HONG KONG (AP) — Thousands of passengers were being held Wednesday on a cruise ship in Hong Kong for coronavirus testing after health authorities said nine passengers were linked to a recent omicron cluster and ordered the ship to turn back.
Authorities forced the Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas ship, which began sailing on Sunday on a “cruise to nowhere,” to return a day early on Wednesday, according to a government statement.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian prosecutors on Wednesday demanded a life sentence for a top terror suspect who eluded capture for 18 years and accused him of masterminding a series of deadly attacks in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Aris Sumarsono, 58, whose real name is Arif Sunarso but is better known as Zulkarnaen, sat impassively as the prosecution announced the sentencing demand before a panel of three judges in East Jakarta District Court in a session that was held remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
TOKYO (AP) — Asian benchmarks mostly slipped Wednesday as technology shares in the region echoed a similar drop in the sector on Wall Street.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 inched up 0.1% to finish at 29,332.16. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.3% to 7,565.80. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.3% to 2,950.71. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.3% to 22,985.05, while the Shanghai Composite lost 1.0% to 3,596.03.
Worries continue about COVID-19, as reports of the more contagious omicron keep growing in the region.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile into the sea on Wednesday, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, the first such launch in about two months and a signal that Pyongyang isn’t interested in rejoining denuclearization talks anytime soon and would rather focus on boosting its weapons arsenal.
The latest launch came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further bolster his military capability — without disclosing any new policies toward the United States or South Korea— at a high-profile ruling party conference last week.
BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday reported a major drop in local COVID-19 infections in the northern city of Xi’an, which has been under a tight lockdown for the past two weeks that has tested the city’s ability to provide supplies for those confined to their homes.
With the Beijing Olympics beginning Feb. 4, China is doubling down on measures to prevent any new outbreak that could affect proceedings.
BEIJING, Jan 4 (APP): China on Tuesday appreciated Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government for attaching importance to the bilateral relations and promoting trade between the two countries.
“China appreciates the Prime Minister and Pakistani governments for the importance they attached to bilateral relations and promoting trade,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during his regular briefing in his remarks on launching of Pakistan-China Business and Investment Forum.
BEIJING, Jan 4 (APP): Jiangxi University of Science and Technology (JXUST) and the University of Sahiwal (UOS) on Tuesday signed a cooperation agreement to promote academic cooperation.
The joint venture will not only provide a bridge and window for teachers and students to carry out international exchanges, but also an important platform for the two universities to enhance friendship and seek common development.
PHI PHI LEH, Thailand, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Thailand has reopened Maya Bay, a white sand beach made famous by the 2000 film "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio, more than three years after closing it to allow its ecosystem to recover from the impact of thousands of visitors each day.
The beach, surrounded by 100-metre (328-ft) high cliffs, lies on the island of Phi Phi Leh in the Andaman Sea, and is only accessible by boats from nearby spots such as the islands of Phuket or Phi Phi, or mainland Krabi.
SEOUL, Jan 4 (Reuters) - A former North Korean defector who made a risky and rare cross-border return home last week had struggled in South Korea, officials and media reports said on Tuesday, sparking fresh debate over how such defectors are treated in their new lives.
South Korea's military identified the man who crossed the heavily armed Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Saturday as a North Korean who defected to the South in a similar area just over a year ago.
BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- China hopes that the five Nuclear-Weapon States, namely China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States, could abandon the policies of nuclear deterrence based on the first-use of nuclear weapons and make commitments of mutual no-first-use of nuclear weapons, a Chinese arms control official said on Tuesday.
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