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by Martin Abbugao SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that Beijing’s expansive claims in the South China Sea have “no basis in international law”, taking aim at China’s growing assertiveness in the hotly contested waters. Austin’s broadside came at the start of his first trip to Southeast Asia as US defense secretary, as he seeks to rally allies in the region as a bulwark to China. President Joe Biden’s administration wants […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia reported a record 2,069 coronavirus deaths in 24 hours Tuesday as the Southeast Asian nation faces its deadliest Covid-19 surge since the pandemic began. Tuesday’s grim tally was nearly 600 deaths higher than the previous day and topped last week’s daily record 1,566 deaths, the health ministry said. New infections also shot up to just over 45,000, from about 28,000 on Monday. The eye-watering data comes after Indonesia this week […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The death toll from floods in central China’s Henan province rose to 71 on Tuesday as a tribute at a subway where 14 people died was sealed off in a sign of sensitivity to public criticism of the government’s handling of the disaster. Torrential downpours dumped a year’s rain in just three days last week on the hardest-hit city of Zhengzhou, flooding subway cars and trapping more than 500 commuters during […]
FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — Two people were seriously injured Tuesday in an explosion at a chemical park in Leverkusen, western Germany, the site’s operator said, as police urged residents to shelter indoors. “Several employees were injured in the incident, at least two of them seriously,” Chempark operator Currenta said in a statement. “Five employees are currently missing.” The blast happened at around 09:40 am (0740 GMT) “for still unknown reasons”, it said. The explosion could […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A wall of sand over 100 metres high swallowed a city on the fringes of the Gobi desert in northwestern China, in scenes reminiscent of a disaster film. Dunhuang, a tourist draw with a colourful history as a Silk Road outpost, momentarily disappeared in the dust clouds as the storm hit on Sunday. A resident surnamed Zhang told local media Jimu News that the sandstorm came abruptly and swept through the […]
MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Melbourne’s coronavirus lockdown will be lifted late Tuesday, as authorities signalled a Delta variant outbreak in Australia’s second-biggest city had been contained. Neighbouring South Australia state will also ease stay-at-home rules, but the country’s largest city Sydney was facing a likely extension to a lockdown now in its fifth week. After almost two weeks under stay-at-home orders, millions in Melbourne and surrounding Victoria state will exit their fifth lockdown just before […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North and South Korea said Tuesday they had restored cross-border communications, more than a year after Pyongyang severed all official hotlines between the two rivals, who technically remain at war. The North unilaterally cut off all official military and political communication links with the South in June last year after threats over activists sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the border. The suspension came with inter-Korean ties at a standstill, despite three […]
LOS ALTOS, United States (AFP) — As wildfires ravage the western United States and Canada, some fire departments near San Francisco are teaming up to share staff to bolster their collective defenses during a historically severe season. Authorities said the northern California scheme — which includes the city of Palo Alto, Los Altos County and Santa Clara County — helps first responders adapt to new wildfire patterns, so they can attack blazes in their early […]
ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Greece will open Covid-19 vaccinations to youngsters aged 12-15 in August, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias told local television on Monday. Vaccination for this group has been approved and will be optional, he said. The program is expected to start on Friday. Maria Theodoridou, president of the country’s vaccination committee, stressed that there had been a significant rise in infections among children and adolescents recently. “The constant contamination of children is going […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Small shops, streetside restaurants and some shopping malls reopened in coronavirus-battered Indonesia on Monday after the government loosened a shutdown despite warnings it could unleash another Covid-19 wave. President Joko Widodo said Sunday that a partial lockdown imposed in early July would continue until August 2 even as the highly infectious Delta variant tears across the vast archipelago nation, which has overtaken India and Brazil to become the global pandemic epicentre. […]
Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked the defence minister Monday, a day after ousting the prime minister and suspending parliament, plunging the young democracy into constitutional crisis in the midst of a pandemic. Street clashes erupted Monday outside the army-barricaded parliament, after Saied dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and ordered parliament closed for 30 days, a move the biggest political party Ennahdha decried as a “coup”. Saied declared on Sunday that he had “taken the necessary […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A tropical storm was barrelling towards northeastern Japan on Monday, forcing Tokyo Olympics organizers to reschedule rowing and archery that could be affected by high winds. Tropical Storm Nepartak, packing gusts up to 108 kilometers (67 miles) per hour, was expected to make landfall Tuesday, Japan’s meteorological agency said. The storm is shifting its course from the Tokyo area to northeastern regions, including Fukushima. But the agency warned of heavy rain, […]
