Asia

Back to school in masks as Singapore eases virus curbs

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Pupils wearing face masks returned to school in Singapore on Tuesday and some workplaces re-opened as coronavirus restrictions were eased in the hard-hit city-state. Singapore initially kept infections low through a strict regime of testing and contact-tracing, only for major outbreaks to emerge from crowded dormitories housing low-paid foreign workers. The country has recorded over 35,000 cases — the highest official tally in Southeast Asia — with the vast majority among […]

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South Korea limits school numbers over virus spike

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Friday imposed limits on the number of pupils going to schools in and around Seoul as officials scramble to tackle fresh coronavirus cases that threaten the country’s success in containing the epidemic. Only one in three pupils at kindergartens, elementary and middle schools in the Seoul metropolitan area — home to half the population — will be allowed to physically attend school each day, authorities said, with […]

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Israel tests 100,000 to prevent pandemic ‘second wave’

JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel has launched a campaign to test 100,000 people for novel coronavirus antibodies as the country prepares for a possible “second wave” of cases, a top official said Thursday. The initiative is one of the world’s largest such schemes and aims to test Israel’s “collective immunity” against the COVID-19 disease. “We have started… It should not be too long before we see some interesting trends,” said Yair Schindel, a senior official […]

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Qatar denies Gulf bloc exit rumors

DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Qatar denied on Thursday that it plans to quit the Gulf Cooperation Council as it prepares to mark three years of isolation led by the regional bloc’s heavyweight Saudi Arabia. However, the gas-rich state cautioned that the effort by three of the GCC’s six members to isolate Doha economically and politically meant people in the region were “doubting and questioning” the organization. Rumors of Qatar’s imminent departure from the GCC, founded […]

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Iran dismisses ‘desperate’ US move to end nuclear waivers

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Tehran on Thursday dismissed the impact of what it called Washington’s “desperate attempt” to end sanction waivers for nations that remain in the Iran nuclear accord. The United States had made the move in a bid “to distract public opinion from its continued defeats at the hands of Iran,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran. “Ending waivers for nuclear cooperation with Iran… has effectively no […]

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China approves plan to impose Hong Kong security law

by Laurie CHEN BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s parliament approved plans Thursday to impose a security law on Hong Kong that has ratcheted up tensions with the US and sparked new protests over fears the city is losing its special freedoms. The vote by the rubber-stamp National People’s Congress (NPC) came hours after the United States revoked the special status conferred on Hong Kong, paving the way for the territory to be stripped of trading […]

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Taiwan leader vows ‘action plan’ for Hong Kong protesters

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday pledged a humanitarian “action plan” for Hong Kongers pushing for democracy in the financial hub as an influx of activists seek sanctuary on the self-ruled democratic island. Hong Kong was upended by months of often violent pro-democracy protests last year sparked by rising fears that Beijing is chipping away at the city’s freedoms. Unrest has returned in recent days after Beijing announced plans last week […]

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South Korea re-imposes some social restrictions to combat new virus outbreaks

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Thursday re-imposed a series of coronavirus social distancing measures it had eased early this month, as a series of clusters threatened to challenge its success in containing the epidemic. The country has been held up as a global model in how to curb the virus, but reported its biggest spike in new infections in nearly two months as life appeared returning to normal. The new cases […]

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South Korea sees largest spike in virus cases in nearly two months

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea reported its biggest spike in coronavirus cases in nearly two months on Thursday, as officials scramble to tackle fresh clusters that have raised concerns of a possible second wave of infections. The country has been held up as a global model in how to curb the virus and has begun to ease restrictions but is now rushing to contain new infections as life returns to normal. Officials announced […]

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Man arrested over deadly arson at Japanese animation studio

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese police on Wednesday formally arrested a man on suspicion of an arson attack on an animation studio in Kyoto last year that killed 36 people, a police spokesman said. The horrifying attack on the well-known Kyoto Animation anime studio was the deadliest violent crime in decades infamously safe Japan, and shocked the country. Shinki Aoba allegedly broke into the building, “scattered gasoline on the ground floor, set fire to it,” […]

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South Korea sees biggest jump in virus cases in seven weeks

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea reported its biggest jump in coronavirus infections in seven weeks on Wednesday, driven by a fresh cluster at an e-commerce warehouse on Seoul’s outskirts, as millions of more pupils went back to school. The country has been held up as a global model in how to curb the virus and has rushed to contain new infections as life returns to normal. But officials announced 40 new cases Wednesday […]

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Indian drones pursue locusts as swarms destroy swathes of crops

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Huge swarms of desert locusts are destroying crops across western and central India, prompting authorities Tuesday to step up their response to the country’s worst plague in nearly three decades. Drones, tractors and cars have been sent out to track the voracious pests and spray them with pesticides. The locusts have already destroyed nearly 50,000 hectares (125,000 acres) of cropland. “Eight to 10 swarms, each measuring around a square kilometer […]

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