Asia

Israel to ease coronavirus restrictions

JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel is set to ease restrictions imposed to combat coronavirus on June 1, but tough rules on travellers to the Jewish state would remain in place, the health ministry said Sunday. The health ministry proposal must still be approved by the government. “For the first time since the outbreak of the epidemic, all restrictions inside Israeli territory will be lifted from June 1,” a ministry statement said. Restrictions on travelers to […]

Another cyclone looms for India, week after deadly storm

KOLKATA, India (AFP) — A severe cyclone is brewing off India’s eastern coast, the nation’s weather bureau warned Sunday, as the death toll rose from a major storm that wreaked havoc in the west of the virus-hit nation last week. Moving northwards in the Bay of Bengal, the depression was set to form a cyclone — to be dubbed Yaas — before intensifying and hitting the eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha on Wednesday, […]

Iran explosives factory blast injures 9: authorities

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — At least nine people were injured in a blast on Sunday at a plant producing explosive materials in Iran’s central province of Isfahan, ISNA news agency reported. The blast occurred at Sepahan Nargostar Chemical Industries at 4:00 am local time (2330 GMT) due to “unclear reasons still being investigated,” said Mansour Shisheforoush, head of the province’s crisis management organization. Nine factory workers were injured and transferred to hospital, he added. He […]

21 runners dead as extreme weather hits China ultramarathon: state media

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Twenty-one people were killed after hail, freezing rain and high winds hit runners taking part in a 100-kilometer cross-country mountain race in China, state media said Sunday. One runner who had been missing was found at 9:30 am, but “had already lost their vital signs”, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing the local rescue command headquarters. “This suggests that this incident caused 21 deaths in total,” CCTV said. City officials had earlier […]

At least 16 dead as extreme weather hits China cross-country race: Xinhua

BEIJING, China (AFP) — At least 16 people were killed and five more are missing after extreme weather hit runners taking part in a 100-kilometer cross-country mountain race in China, state news agency Xinhua said Sunday. “Extreme weather hit the area during the race” being held in the Yellow River Stone Forest near Baiyin City in northwestern Gansu province, Xinhua said. “As of 3 a.m. Sunday, 16 people were found dead and the rescue of […]

Air India says data on 4.5 million passengers stolen

MUMBAI, India (AFP) — Hackers have stolen data on about 4.5 million Air India passengers around the world in the latest breach reported by a major airline. Names, credit card numbers and passport information were among the data stolen, Air India said in a statement released late Friday. The state-owned giant said it was “securing the compromised servers” and using “external specialists” on data security as well as working with credit card companies. “We deeply […]

Strong quakes, including a magnitude 7.3 tremor, rattle two regions of China

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A series of strong earthquakes rattled northwest and southwest China, leaving at least two people dead, local officials and seismologists said early Saturday. Both Qinghai province in the northwest on the Tibetan plateau and Yunnan province in southwestern China are areas prone to earthquakes. And both tremors were shallow, meaning they generally cause more damage. The Yunnan quake, which had a magnitude of 6.1, struck first at 9:48 pm Friday (1348 […]

Strong quakes rattle two regions of China

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A series of strong earthquakes rattled northwest and southwest China, leaving at least two people dead, local officials and seismologists said early Saturday. Both Qinghai province in the northwest on the Tibetan plateau and Yunnan province in southwestern China are areas prone to earthquakes. And both tremors were shallow, meaning they generally cause more damage. The Yunnan quake, which had a magnitude of 6.1, struck first at 9:48 pm Friday (1348 […]

Kyrgyzstan dumps 1,000 vaccine doses after fridge switched off

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AFP) — Kyrgyzstan was forced to dump nearly 1,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine after a fridge in a state clinic was unplugged to charge a mobile phone, authorities in the impoverished Central Asian country said. The spoilt vaccines were part of a package of 20,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine donated to ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan by Russia. Kyrgyzstan began mass vaccinations in March using shots of the Sinopharm vaccine donated […]

Indian states sound Covid ‘black fungus’ alarm as cases surge

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — States across India ordered emergency measures Thursday to counter a surge in the rare deadly “black fungus” infection among coronavirus sufferers. Two new states declared epidemics of Mucormycosis while New Delhi and other major cities have opened special wards to treat thousands of cases of the infection commonly known as black fungus. India normally deals with less than 20 cases a year, but the infection has become a new threat […]

Japan approves Moderna, AstraZeneca vaccines

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan formally approved Moderna and AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccines on Friday, but the latter will not be used immediately because of lingering concern over very rare blood clots. The decision comes just over two months before the pandemic-postponed Olympics, with growing disquiet in Japan about the country’s comparatively slow vaccine rollout. Nine regions including Tokyo are already under a virus state of emergency, with the measure now being expanded to Okinawa in […]

Japan could freeze all Myanmar aid, foreign minister warns

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo could freeze all aid to Myanmar, Japan’s foreign minister warned in an interview published Friday, as the military junta continues to use lethal force against opponents of its coup. Japan is a top donor to Myanmar, and has already suspended new aid after the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But Toshimitsu Motegi, speaking to the Nikkei newspaper, said the freeze could be expanded. “We don’t want to […]