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MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Wednesday recorded its highest coronavirus death toll for a second day running, as infections are on the rise driven by the Delta variant and slow vaccination rates. A government tally reported 857 fatalities over the past 24 hours and 22,430 new cases. The new figure brings the country’s total deaths from Covid-19 to 206,388 — the highest in Europe. Authorities have been accused of downplaying the severity of the […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan’s northwestern coast on Wednesday but no tsunami warning was issued, Japanese and US authorities said. The quake produced shaking across a large swath of the northeastern coast and was also felt in Tokyo, but there were no immediate reports of damage. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake hit at a depth of 368 kilometres (228 miles) in the Sea of Japan, known […]
by Katie Forster TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s next leader Fumio Kishida is a soft-spoken former foreign minister from a Hiroshima family of politicians, with a reputation of seeking the middle ground and a fondness for baseball. The 64-year-old won the ruling party’s leadership vote on Wednesday, beating popular vaccine chief Taro Kono to finally clinch a job he has long targeted. It was second time lucky for the experienced politician: he lost out in […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has successfully tested a hypersonic gliding missile, state media reported Wednesday, in what would be the nuclear-armed nation’s latest advance in weapons technology. Tuesday’s launch was of “great strategic significance”, the official Korean Central News Agency said, as the North seeks to increase its defence capabilities a “thousand-fold”. Hypersonic missiles move far faster and are more nimble than ordinary ones, making them much harder for missile defence systems […]
by Claire LEE Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Nuclear-armed North Korea fired a presumed short-range missile into the sea on Tuesday, the South’s military said, as Pyongyang’s UN ambassador insisted it had an undeniable right to test its weapons. The projectile was fired from the northern province of Jagang into waters off the east coast, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a Japanese defence ministry spokesman told AFP […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Tuesday recorded its highest daily coronavirus death toll yet, following an increase in cases linked to the Delta variant and a lacklustre vaccination drive. A government tally reported 852 fatalities over the past 24 hours, a record in Russia since the start of the pandemic. The new figure brings the country’s total deaths from Covid-19 to 205,531 — the highest in Europe. Authorities have been accused of downplaying […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A coronavirus state of emergency targeting nightlife in Tokyo and other Japanese regions will end this week, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday, as cases nosedive nationwide. The emergency measures, which largely limit alcohol sales, restaurant opening hours and crowd sizes at large events, have been in place for much of the year, including during the Olympics. They are due to expire at the end of September, and Suga said there […]
ZHUHAI, China (AFP) — China on Tuesday showed off its increasingly sophisticated air power including surveillance drones and jets able to jam hostile electronic equipment, with an eye on disputed territories from Taiwan to the South China Sea and rivalry with the United States. The country’s biggest airshow, in the southern coastal city of Zhuhai, comes as Beijing pushes to meet a 2035 deadline to retool its military for modern warfare. China still lags the […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Nuclear-armed North Korea fired an ‘unidentified projectile’ into the sea off its east coast, the South’s military said Tuesday. No further details were immediately available from the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The launch comes just days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister Kim Yo Jong, a key adviser to her brother, dangled the prospect of an inter-Korean summit. But she insisted that “impartiality” and mutual respect […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that relations between Beijing and Taipei were “grim” on Sunday, urging the island’s main opposition party to help seek “unification of the country.” China views self-ruled democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and vows to retake it one day, by force if necessary. Xi has become the most bellicose leader since Mao Zedong, describing the seizure of the island as “inevitable.” In a congratulatory […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India will export eight million coronavirus vaccine jabs by the end of October after ending its ban on sending doses abroad, a top foreign ministry official said Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to resume exports at a meeting of leaders from the so-called Quad in Washington as India, Japan, Australia, and the US try to counter growing Chinese influence across the Asia-Pacific region. Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla […]
by Paavan MATHEMA KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — Nepal has restarted visas on arrival for vaccinated tourists as South Asian nations attempt to revive tourism businesses devastated after 18 months of the pandemic. A near travel shutdown has been in place in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka for more than a year as successive waves of coronavirus took a deadly toll. Nepal reopened to tourists and scrapped quarantine requirements for vaccinated foreigners on Thursday […]
