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TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will prolong a virus state of emergency in Tokyo and other regions and impose restrictions in more areas on Friday as cases surge less than three months before the Olympics. The emergency measures, less strict than the blanket lockdowns seen in other countries, focus on limiting commercial activity with malls closed and bars and restaurants told to shut or stop serving alcohol. They were imposed in Tokyo, Osaka and two […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US military has deployed more heavy bombers and fighter jets to protect withdrawing American and coalition troops from Afghanistan, which have so far sustained no direct attacks, the Pentagon said Thursday. “Less than one week in, the drawdown is going according to plan,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters. Pentagon Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley said that to defend the departing troops, six B-52 long range bombers and 12 […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka on Thursday became the latest of India’s neighbours to seal its borders with the South Asian giant as it battles a record coronavirus surge. Bangladesh and Nepal have also banned flights and sought to close their borders with India, where a huge rise in numbers in the past three weeks has taken deaths past 230,000 and cases over 21 million. All three countries are fighting their own pandemic […]
DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Qatar’s finance minister Ali Shareef al-Emadi has been arrested over alleged abuse of power and misuse of public funds, state media said on Thursday. The official Qatar News Agency later reported that the country’s ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, had issued a decree “relieving” Emadi of his post. Sheikh Tamim also asked Trade and Industry Minister Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari to “carry out the duties of minister of finance”, […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said he supported the idea of a waiver on patent protections for coronavirus vaccines as Russia registered its fourth virus jab called Sputnik Light. A campaign to lift patent protections on Covid-19 vaccines picked up steam on Thursday, with French, German and EU leadership saying they were ready to discuss a proposal by US President Joe Biden, before Putin added his support. “We are […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A remote Japanese fishing town has sparked debate after spending coronavirus relief funds on a giant squid statue that cost nearly $250,000 in a controversial bid to boost post-pandemic tourism. The huge pink monument with its tentacles outstretched was unveiled in March by the coastal town of Noto in central Japan as a proud nod to its local delicacy. It cost around 27 million yen ($247,000) and was mostly paid for […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India saw almost 4,000 Covid-19 deaths and more than 412,000 new cases in the past 24 hours, both new records, official data showed Thursday. Health ministry numbers showed 3,980 deaths, taking the national total to 230,168, and 412,262 new cases, bringing India’s caseload since the pandemic began to 21.1 million. The renewed rise follows several days of falling case numbers that had raised government hopes that the catastrophic recent surge […]
by Kamal Taha GHOR AL-HADITHA, Jordan (AFP) — Ahmad Daoud surveyed his shrivelled tomato plants near the Dead Sea in Jordan, where severe drought in what is already one of the world’s most water-deficient countries is hitting hard. “Look at how the land thirsts,” he said, walking on cracked earth stained with white salt patches, waving at the five hectares (12 acres) of his farm. “Everything I planted… is dead.” He inspected a tomato the […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Jailed Hong Kong dissident Joshua Wong was handed an additional 10-month sentence on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to taking part in an “unlawful” Tiananmen Square protest last year. Wong was sentenced alongside three other prominent young activists — Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen and Janelle Leung — over the 4 June vigil, which was banned by police for the first time last year. © Agence France-Presse
by Bhuvan BAGGA NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India, gripped by one of the most deadly coronavirus surges seen by any country, will have to be ready for new waves and badly needs more oxygen from other countries, officials said Wednesday. Facing critical shortages of hospital beds and oxygen, the warnings came as India reported 3,780 new pandemic deaths, a new daily high, and 382,000 new cases. Experts say the peak may not be reached […]
by AFP bureaus NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India’s foreign minister was forced to abandon face-to-face G7 meetings on the pandemic in London on Wednesday because he may have been exposed to Covid-19, as the crisis deepened back home with his nation’s daily death toll hitting a record at almost 3,800. The coronavirus continues to ravage India but in Europe and the United States mass vaccination programmes have allowed the easing of many restrictions. Foreign […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam has extended the quarantine period for anyone arriving in the country to three weeks, authorities said Wednesday, following a fresh community outbreak of the coronavirus. The nation has so far kept case numbers low — recording just over 3,000 cases and 35 deaths — thanks to strict quarantine measures and extensive contact tracing. But Vietnam reported its first community outbreak in weeks last Thursday, and other clusters have since emerged. […]
