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by Hiroshi HIYAMA / Kyoko HASEGAWA Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — As Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announces his plans to resign over health problems, attention turns to who could succeed the country’s longest-ruling premier, with no consensus yet clear on a candidate. Here are some of the potential contenders: Taro Aso, gaffe-prone finance minister In his dual role as finance minister and deputy prime minister, 79-year-old Taro Aso is a Liberal […]
by Hiroshi HIYAMA / Miwa SUZUKI Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Friday he will resign, ending his record-breaking tenure in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership race in the world’s third-largest economy. Abe said he is suffering a recurrence of the ulcerative colitis that forced him to cut short a first term in office, and that he no longer felt able to continue as […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to announce his resignation over health issues, local media reported Friday hours before he is due to address a press conference. “Abe intends to resign as his illness has worsened and he worries it will cause trouble” in leading the country, national broadcaster NHK said, without citing a source. Speculation about the prime minister’s health has been swirling for weeks but reached fever pitch […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) –Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will address speculation over his health at a press conference later Friday, with reports suggesting he will say he is fit to stay in office. Questions about Abe’s health have been swirling since he made a previously unannounced visit to hospital for medical checks on August 17, and then returned for further checks a week later, on Monday. Abe, 65, ended his first term as prime minister […]
CHARIKAR, Afghanistan (AFP) — Rescue workers were searching Thursday for bodies in the debris of collapsed houses after flash floods fuelled by torrential rains killed at least 162 people in Afghanistan. At least 100 people died in the city of Charikar north of Kabul when flooding overnight on Tuesday caused hundreds of buildings to collapse. Abdul Ghayor, a labourer who was working in the capital, said he had rushed back to Charikar to look for […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing on Thursday slammed Washington’s “tyrannical logic” over the latest US sanctions targeting Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea, worsening tensions between the two superpowers. In recent years, China has aggressively pursued its territorial claims in the South China Sea, building small shoals and reefs into military bases with airstrips and port facilities. Both the US and Chinese militaries have recently ramped up their actions in the region, raising tensions […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s parliament was shut down on Thursday and a group of lawmakers were in self-quarantine as the country recorded more than 400 new coronavirus infections. The South endured one of the worst early outbreaks of Covid-19 outside mainland China before bringing it broadly under control with extensive tracing and testing, but is now battling several clusters mostly linked to Protestant churches. Thursday’s 441 new cases were mostly in the […]
by Elise Blanchard with Emal Haidary in Kabul CHARIKAR, Afghanistan (AFP) — Rescue workers in Afghanistan searched Wednesday for survivors of flash floods that killed more than 100 people and destroyed hundreds of houses near Kabul, officials said. Troops pulled dozens of victims from the rubble of collapsed buildings in Charikar, capital of Parwan province, after torrential overnight rains fuelled fierce floods that swept through the city. Officials and witnesses said many children were among […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Wednesday announced sanctions and restrictions on two dozen Chinese companies and associated officials for taking part in building artificial islands in disputed waters in the South China Sea. The 24 state-owned firms include subsidiaries of construction giant China Communications Construction Co., telecommunications firms and a unit of the China Shipbuilding Group. The move was the latest step in Washington’s efforts to pressure Beijing over its military […]
by Elise Blanchard with Emal Haidary in Kabul KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Rescue workers in Afghanistan searched Wednesday for survivors of flash floods that killed more than 70 people and destroyed hundreds of houses in a city north of the capital, officials said. Troops pulled dozens from the rubble of collapsed buildings in Charikar, capital of Parwan province, after it was hit by heavy rain overnight, but officials and witnesses said many children were among […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean state media on Wednesday showed leader Kim Jong Un at a meeting of a top committee issuing warnings about the coronavirus and a looming typhoon, following international speculation over his state of health. Kim’s comments come amid conjecture over his condition after South Korea’s spy agency said he had delegated some authority to his sister Kim Yo Jong to relieve his “governance stress”. A former aide to late […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Tuesday ordered all schools and kindergartens in the greater Seoul region to switch to online classes as authorities battle multiple coronavirus clusters. The country’s “trace, test and treat” approach to curbing the virus has been held up as a global model, but it is now trying to contain several outbreaks, mostly linked to Protestant churches. South Korea reported 280 new infections on Tuesday, taking the country’s total […]
