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TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s government will declare a coronavirus state of emergency in the greater Tokyo area on Thursday, hoping the month-long measure can bring a surging wave of infections under control. The new restrictions will be far less strict than harsh lockdowns seen in other parts of the world, and will be softer even than the first state of emergency implemented in Japan last spring. For now, it will affect Tokyo and three […]
by Beiyi Seow and Jing Xuan Teng BEIJING, China (AFP) — An expert mission to China to probe the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic was in disarray Wednesday after Beijing denied entry to the World Health Organization team at the last minute despite months of painstaking negotiations. Ten experts were due to arrive in China this week for the delicate, highly politicized task of establishing how and where the virus jumped from animals to humans. […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Travel has been restricted to a northern Chinese city of 11 million people and schools closed as authorities Wednesday moved to snuff out a cluster of Covid-19 after dozens were infected. Ten major highways leading into the city of Shijiazhuang, around 300 kilometers (200 miles) south of Beijing, have been closed and a bus terminus was closed in an attempt to prevent the virus from spreading beyond the city in Hebei […]
by Sunghee Hwang SEOUL, SOuth Korea (AFP) — North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un admitted there had been mistakes in developing the country’s economy as he opened a rare congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, state media reported Wednesday. The gathering is the first of its kind in five years, only the eighth in the nuclear-armed North’s history, and comes weeks before US President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Relations with Washington have been deadlocked since […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran confirmed Tuesday its first case of a new Covid-19 variant first detected in Britain, as daily deaths dropped below 100 for the first time in over six months. “Sadly, the first instance of the mutated British Covid-19 was detected in one of our compatriots who had arrived from England,” Health Minister Saeed Namaki said in a televised address. The patient was admitted to “a private hospital, and our extensive […]
by AFP correspondents ALA-ULA, Qatar (AFP) — Qatar’s leader arrived in Saudi Arabia Tuesday, greeted by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a tight embrace, ahead of a summit that could yield more breakthroughs in a regional crisis. Saudi Arabia led a coalition of countries in the Gulf and beyond that cut ties and transport links with Qatar in June 2017, charging that it was too close to Iran and backed radical […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea will send a government delegation to Iran “at the earliest possible date” to negotiate the release of a seized oil tanker and its crew, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Tuesday. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Monday it had seized the South Korean-flagged Hankuk Chemi in Gulf waters “due to the repeated infringement of maritime environmental laws”. It said the vessel was carrying 7,200 tonnes of “oil chemical products”. The arrested […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Monday he was considering declaring a state of emergency in the greater Tokyo area over a “very severe” third wave of coronavirus infections. Speaking at a regular New Year press conference, Suga also said he hoped vaccinations would begin in Japan in late February, adding that he would be among the first to receive one. He urged people to avoid non-essential outings, and said […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s population fell for the first time in 2020, with more people dying than were born, the government said Monday, warning that towns in poor regions faced a “crisis of extinction”. The world’s 12th-largest economy has one of its longest life expectancies and one of its lowest birthrates, a combination that presents a looming demographic disaster. As of December 31, South Korea had 51,829,023 people, down 20,838 from a […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Thousands of people were lining up in Beijing to receive a Covid-19 vaccine as China races to innoculate millions before the Chinese New Year mass travel season in February. More than 73,000 people in the Chinese capital have received the first dose of the vaccine over the last couple of days, state media reported Sunday, including community workers and bus drivers. Health authorities on New Year’s Eve granted “conditional” approval to […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Monday he was considering declaring a state of emergency in the greater Tokyo area over a “very severe” third wave of coronavirus infections. Speaking at a regular new year press conference, Suga also said he hoped vaccinations would begin in Japan in late February, adding that he would be among the first to receive one. He urged people to avoid non-essential outings, and said the […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The Moscow metro said Sunday it had hired female drivers for the first time in its recent history, following recent changes in controversial Russian legislation prohibiting women from many professions. The Russian capital’s transport system, which oversees the sprawling metro system, said in a statement that “the first female electric train drivers in modern history started working for the Moscow metro.” Built in the Soviet era as a Communist showpiece, the […]
