Category: Asia-pacific

Issued on: 01/05/2020 – 07:22Modified: 01/05/2020 – 07:32 The United Nations chief said he hopes many countries in the world will follow the “remarkable example” of South Korea, which he said has been “extremely successful” in addressing the coronavirus pandemic and is planning to tackle climate change in its recovery from COVID-19. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres […]

Issued on: 28/04/2020 – 11:10Modified: 28/04/2020 – 11:10 The postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics will have to be cancelled if the coronavirus pandemic isn’t brought under control by next year, the organising committee’s president warned, ruling out further delays.  The comments, in an interview with a Japanese sports daily published Tuesday, come as medical experts doubted […]

Issued on: 24/04/2020 – 07:43Modified: 24/04/2020 – 07:43 Australia will make it illegal for non-health officials to access data collected on smartphone software to trace the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, amid privacy concerns raised by the measure. Australia has so far avoided the high death toll of other countries, with only 78 deaths, […]

Issued on: 23/04/2020 – 00:01Modified: 23/04/2020 – 00:02 Clashes between Afghan forces and Taliban militants killed dozens nationwide over the past 24 hours, authorities said on Wednesday, even as the United States tries to broker peace talks between the warring sides. Eight security force members were killed in a Taliban attack on a checkpoint at […]

Issued on: 17/04/2020 – 18:01Modified: 17/04/2020 – 18:01 Wuhan’s wet markets, closed for months during the coronavirus lockdown, have now re-opened. But as the suspected source of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, the markets have become the subject of international scrutiny, with some calling for them to be banned, and traders say customers are staying away […]

Issued on: 17/04/2020 – 08:07Modified: 17/04/2020 – 08:09 Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the epicentre of the global pandemic, raised its number of Covid-19 fatalities by 1,290 to 3,869 deaths, state media said Friday. The revision was due to insufficient admission and treatment capabilities at the virus’s peak, according to authorities. Wuhan’s revised death toll of 3,869 is […]

Issued on: 16/04/2020 – 13:13Modified: 16/04/2020 – 13:13 More than 2 million coronavirus cases have been reported across the world, affecting 185 countries. But North Korea says it is completely free of the virus, a claim that has been met with scepticism in some quarters. France 24 spoke to Daniel Wertz, program manager at the […]

Issued on: 14/04/2020 – 15:25Modified: 14/04/2020 – 15:25 Volunteers in one Indonesian village are helping to encourage people to stay at home and curb the spread of coronavirus by dressing up as ghosts and scaring anyone out on the street at night. The phantoms have been patrolling the streets of Kepuh village, Indonesia, since early […]

Issued on: 08/04/2020 – 12:01Modified: 08/04/2020 – 12:01 Indonesia’s annual mudik (exodus), which begins with Ramadan, risks undermining the country’s efforts to stem the spread of Covid-19 as tens of millions cross the densely populated archipelago to return home. Despite an already overburdened healthcare system and the second-highest death toll in Asia after China, Indonesia […]

Issued on: 07/04/2020 – 11:17Modified: 07/04/2020 – 11:17 Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a month-long state of emergency Tuesday for Tokyo and six other prefectures to ramp up defenses against the spread of the coronavirus. Abe said Tuesday that there would be no European-style lockdowns. The state of emergency will only permit Tokyo Gov. […]

Issued on: 07/04/2020 – 08:03Modified: 07/04/2020 – 08:03 The Taliban on Tuesday broke off talks with the Afghan government on a prisoner exchange, a main step in peace talks being brokered by the United States after it agreed on a troop withdrawal pact with the militants. Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Islamist insurgent group’s political office in Qatar, […]

Issued on: 06/04/2020 – 11:53Modified: 06/04/2020 – 11:54 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday the government plans to declare a state of emergency and proposed a stimulus package worth $1 trillion as new coronavirus infections spike in Tokyo and elsewhere.  “We hope to declare a state of emergency as early as tomorrow after listening […]

Issued on: 02/04/2020 – 16:48Modified: 02/04/2020 – 16:49 President Vladimir Putin has ordered most Russians to stay off work until the end of the month to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Speaking in a televised address to the nation on Thursday, Putin said he was extending the non-working policy he ordered earlier for this […]

Issued on: 02/04/2020 – 11:34Modified: 02/04/2020 – 11:34 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday warned violators of coronavirus lockdown measures they could be shot for causing trouble and said abuse of medical workers was a serious crime that would not be tolerated. In a televised address, Duterte said it was vital everyone cooperates and follows home quarantine […]

Issued on: 02/04/2020 – 08:55Modified: 02/04/2020 – 08:55 A Pakistani court on Thursday commuted the death sentence of a British national convicted in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Three other co-accused serving life sentences were also acquitted.  The Sindh High Court on Thursday announced its verdict on appeals by […]

More than 20 migrant labourers have died trying to flee India’s coronavirus locked-down cities for their villages over the past few days. Critics blame Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hasty 21-day curfew call that, like many of his recent directives, was long on populist symbolism, but short on foresight or compassion. It was the biggest human lockdown ordered at the shortest […]

Issued on: 29/03/2020 – 14:45Modified: 29/03/2020 – 14:45 President Hassan Rouhani warned Sunday that “the new way of life” in Iran was likely to be prolonged, as its declared death toll from the novel coronavirus rose to 2,640.  The Islamic republic is one of the countries worst-hit by the virus, which first originated in China.Iran […]

Issued on: 29/03/2020 – 07:41Modified: 29/03/2020 – 07:45 North Korea on Sunday fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea, South Korea and Japan said, continuing a streak of weapons launches that suggests leader Kim Jong Un is trying to strengthen domestic support amid worries about a possible coronavirus outbreak in the country. South Korea’s […]

Issued on: 26/03/2020 – 00:34Modified: 26/03/2020 – 00:34 The Australian man accused of the attacks on two New Zealand mosques last year entered a surprise guilty plea in a Christchurch court on Thursday to 51 charges of murder, local media reported. Brenton Tarrant, who appeared by video link in a special High Court hearing, also […]

Issued on: 25/03/2020 – 19:08Modified: 25/03/2020 – 19:12 The Great Wall of China partially re-opened to visitors on Tuesday, two months after closing amid the coronavirus pandemic. It was the latest sign that life in China is slowly starting to return to normal. Beijing Zoo also re-opened its doors on Tuesday, while on the streets […]

Issued on: 24/03/2020 – 16:50Modified: 24/03/2020 – 16:50 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a 21-day lockdown of the world’s second most populous country on Tuesday, following China’s example to halt the spread of coronavirus that has infected tens of thousands across the world.  On Tuesday, Modi, the powerful leader of the world’s biggest democracy […]

Issued on: 23/03/2020 – 17:42Modified: 23/03/2020 – 17:43 The normally packed streets of India’s cities were virtually deserted Sunday as the government ordered a 14-hour curfew in its efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic, asking the country’s population of some 1.3 billion to stay at home. Though not mandatory, images of empty cities suggest the […]