Asia

Watch: ASEAN in Focus

NCR shifts to ECQ Aug. 6-20 Travel ban on India, 9 other nations extended to Aug. 15 Duterte, Austin renew PH-US alliance US Defense Secretary Austin says US security commitment to Philippines ‘ironclad’ Bangladesh evacuates 10,000 Rohingya from landslide-hit camps Thai hospitals short of beds as Covid cases due to Delta variant soar Cambodia imposes virus curbs along Thailand border over Delta fears Hero’s welcome for Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist Pres. Duterte awards Hidilyn […]

American Robert Finke wins 1500m to seal Olympic distance double

America’s Robert Finke secured the Olympic distance double Sunday by winning the men’s 1500m gold medal to go with his 800m title. The 21-year-old delivered a devastating final 50m to pull clear of a tight field in a race that was neck-and-neck from the off. Finke touched first in 14mins 39.65secs ahead of Ukrainian Mykhailo Romanchuk (14:40.66) and Germany’s Florian Wellbrock (14.40.91). Gregorio Paltrinieri would ordinarily have been favourite as defending champion and second fastest […]

1964 Tokyo Games weightlifter wants to meet Hidilyn

By Lade Jean Kabagani MANILA – Artemio Rocamora, 88, is looking forward to meeting his fellow weightlifter, Olympian and Philippine Air Force officer Hidilyn Diaz. Rocamora placed 19th in the light heavyweight division of the 1964 Tokyo Games while the 30-year-old Diaz will be etched in history books as the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist. She also snatched a silver at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. Incidentally, the ongoing Games are also being held in […]

US star Dressel wins 50m freestyle for fourth Tokyo gold

Caeleb Dressel claimed his fourth Tokyo gold and earned the title of world’s fastest swimmer Sunday with an Olympic-record 21.07 seconds in the 50m freestyle final. The American was untouchable in an event he has dominated in recent years, hitting the wall ahead of France’s Florent Manaudou (21.55), who won gold at London in 2012 and silver at Rio 2016. Brazilian Bruno Fratus (21.57) was third. Dressel had his usual powerful start off the blocks […]

Two more parts of China report Covid outbreaks

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s worst coronavirus outbreak in months has spread to two more parts of the country, health authorities said Saturday, including a sprawling megacity of 31 million people. The National Health Commission reported 55 new cases in areas including Fujian province and Chongqing municipality, in addition to the four provinces and Beijing where outbreaks of the Delta variant had already been reported. More than 200 infections nationwide have been linked to […]

20 dead, 300,000 stranded in flood-hit Bangladesh region

  COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) — Monsoon floods and landslides have cut off more than 300,000 people in villages across southeast Bangladesh and killed at least 20 people including six Rohingya refugees, officials said Friday. The region along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border where nearly one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are in camps has been battered by torrential rain since Monday. “The floods have stranded some 306,000 people in Cox’s Bazar district. At least 70 villages […]

China virus success under threat as Delta variant spreads

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — A coronavirus cluster that emerged in the Chinese city of Nanjing has now reached five provinces and Beijing, forcing lockdowns on hundreds of thousands of people as authorities scramble to stamp out the worst outbreak in months. China has previously boasted of its success in snuffing out the pandemic within its borders after imposing the world’s first virus lockdown in early 2020 as Covid-19 seeped out of Wuhan in the […]

Thai hospitals short of beds as Covid cases soar: ministry

  BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand’s health ministry sounded the alarm over Bangkok’s dire lack of hospital beds and isolation facilities on Thursday as Covid-19 cases and deaths soared to a new record. The Southeast Asian country is struggling to contain its latest outbreak fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant, with infections and deaths skyrocketing and the healthcare system stretched thin. Despite the hardest-hit provinces being placed under severe restrictions and a nighttime curfew, […]

JUST IN: Floods kill 40 in north Afghanistan, 150 missing: officials

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AFP) — At least 40 people have been killed with 150 more missing in northern Afghanistan after flash floods ravaged an area northeast of the capital Kabul, officials said on Thursday. A rescue operation was underway to find the missing people after torrential rains overwhelmed Kamdesh district in Nuristan province — about 200 kilometres (120 miles) northeast of Kabul. © Agence France-Presse

Olympic organizers defend coronavirus measures as cases rise

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo Olympics organisers dismissed any link to rising coronavirus cases in Japan on Thursday after reporting 24 infections among Games participants, the highest yet. At least 193 athletes, media and Olympic employees and contractors have now tested positive for the virus, according to Tokyo 2020 figures that do not include some cases at airports and in training camps. On Wednesday, Japan reported 9,583 cases nationwide, the first time the figure […]