Asia

Rescuers search for survivors in landslide-hit Japan town

by with Shingo ITO in Tokyo / Quentin TYBERGHIEN ATAMI, Japan (AFP) — Rescuers in a Japanese holiday town hit by a deadly landslide were forced to suspend their search for survivors several times on Sunday as more rain lashed the devastated area. Two women were confirmed dead after torrents of mud crashed through part of the hot-spring resort of Atami in central Japan on Saturday morning, following days of heavy downpours. Nineteen people have […]

Russia virus cases soar again as Delta strain sparks resurgence

by Anna SMOLCHENKO MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Sunday counted more than 25,000 new daily infections after a week of record death tolls as the highly contagious Delta variant propels a global resurgence of the pandemic. The coronavirus has killed nearly four million people worldwide, forcing numerous nations to reimpose restrictions well over a year after the outbreak of the pandemic. Moscow has so far ruled out a new lockdown, but Sunday’s 25,142 infections […]

Two bodies found after Japan landslide sweeps away homes, 20 people still missing

  by Natsuko FUKUE Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Two bodies were found after a huge landslide at a resort town in central Japan swept away homes on Saturday following days of heavy rain, with around 20 people still missing, officials said. Television footage showed a torrent of mud obliterating buildings as it crashed down a hillside in Atami, southwest of Tokyo, sending people fleeing as it buried part of a road. “I […]

Russia sets another Covid record as world battles Delta variant

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia reported its fifth record for daily Covid-19 deaths in a row on Saturday, as countries around the world rush to contain the rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. The variant has propelled a resurgence of the virus which has already killed nearly four million people, forcing numerous nations to reimpose restrictions well over a year after the pandemic first swept the world. Indonesia imposed a partial lockdown […]

Indonesia rolls out tougher curbs as virus cases skyrocket

  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia imposed a partial lockdown Saturday in the capital Jakarta, across the main island of Java and on Bali as the Southeast Asian nation grappled with an unprecedented wave of coronavirus infections. Mosques, restaurants and shopping malls were shuttered in virus hotspots around the Muslim-majority country, which recorded more than 25,000 new cases and 539 deaths on Friday, both new daily records. Indonesia’s daily caseload has more than quadrupled in […]

19 missing, homes swept away in Japan landslide after heavy rain

  by Natsuko FUKUE Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A huge landslide swept away homes and left 19 people missing at a popular resort town in central Japan on Saturday after days of heavy rain, local officials said. Television footage showed a torrent of mud obliterating some buildings and burying others in Atami, southwest of Tokyo, with people running away as it crashed over a hillside road. “I heard a horrible sound and […]

Tens of millions sizzle in India’s severe heatwave

  by Jalees ANDRABI Agence France Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Tens of millions of people in India were suffering Friday under a severe heatwave that has pushed the temperature to a nine-year high in Delhi as monsoon rains run behind schedule. Heatwaves have killed over 6,500 people in the world’s second-most populous nation since 2010, and scientists say climate change is making them harsher and more frequent. Daytime temperatures were above 40 degrees […]

Myanmar orders 2 million to stay home as Covid-19 cases spike

  YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) – Myanmar authorities imposed stay-at-home-measures on the country’s second city Friday as coronavirus cases in the coup-wracked country surge, with many health workers striking to protest against the junta. Inhabitants of Mandalay, as well as two townships in the southern Bago region woke up to new restrictions banning more than one person leaving home for non-medical reasons. There was no timeframe given for the new rules, announced by the health and […]

India hits 400,000 virus deaths as vaccinations slow

  NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India became the third country to pass 400,000 Covid-19 deaths, official data showed Friday, as the country’s vast vaccination drive slows. Total deaths are 400,312, according to the health ministry — behind only the United States and Brazil — with total cases almost 30.5 million. Many experts suspect India’s true death toll is more than a million, after a devastating spike in cases in April and May that overwhelmed […]

Indonesia to impose ’emergency’ curbs to battle virus surge

  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia will impose “emergency” coronavirus restrictions this week to battle an alarming surge in infections, President Joko Widodo said Thursday, as the country scrambles to avoid a collapse of its overwhelmed healthcare system. Widodo said the new restrictions, starting Friday, would last more than two weeks in the capital Jakarta and across hard-hit Java, as well as on the holiday island Bali, after infections surged to record levels. New daily […]

China has embarked on an ‘irreversible historical course’: Xi

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China is on an “irreversible historical course”, President Xi Jinping told a huge gathering in Beijing Thursday, as the country held 100th anniversary celebrations for his ruling Chinese Communist Party. The era of China “being slaughtered and bullied is gone forever,” Xi said at a podium in Tiananmen Square, adding the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation entering an irreversible historical course.” © Agence France-Presse

Thailand prepares for Phuket reopening despite Covid surge

PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand prepared Wednesday to reopen the holiday hotspot of Phuket to tourists quarantine-free, even as the country registered its highest single-day death toll from Covid-19. High hopes have been pinned on the so-called “Phuket sandbox” — a model that will allow vaccinated travellers to visit without a quarantine period in an effort to revive Thailand’s battered tourism industry. But the lead-up to its July 1 launch has been plagued with uncertainty […]