Tag: Asia & Pacific

More Deadly COVID-19 Strains Likely as China Lifts Travel Restrictions Amid Outbreak, Microbiologist Warns

China will once again allow its citizens to travel abroad, starting on Jan. 8, amid its latest and potentially biggest COVID-19 outbreak. But that could result in significant health challenges and more pathogenic COVID-19 strains, Dr. Xiaoxu Sean Lin, a microbiologist and assistant professor in the Biomedical Science Department at Feitian College, stated in an…


Pakistan Says It Has Provided List of Nuclear Facilities to India Under Annual Practice

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan said it had handed a list of its nuclear installations and facilities to the Indian mission in Islamabad on Sunday under a decades-old agreement between the two nuclear-armed rivals. The neighbours have fought three wars and have had a number of military skirmishes in recent years. Last year an Indian missile accidentally landed in…


Japan Says It Scrambled Jets to Monitor Chinese Aircraft Carrier Operations

TOKYO—Japan said on Monday it scrambled jet fighters and dispatched aircraft and warships over the past two weeks to keep tabs on China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier and five warships that conducted naval manoeuvres and flight operations in the Pacific. Japan monitored the operations after the Chinese naval group, which included missile destroyers, sailed between the…


Kim Jong Un Sacks North Korea’s No. 2 Military Official

SEOUL—North Korea has sacked Pak Jong Chon, the second most powerful military official after leader Kim Jong Un, state media reported. Pak, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party and a secretary of the party’s Central Committee, was replaced by Ri Yong Gil at the committee’s annual meeting last week,…


Rescuers in Vietnam Try to Save Boy Trapped in Concrete Pile

HANOI—Rescuers in Vietnam were desperately trying to free a 10-year boy on Monday two days after he fell into the narrow open shaft of a concrete pile at a construction site on New Year’s Eve. Ly Hao Nam was heard crying for help shortly after he fell into the pile on Saturday morning, but rescuers…


More Than 60 Percent of South Korean Staff Infected With COVID-19 in Embassy and Consulates Across China

In the past two weeks, more than 60 percent of Korean employees at South Korean diplomatic and consular offices across China have been infected with COVID-19, as a new wave of the virus sweeps through the country. South Korea has announced that it will suspend its issuing of short-term visas in China from Jan. 2…


More Than 60 Percent of South Korean Staff Infected With COVID-19 in Embassy, Consulates Across China

More than 60 percent of Korean employees at South Korean diplomatic and consular offices across China have been infected with COVID-19 over the past two weeks, as a new wave of the virus sweeps through the country. South Korea has announced that it will suspend its issuing of short-term visas in China until Jan. 31. Rep….


South Korea’s Military Hails Successful Launch of Solid-Fuel Rocket

South Korea on Dec. 30 successfully test-fired a solid-fueled rocket that it plans to use to put a spy satellite into orbit in the coming years, marking a significant milestone for the country’s defense ministry. The flight test was conducted to verify the rocket’s essential technologies, including solid-fuel combustion, fairing separation, attitude control technology, and…


South Korea Seeks Joint Exercises With US Using Nuclear Assets: PM Yoon

South Korea’s president said Monday that his nation is in talks with the United States about possible joint exercises using U.S. nuclear assets, after North Korea called for “an exponential increase” in its nuclear arsenal. “Nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but information sharing, planning, and training must be jointly conducted by South Korea…


Floods in Philippines Leave 51 Dead, Over a Dozen Missing

MANILA, Philippines—Thousands of people in the Philippines remained in emergency shelters in the wake of devastating Christmas flooding, as the death toll climbed to 51 with 19 missing, authorities said Monday. Images showed residents in southern Misamis Occidental Province sweeping away thick mud from the floors of their homes. In the seaside village of Cabol-anonan,…