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SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has requested Covid-19 vaccines and is expected to receive nearly two million doses, according to the Gavi vaccine alliance, part of the WHO-backed Covax programme, although the isolated country has insisted it is virus-free. It is the first official confirmation that the North has asked for international help, with the country’s medical infrastructure is seen as woefully inadequate for dealing with any large-scale outbreak. The Covax scheme, co-led […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden on Thursday called on Myanmar’s military to “relinquish power” in the Southeast Asian nation and release the government officials and activists detained in this week’s coup. “There can be no doubt: in a democracy, force should never seek to overrule the will of the people or attempt to erase the outcome of a credible election,” Biden said in his first major foreign policy speech as president. […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — A US warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the American navy said, in the first such voyage since the inauguration of President Joe Biden. The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer conducted a routine transit through the waterway separating the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, the US Seventh Fleet said in a statement. US warships periodically conduct navigation exercises in the strait, often triggering angry responses from China which claims self-ruled, […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan passed a new law strengthening enforcement of its virus restrictions on Wednesday, allowing authorities to fine bars and restaurants that defy closure requests. People can also be fined up to 500,000 yen ($4,800) if they test positive for Covid-19 but refuse hospitalisation, although lawmakers scrapped plans to introduce prison sentences as punishment. With just six months until the pandemic-postponed Summer Olympics, Tokyo and other regions are currently under a state […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China plans to provide 10 million doses of Covid-19 jabs to the WHO-backed international vaccine distribution programme Covax, Beijing said Wednesday as it seeks to reframe perceptions of its role in the pandemic. The Covax programme, which aims to provide two billion doses of vaccine, pools funding from richer countries with the intention of ensuring poorer nations can inoculate their health workers and most vulnerable citizens, on the basis that […]
by Laurie CHEN BEIJING, China (AFP) — There will be no quick answers into the origins of the coronavirus, one of the World Health Organization experts on a mission to the Covid-19 ground zero in central China told AFP. Hung Nguyen-Viet, who is visiting various virus-linked sites in the city of Wuhan with the team, said starting the investigation more than one year after the pandemic began was not ideal, but added that the mission […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Nearly 11,000 Hong Kongers moved to Taiwan in 2020 — almost double the number of a year earlier — after Beijing imposed a sweeping security law on the city. Democratic Taiwan has long attracted Hong Kong people seeking an alternative to their city’s frenetic pace and sky-high rents. But a new security law has accelerated an exodus, and the number of Hong Kongers granted short-term residency soared to 10,813 from 5,858 […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia on Tuesday suspended entry from 20 countries, ranging from some neighbouring states to the United States, in a bid to curb a jump in coronavirus infections. The interior ministry announced the “temporary suspension” would be effective from 9.00 pm (1800 GMT) on Wednesday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The ban applies to neighbouring Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and in the wider region, to […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan on Tuesday extended a coronavirus state of emergency in several parts of the country, with less than six months to go until the pandemic-postponed Olympics. The month-long extension will cover 10 of the 11 areas currently under the measure, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said at a meeting with the taskforce guiding the government’s pandemic response. © Agence France-Presse
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — EU export rules are preventing Japan from finalizing its coronavirus vaccination plan, a Tokyo minister said Tuesday, after the bloc introduced a controversial new mechanism for the shipment of jabs made inside its borders. With less than six months until the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics, Japan has yet to set out when it will vaccinate its population of 126 million people, although it hopes to give the first doses later in February. […]
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday on the situation in Myanmar, following the coup by the country’s military, according to an official calendar of events. The meeting, to be held by videoconference, will take place behind closed doors, says the calendar — which was approved Monday by council members. The UN special envoy for Myanmar, Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener, is expected to brief the […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan called Monday for Myanmar’s military to release Aung San Suu Kyi and restore democracy, saying it was opposed to moves that pushed the country “backwards”. “We request the release of stakeholders including state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi who was detained today,” Japan’s foreign ministry said in a statement, urging the army “to quickly restore the democratic political system in Myanmar”. The ministry said Japan had been “strongly supporting the […]
