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by Kyoko HASEGAWA Agence France Presse Japan on Tuesday executed three prisoners on death row, the first since December 2019, local media reported citing unnamed sources including from the justice ministry. The executions were the first under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who took office in October and won a general election the same month. When contacted by AFP, the ministry did not immediately confirm the reports by multiple major media outlets, which did not […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A Japanese billionaire was to return to Earth Monday after spending 12 days on the International Space Station, where he made videos about performing mundane tasks in space including brushing teeth and going to the bathroom. Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano, who will be shepherded home by Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, are set to parachute onto Kazakhstan’s steppe at 0313 GMT Monday. Their journey marked Russia’s […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel’s health ministry Sunday recommended banning Israelis from traveling to the United States, and added several European countries to its Covid “red list”, aimed at containing the Omicron variant’s spread. Barring US travel for Israeli citizens and residents would mark a significant step for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government, given the hundreds of thousands of dual nationals and close ties between the countries. Bennett said Israel was in the midst of […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — More than 30,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Malaysia on Sunday as the country battles some of its worst flooding in years. The tropical Southeast Asian nation often sees stormy monsoon seasons towards the end of the year, with flooding regularly prompting mass evacuations. Downpours since Friday have caused rivers to overflow, submerging many urban areas and cutting off major roads, leaving thousands of motorists stranded. More […]
by Harumi OZAWA with Hiroshi HIYAMA in Tokyo Agence France Presse OSAKA, Japan (AFP) — At least 24 people were killed after a blaze gutted a mental health clinic in a commercial building in the Japanese city of Osaka on Friday, local media said, with police reportedly considering it a possible arson case. The fire broke out mid-morning and raged for half an hour on the fourth floor of the clinic, which also provided […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Twenty-seven people were feared dead after a blaze at a building in a commercial district of the Japanese city of Osaka on Friday, the local fire department said. TV footage showed dozens of firefighters working inside and outside the eight-storey building after the blaze was extinguished. The charred interior of the fourth floor of the narrow office building was visible through broken and blackened windows. The floor housed a clinic that […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, 96, was admitted to hospital Thursday and will undergo a full medical check-up, the medical facility said. The National Heart Institute said Mahathir arrived at 7:00 pm (1100 GMT) and is expected to stay there for the next few days. It did not say why he had been admitted and his aides declined to give further details. Mahathir has had heart problems in the […]
Indonesia’s mount Semeru erupted twice Thursday, belching a massive column of ash into the sky followed by a flow of lava that sent hundreds of rescuers fleeing in panic. The highest mountain on the island of Java erupted earlier this month, killing at least 48 and leaving a dozen people missing. Rescuers were digging through the mud and volcanic debris when ash — which reached 4.5 kilometres from the peak — and lava flow from […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said Thursday it will reimpose coronavirus curfews on businesses and limit the size of gatherings again as record infections forced the government to pause its plan to live with Covid. Following a rapid vaccination program, authorities eased restrictions last month to help boost the Covid-hit economy, removing limits on how long businesses could stay open. But new daily infections have more than trebled since then, with a record […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s economically important Zhejiang province wrestled on Tuesday with a Covid outbreak that has left half a million people quarantined and some districts under business shutdown. Zhejiang, a major industrial and export hub on the country’s east coast, reported 44 of China’s 51 domestically transmitted coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the total since late last week to nearly 200. Although Chinese case counts are miniscule compared to other major economies, […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday urged China to cease “aggressive actions” in the Indo-Pacific, speaking during a visit to the region, as Washington seeks to bolster alliances against Beijing’s rising might. In a speech in Indonesia, Blinken said Washington would work with allies and partners to “defend the rules-based order” and countries should have the right to “choose their own path”. “That’s why there is so much concern […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has reported its first case of the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, state media said Monday. Authorities in the northern city of Tianjin confirmed the case in an individual who entered the country from an undisclosed overseas location, according to the Tianjin Daily newspaper. The asymptomatic patient tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday before further tests “confirmed the detection of the… Omicron variant”, the report said, adding that the person was […]
