ban for two weeks travellers coming from India due to a record surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

The nationwide tally of COVID-19 cases mounted to 1,50,61,919 with a record single-day rise of 2,73,810 coronavirus infections.

The death toll increased to 1,78,769 with a record 1,619 daily new fatalities, the data updated this morning showed.

Pakistan’s National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) took the decision to impose a two-week ban on travel from India in a meeting chaired by its chief Asad Umar who is also the Minister for Planning and Development, according to a statement.

“The forum decided to place India in the list of Category C countries for two weeks. There will be a ban on inbound passengers coming from India via air and land routes,” the statement read.

Other countries already listed in the Category C include South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Comoros, Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, Seychelles, Somalia, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Last week, some 815 Sikhs pilgrims reached Lahore from India to attend the Baisakhi festival.

They are permitted to stay for 10 days.

Earlier, the NCOC meeting was briefed about the new Indian variant of the coronavirus, known as a double-mutant variant, which has reportedly resulted in a spike in the number of infections in India.

The NCOC also announced to further review the Category C on April 21 to add any new country or remove any existing from the list, the statement said.

Already, another 20 countries are in Category A and travellers from there do not require a COVID-19 test before entry into Pakistan.

These are Australia, Bhutan, China, Fiji, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mongolia, Mauritania, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Trinidad & Tobago and Vietnam.

Those not listed in A and C are deemed in Category B and people coming from these countries require a COVID-19 PCR test (maximum 72 hours old) before starting their travel to Pakistan.

Pakistan’s coronavirus tally reached 761,437 after 5,152 news cases were detected on Monday.

The death toll reached 16,316 as 73 more people died in this period, according to the Ministry of National Health Services.

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates played a role in bringing down the tension between India and Pakistan and getting their bilateral ties back to a “healthy functional relationship”, Emirati ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba has said.

“They might not sort of become best friends but at least we want to get it to a level where it’s functional, where it’s operational, where they are speaking to each other,” al-Otaiba said during a virtual discussion with Stanford University’s Hoover Institution on Wednesday.

India and Pakistan in a surprise announcement said on February 25 that they have agreed to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and other sectors.

Al-Otaiba himself brought up the issue while responding to a question, acknowledging his country’s role in “bringing Kashmir escalation down” between the two neighbours.

“We try to be helpful where we have influence with two different countries. So, India and Pakistan was the most recent one…,” he said.

“We don’t think they are going to become the most favoured nation to each other, but I think it’s important for them to have a healthy functional relationship,” he added.

In New Delhi, asked about media reports that backchannel talks between India and Pakistan were going on for more than a year, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi did not give a direct reply.

“If you talk about channels of communication on this issue, let me just recall that our respective high commissions exist and are functioning. So that is a very effective channel of communication,” Bagchi said on April 9.

India has told Pakistan that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Islamabad in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.

India has said the onus is on Pakistan to create an environment free of terror and hostility.

On the same day, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman stopped short of categorically denying its involvement in some kind of backchannel talks with India.

Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry at the weekly press briefing on April 9 was asked by several journalists about reported backchannel talks with India.

Instead of rejecting it outrightly he said: “States have their ways and means to communicate which remain available even during wars.

Therefore, whether any talks are taking place between India and Pakistan is not important.”

He added that the real issue was what should be discussed between the two countries and how the dialogue could be made meaningful and result-oriented dialogue.

Ties between India and Pakistan nose-dived after a terror attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016 by terror groups based in the neighbouring country.

Subsequent attacks, including one on Indian Army camp in Uri, further deteriorated the relationship.

The relationship dipped further after India’s war planes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan on February 26, 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.

The relations deteriorated after India announced withdrawing special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories in August, 2019.

Last month, Pakistan’s powerful Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that it was time for India and Pakistan to “bury the past and move forward” as he asserted that the peace between the two neighbours would help to “unlock” the potential of South and Central Asia.

The powerful army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 70 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy.

Gen Bajwa’s remarks came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan made a similar statement.