TOKYO: Japan is considering requiring fans attending the Tokyo Olympics to show negative Covid-19 test results or vaccination records, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Monday, as a new poll showed public opposition to the Games remained strong. Japan extended on Friday a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas to June 20, and with the opening of the Games …

Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a tax treaty on Monday, Israel’s Finance Ministry said, describing the move as a spur to business development between the countries after they normalised relations last year. The UAE finance ministry said in October that it had reached a preliminary agreement with Israel on avoiding double taxation. The tax convention, once ratified by ministers and …

CD Projekt reported on Monday that its profit fell by more than half in the first quarter from a year earlier as its flagship game, “Cyberpunk 2077,” was kept off Sony’s PlayStation Store, which a company official said will continue to impact results. “Cyberpunk 2077,” featuring Hollywood star Keanu Reeves, was one of the most anticipated games last year. It …

COVID-19 survivors with lingering symptoms can safely be vaccinated against the coronavirus, a small study suggests. Researchers tracked 36 individuals with “long COVID” who had been hospitalized while acutely ill and who later received at least one dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or AstraZeneca vaccine. Eight months after admission to the hospital, and before vaccination, participants had at least one lingering …

Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has revealed that before making his international debut for his country, he took the field for Pakistan in a fixture between the teams of the two neighbouring states. The batting great, in his autobiography, Playing It My Way, recollected taking the field for Pakistan in 1987 – two years before his India debut in 1989. It …

SYDNEY: Australia’s softball team flew out on Monday destined for Japan, where they will become the first overseas competitors to arrive for the coronavirus-plagued Tokyo Olympics. The arrival of the ‘Aussie Spirit’ squad on Tuesday constitutes a milestone for the Tokyo 2020 Games, which were postponed for a year over the pandemic and remain dogged by virus fears. The squad …

SAO PAULO: Brazil will host Copa America for the second consecutive time after Colombia and Argentina were stripped of hosting rights for the tournament. South American football body CONMEBOL announced the decision on Monday hours after it ruled out Argentina amid an increase in Covid-19 cases in the country. Colombia was removed as co-host on May 20 as street protests …

US actress Romy Walthall, best known for her roles in Face/Off and The House of Usher, has died of cardiac arrest at the age of 57. The tragic news was confirmed by Romy’s son Morgan Krantz to US media on Tuesday. Morgan Krantz, who is also an actor and filmmaker, confirmed that Romy Walthall died after a sudden heart attack on May 19. …

JERUSALEM: A constellation of Israeli political parties seeking to unseat longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened on Monday to hash out power-sharing agreements two days before a deadline. Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said at a meeting of his Yesh Atid party that a great many obstacles stood before a prospective government. But he said the various members of the anti-Netanyahu …

PESHAWAR: Treasury and opposition members in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly were unanimous on Monday in advocating withdrawal of the police’s ‘unprecedented’ powers under the KP Police Act, 2017, to check their excesses. They said the police should be answerable to the chief minister instead of the inspector general of police. The lawmakers insisted that the incidents of the misuse of …