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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — At least 10 Indonesians died after tidal waves swept away a group of people meditating on a beach during Sunday’s early hours, police said. The group of 23 people was holding hands and meditating on Payangan beach, East Java province, shortly after midnight. “They were too close to the sea and could not save themselves when the tidal waves came and swept them away,” local police chief Hery Purnomo told […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A Russian anti-submarine destroyer chased off a US submarine near the Kuril Islands, forcing it to leave the country’s territorial waters, Moscow said Saturday, amid rising tensions over Ukraine. The US military however denied the account. Russia’s defence ministry said that during planned military drills the Marshal Shaposhnikov destroyer had detected a US Navy Virginia-class submarine in Russian territorial waters near the Kuril Islands in the northern Pacific. When the […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s junta on Saturday announced an amnesty for more than 800 prisoners to mark the country’s Union Day, as it held a parade and show of force in the capital. The country has been in turmoil since last year’s coup, with mass protests and a subsequent military crackdown that has killed more than 1,500 civilians, according to the UN’s human rights office. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing issued the “pardon […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Saturday said it had given “conditional” approval for Pfizer’s Covid-19 drug Paxlovid to treat adults with mild to moderate illness and a high risk of developing severe disease. The National Medical Products Administration said further research on the drug needed to be undertaken and submitted to the regulator. Paxlovid has so far been authorized in several countries including the United States and Israel, while the European Union […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)– President Joe Biden seized $7 billion in assets belonging to the previous Afghan government on Friday with the aim of splitting the funds between victims of the 9/11 attacks and desperately needed aid for post-war Afghanistan. Biden formally seized the assets in an executive order. The money had been stuck in the New York Federal Reserve since the fall of the US-backed government in Kabul and takeover by the Taliban […]
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) – The top diplomats of the United States, Australia, Japan and India opened talks in Melbourne Friday on deepening their Quad alliance, hoping to blunt China’s expanding power across the Asia-Pacific region. “Together we are a vital network of liberal democracies committed to practical cooperation and to ensuring all Indo-Pacific nations, large and small, are able to make their own strategic decisions, free from coercion,” Australia’s Foreign […]
by Lucie Godeau Agence France Presse JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia on Thursday ordered 42 Rafale fighter jets from France, as Paris and Jakarta seek to strengthen military ties in the face of growing tensions in the Asia-Pacific. The agreement was announced as Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto met his French counterpart Florence Parly in Jakarta. “It’s official, Indonesia orders 42 Rafale,” said Parly on Twitter. Subianto confirmed a deal had been struck for […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said Wednesday it was dropping its vaunted “trace, test and treat” program as a surge in Omicron cases threatens to overwhelm the country’s healthcare system. At the start of the pandemic in 2020, South Korea was hit by one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside China but brought it under control with mass testing and aggressive contact tracing. The strategy earned the country widespread praise, […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s “zero-Covid” policy was on the ropes Saturday as authorities announced a record number of new infections, sending officials scrambling to ramp up testing capacity and warning that a tightening of virus-control measures could be needed. Like mainland China and much of East Asia, Hong Kong has long followed a strategy of fighting the virus through contact tracing, targeted lockdowns and lengthy quarantines. And as much of the world […]
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told leaders in Beijing he expects them to allow UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet to make a “credible” visit to China including a stop in the troubled Xinjiang region, his spokesman said Saturday. Guterres met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics, according to a readout of their talks. The UN chief “expressed his expectation that the contacts between the […]
The Beijing Olympics men’s downhill, one of the Games’ signature events, was postponed Sunday because of high winds. “The jury together with the organisers have decided in the best interest of safety and fairness for the racers to delay,” organisers said. “More information on a new date and start time will be communicated as soon as it is confirmed.” The blue riband event of alpine skiing had been scheduled to start at 11:00am (0300 GMT), […]
Like mainland China and much of East Asia, Hong Kong has long followed a strategy of fighting the virus through contact tracing, targeted lockdowns and lengthy quarantines. And as much of the world has chosen to open up and live with Covid-19, the city has dug in its heels, with Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam insisting she was still committed to achieving “zero-Covid” even as infections mount. On Saturday the city recorded 351 confirmed cases, […]
