KUALA LUMPUR -- Economies participating in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) reaffirmed the prioritization of economic recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak following a virtual meeting chaired by Malaysia on Saturday.

In a joint statement, the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade reaffirmed their commitment to "effectively mitigating the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and promptly navigate the region towards a path of resilient, sustainable, inclusive and expedited economic recovery." (Malaysia, APEC, trade)

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NEW YORK -- Wall Street's major averages declined in the week as investors pored through a new wave of earnings reports while grappling with fears over the soaring coronavirus cases in the United States.

For the week ending Friday, the Dow slid 0.8 percent, the S&P 500 dipped 0.3 percent, and the Nasdaq lost 1.3 percent. (US-Stocks-Weekly loss)

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BANGKOK -- Thailand's state tourism body told the media on Saturday that the long holiday weekend from July 25 to 28 is expected to generate around 6.8 billion baht (215 million U.S. dollars) revenue for the tourism industry with hotel occupancy getting a 24 percent boost.

"Since a ban on inbound flights for general tourists is still in place, Thai people however, will be traveling to nearby areas, somewhere close to their hometown," said Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn, "and these travelers will be traveling in small groups, with family or friends, in their own cars." (Thailand-Tourism)

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CAPE TOWN -- The COVID-19 pandemic has been ravaging South Africa since March 5, with the tourism sector being the hardest hit.

For several days, the tourism industry has organized protests in major cities like Cape Town and Johannesburg to press their demand for fully reopening the tourism industry. In Cape Town, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Parliament on Friday. (SA-Tourism-COVID-19) Enditem

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