JAPAN
No health worries for Abe
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday brushed off lingering worries about his health, saying that he went to a hospital only for a checkup. “I got a checkup a day before yesterday to make absolutely sure I’m healthy,” he told reporters. “I’m getting back to work now, and I hope to keep working hard. Thank you.” He walked off, without responding to follow-up questions about the checkup. Abe was on Monday seen sitting in a car that drove into Keio University Hospital in Tokyo, then emerging several hours later. At that time, neither he nor his office made comments.
PAKISTAN
Vaccine enters final phase
The country’s drug regulatory agency on Monday said it has approved final-phase testing of a Chinese-made vaccine against COVID-19 in the nation where the novel coronavirus has caused 6,201 deaths since February. The National Institute of Health said in a statement that the approval to carry out advanced clinical trials for a potential vaccine was granted by Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan. It said the Phase-3 clinical trials for the vaccine candidate would be conducted at the country’s main health facilities. The vaccine was produced by CanSinoBio and Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, it said.
MAURITIUS
Ship’s captain arrested
Authorities on Tuesday arrested the Indian captain of a Japanese-owned ship that grounded off the island nation’s coast, spewing tonnes of oil into pristine waters, police said. The MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on July 25 and began oozing oil more than a week later, spilling more than 1,000 tonnes into blue waters popular among honeymooners and tourists. Officials have yet to reveal why the ship, which was making its way from Singapore to Brazil, had come so close to the island, which is now reeling from ecological disaster.
CHINA
Typhoon makes landfall
Typhoon Higos yesterday made landfall on the country’s southern coast, bringing high winds and rain as it weakened to a tropical storm. The typhoon came ashore at Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, with maximum sustained winds of 126kph, the National Meteorological Center said. The winds had fallen to 108kph three hours later as the storm moved west toward the Guangxi region. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. There were power outages in the city of Meizhou, Guangdong Province, on Tuesday night after trees fell onto power lines, the electric company said.
GERMANY
Car crashes ‘extremist’ attack
A series of crashes caused by a 30-year-old Iraqi man on a Berlin highway was an extremist attack, prosecutors told the German Press Agency (DPA) yesterday. “According to the current state of our investigation this was an Islamist-motivated attack,” the office said. It did not reveal the man’s identity, as is customary in the country. The suspect is being investigated for attempted murder. Six people were injured, three of them severely, when the man allegedly drove into several vehicles, including a motorcycle, along a stretch of highway on Tuesday evening. There were also indications that the man was suffering from psychological problems, DPA reported.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
RELEASE: The move follows Washington’s removal of Havana from its list of terrorism sponsors. Most of the inmates were arrested for taking part in anti-government protests Cuba has freed 127 prisoners, including opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer, in a landmark deal with departing US President Joe Biden that has led to emotional reunions across the communist island. Ferrer, 54, is the most high-profile of the prisoners that Cuba began freeing on Wednesday after Biden agreed to remove the country from Washington’s list of terrorism sponsors — part of an eleventh-hour bid to cement his legacy before handing power on Monday to US president-elect Donald Trump. “Thank God we have him home,” Nelva Ortega said of her husband, Ferrer, who has been in and out of prison for the
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