Myanmar junta chief says new elections in two years

YANGON (AFP) -- Myanmar's junta chief said Sunday that elections would be held and a state of emergency lifted by August 2023, extending the military's initial timeline given when it deposed Aung San Suu Kyi six months ago. The country has been in turmoil since the army ousted the civilian leader in February, launching a bloody crackdown on dissent that has killed more than 900 people according to a local monitoring group. A resurgent coronavirus wave has also amplified havoc, with many hospi

Aug. 1, 2021

Olympics chief admits ‘sleepless nights’ over troubled Tokyo Games

　TOKYO (AFP) - Olympics chief Thomas Bach revealed “doubts” and “sleepless nights” over the postponed Tokyo Games on Tuesday as the opening ceremony nears after a year‘s delay and coronavirus chaos that has made them deeply unpopular with the Japanese public. 　Bach, speaking at the International Olympic Committee session in Tokyo, said the unprecedented step of postponing the Games “weighed on me” as it proved more complicated than he thought. 　The b

July 20, 2021

UK PM resisted 2nd lockdown as ‘most dying over 80’: ex-aide

LONDON (AFP) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to avoid a second lockdown last autumn, arguing that most of those dying were over 80, according to his former aide-turned bitter foe Dominic Cummings. 　In a BBC interview airing on Tuesday, the mastermind of Johnson‘s anti-EU Brexit campaign said his former boss “put his own political interests ahead of people’s lives”. 　In the latest of a series of attacks on the government following his resignation as chi

July 20, 2021

Over 60 dead, dozens missing as severe floods strike Europe

More than 60 people have died and dozens were missing Thursday as severe flooding in Germany and Belgium turned streams and streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and caused houses to collapse. Among those killed were nine residents of an assisted living facility for people with disabilities and two firefighters involved in rescue efforts across the region. "I grieve for those who have lost their lives in this disaster,'' German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to

July 16, 2021

Myanmar's Suu Kyi vaccinated against Covid-19 in military custody: lawyer

NAYPYIDAW (AFP) -- Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her personal staff have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 since being taken into military custody, her lawyer said Tuesday, as the country battles a spike in cases. Suu Kyi has been all but invisible since being detained by the military in February, with a handful of court appearances in a special court in Naypyidaw her only link to the outside world. Coronavirus infections are rising sharply in Myanmar, with authorities report

July 6, 2021

Merkel's party readies campaign to keep Germany's top office

BERLIN (AP) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel's party on Tuesday presented a campaign for Germany's September election that portrays would-be successor Armin Laschet as a conciliatory, experienced leader and mixes classic center-right themes with portraying the fight against climate change as an economic opportunity. The Christian Democratic Union's campaign to hold on to Germany's top public office after Merkel's 16-year tenure will take account of the continuing coronavirus pandemic, the party's ge

July 6, 2021

Report: Serbian arriving for Tokyo Olympics tests positive

TOKYO (AP) — A member of the Serbian Olympic rowing team has tested positive for COVID-19 while trying to enter Japan for the Tokyo Olympics that are to open in just under three weeks. The news was reported Sunday by the Japanese agency Kyodo and cited Japanese health ministry officials. Officials said the athlete was isolated at Tokyo's Haneda airport. Four others traveling along with the athlete were reportedly transferred to a facility near the airport. They had been scheduled to tra

July 4, 2021

Tokyo elects assembly amid pandemic fears over Olympics

TOKYO (AP) — Voters in Japan's capital are electing the Tokyo city assembly amid worries about health risks during the Olympics, opening in three weeks, as coronavirus cases continue to rise. In Sunday's balloting, 271 candidates are vying for 127 seats. Eligible voters total 9.8 million people in the megacity with a population of nearly 14 million. Public opinion surveys show about 60% of respondents want the Games canceled or postponed again. Behind the fears is the lagging vaccinatio

July 4, 2021

Chinese astronauts make first spacewalk outside new station

BEIJING (AP) — Two astronauts on Sunday made the first spacewalk outside China's new orbital station to set up cameras and other equipment using a 15-meter-long (50-foot-long) robotic arm. Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo were shown by state TV climbing out of the airlock as Earth rolled past below them. The third crew member, commander Nie Haisheng, stayed inside. Liu and Tang spent nearly seven hours outside the station, the Chinese space agency said. The astronauts arrived June 17 for a th

July 4, 2021

Europe in vaccination race against COVID-19′s delta variant

Countries across Europe are scrambling to accelerate coronavirus vaccinations and outpace the spread of the more infectious delta variant, in a high-stakes race to prevent hospital wards from filling up again with patients fighting for their lives. The urgency coincides with Europe’s summer holiday months, with fair weather bringing more social gatherings and governments reluctant to clamp down on them. Social distancing is commonly neglected, especially among the young, and some countr

July 3, 2021

US plans to make airlines refund fees if bags are delayed

DENVER (AP) -- The Transportation Department will propose that airlines be required to refund fees on checked baggage if the bags aren't delivered to passengers quickly enough. The proposal, if made final after a lengthy regulation-writing process, would also require prompt refunds for fees on extras such as internet access if the airline fails to provide the service during the flight. A department official said the agency will issue the proposal in the next several days, and it could take eff

July 2, 2021

US hands Bagram Airfield to Afghans after nearly 20 years

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- After nearly 20 years, the U.S. military left Bagram Airfield, the epicenter of its war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, two U.S. officials said Friday. The airfield was handed over to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force in its entirety, they said on condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to release the information to the media. One of the officials also said th

July 2, 2021

China rejects US criticism on human trafficking

BEIJING (AP) — China on Friday rejected U.S. accusations it is failing to stop human trafficking and said Washington has no right to criticize due to its history of racial discrimination. Beijing was among 17 governments that were warned Thursday of potential U.S. sanctions over human trafficking, adding to tension with Washington. Others included Malaysia, Russia and Nicaragua. ``We firmly oppose the U.S. unfounded accusations against China based on lies and rumors,'' Foreign Ministry s

July 2, 2021

No lockdown plans in Russia as virus deaths hit new record

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities reported a record-breaking 679 new coronavirus deaths on Friday, a fourth day in a row with the highest daily death toll in the pandemic. No plans for a lockdown are being discussed, however, the Kremlin insisted. The previous record, of 672 deaths, was registered on Thursday. Russia has struggled to cope with a surge in infections and deaths in recent weeks that comes amid slow vaccination rates. Daily new infections have more than doubled over the p

July 2, 2021

Delayed doses of AstraZeneca jab boost immunity: study

LONDON (AFP) -- Delayed second and third doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine boost immunity against Covid-19, a study by Oxford University, which developed the jab with the British-Swedish firm, said on Monday. An interval of up to 45 weeks between the first and second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine led to an enhanced immune response, rather than compromising immunity, the study said. Giving a third dose of the jab more than six months after the second dose also leads to a "substantial incr

June 28, 2021

World in worst ‘cascade of human rights setbacks in our lifetimes’: UN

  GENEVA (AFP) -- The UN rights chief called Monday for "concerted action" to help recover from the worst global deterioration of rights seen in decades, highlighting situations in China, Russia and Ethiopia among others. "To recover from the most wide-reaching and severe cascade of human rights setbacks in our lifetimes, we need a life-changing vision, and concerted action," Michelle Bachelet told the opening of the UN Human Rights Council‘s 47th session.

June 21, 2021

Fever clinic and COVID kits: Tokyo 2020 shows off Olympic Village

Tokyo 2020 organisers threw open the doors of the Olympic Village to the media on Sunday, showcasing virus upgrades including a fever clinic just over a month before the Games begin. Organisers are in the home stretch before the July 23 opening ceremony, and are trying to build confidence that the mega-event will be safe for athletes and the Japanese public. On Sunday, they unveiled the dedicated virus clinic, warned that drinking in groups at the village would be prohibited and said a mixed z

June 20, 2021

'Dawn of new era': Iran's ultraconservatives hail Raisi win

Iran's ultraconservatives Sunday hailed the election victory of their candidate Ebrahim Raisi, after Washington charged the vote was unfair and Tehran's arch-foe Israel labelled him the "most extremist" president yet. Raisi, 60, won Friday's election in which more than half the voters stayed away after many political heavyweights had been barred from running and as an economic crisis driven by US sanctions has battered the country. An austere figure from the Shiite Muslim clerical es

June 20, 2021

'Practical work' summit for Biden, Putin: No punches or hugs

GENEVA (AP) -- US President Joe Biden and Russia's Vladimir Putin exchanged cordial words and plotted modest steps on arms control and diplomacy but emerged from their much-anticipated Swiss summit Wednesday largely where they started -- with deep differences on human rights, cyberattacks, election interference and more. The two leaders reached an important, but hardly relationship-changing agreement to return their chief diplomats to Moscow and Washington after they were called home as the rel

June 17, 2021

France to end mandatory outdoor masks and Covid curfew

PARIS (AFP) - France on Wednesday said it was ending the obligation to wear masks outside and would bring forwards by 10 days the lifting of a nighttime curfew, as Covid infections fall and the country‘s vaccine drive picks up. 　Prime Minister Jean Castex said the requirement for people to wear masks outdoors would be lifted from Thursday, with some exceptions, while an unpopular Covid curfew will be scrapped on June 20. 　The 11:00 pm curfew will be lifted 10 days earlier than initially

June 16, 2021