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BEIJING, China (AFP) — Two years into the pandemic, China’s resurgent Covid-19 outbreak has revived questions about how the country counts deaths from the virus, with persistently low fatalities despite rising cases. Shanghai, China’s largest city, has logged 190 deaths among more than 520,000 infections in nearly two months — a fraction of the rate in outbreaks fuelled by the Omicron variant in other parts of the world. The figures have been trumpeted by […]
by Sam Reeves © Agence France-Presse SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — British tycoon Richard Branson on Tuesday urged Singapore to spare the life of a mentally disabled Malaysian facing execution, telling AFP the death penalty was a “horrible blotch” on the city-state’s reputation. Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, convicted of trafficking a small amount of heroin into Singapore, is due to be hanged on Wednesday after more than a decade on death row. The planned execution has […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing on Tuesday launched mass coronavirus testing for nearly all its 21 million residents, as fears grew that the Chinese capital may be placed under a strict lockdown like Shanghai. China is trying to contain a wave of infections in Shanghai — its biggest city — which has been almost entirely locked down for weeks and reported 52 new Covid deaths on Tuesday. Beijing authorities have ordered people in 12 central […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Oil prices tumbled Monday along with equities in Europe and Asia on worries over a worsening Covid-19 outbreak in China, while US stocks finished a volatile session higher as Elon Musk sealed a deal to acquire Twitter. Crude prices dove more than three percent on growing concerns over Chinese lockdowns in response to its latest Covid-19 wave. Dollar-denominated oil has also been pressured by the higher dollar. Officials in […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Fears of a hard Covid lockdown sparked panic buying in Beijing as long queues formed on Monday in a large central district for mass testing ordered by the Chinese authorities. China was already trying to contain a wave of infections in its largest city Shanghai, which has been almost entirely locked down for weeks and reported 51 new Covid deaths on Monday. Shanghai has struggled to provide fresh food to […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese rescuers on Monday confirmed the death of a child in a weekend sightseeing boat accident, raising the death toll to at least 11, as efforts to find survivors continued. The Kazu I was carrying 24 passengers, including two children, and two crew when it sent a distress signal on Saturday afternoon as it began to take on water in the frigid waters off Japan’s northern Hokkaido island. Ten people were […]
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Shanghai reported 39 Covid deaths Sunday, its highest daily toll despite weeks of lockdowns, while China’s capital Beijing warned of a “grim” situation with rising infections. The world’s second-largest economy has been struggling to stamp out its worst outbreak in two years with a playbook of harsh lockdowns and mass testing as it sticks to a strict zero-Covid policy, taking a heavy toll on businesses and public morale. The cosmopolitan […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Rescuers in Japan were searching Saturday for a sightseeing boat carrying around 30 people that sent a call warning it was sinking off the north coast, the coastguard and local media said. A local coastguard official told AFP that rescuers had “set up a task force to tackle the incident” and look for the missing, but declined to confirm any other details of the reported accident. National broadcaster NHK said the […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan described four disputed islands as “illegally occupied” by Russia for the first time in nearly two decades on Friday as ties sour between the countries over the war in Ukraine. The two nations have long been engaged in attempts to agree a post-World War II treaty, but the islands held by Moscow and claimed by Tokyo remain a key sticking point. Japan’s foreign ministry last used the expression in […]
by Clara WRIGHT Agence France Presse Nanterre, France (AFP) — French authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for Carlos Ghosn, the disgraced auto tycoon who jumped bail in Japan and fled to Lebanon in a sensational getaway, prosecutors told AFP on Friday. The warrant was issued on Thursday over 15 million euros ($16.3 million) in suspect payments between the Renault-Nissan alliance that Ghosn once headed and an Omani company, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA), […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un thanked outgoing South Korean president Moon Jae-in for his efforts to improve inter-Korean relations, state media said, in an unexpected move following growing signs Pyongyang is resuming nuclear testing. North Korea has carried out more than a dozen weapons tests so far this year, and experts have warned of recent signs of new activity at a key nuclear testing site. Moon’s hawkish successor, […]
DILI, East Timor (AFP) — Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta scored a landslide victory in East Timor’s presidential election, according to preliminary results published Wednesday by the election secretariat. The 72-year-old secured 397,145 votes, or 62.09 percent, against incumbent Francisco “Lu-Olo” Guterres’ 242,440, or 37.91 percent, the secretariat’s website showed after all ballots were counted. “The count of the district, national and regional vote has been completed,” said Acilino Manuel Branco, general director of the […]
