YANGON (AFP) -- The death toll in the Myanmar military‘s crackdown on protesters has passed 500, as armed rebel groups on Tuesday threatened the junta with retaliation if the bloodshed does not stop. 　World powers have ramped up their condemnation of the military’s campaign against the anti-coup movement that is demanding the restoration of the elected government and the release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 　Washington suspended a trade pact with Myanmar and UN chief Anto

BERLIN (AFP) -- The city of Berlin on Tuesday suspended vaccinations with the AstraZeneca jab for under-60s, amid reports of further cases of blood clots among people who had received it. 　“We are provisionally stopping vaccinations with AstraZeneca for under-60s,” said the German capital‘s health minister Dilek Kalayci, adding that it was a “precautionary measure” while the city awaited an official recommendation from federal health authorities.

BEIJING (AFP) - Smartphone maker Xiaomi on Tuesday became the latest Chinese company to enter the burgeoning electric vehicle industry in the world‘s largest car market, as it announced a $10 billion investment over the next decade. 　The company, which is already among the biggest smartphone makers in the world, said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it will set up a subsidiary for its smart electric vehicle business, with a 10 billion yuan ($1.52 billion) initial phase o

VERSAILLES, France (AFP) -- The French branch of Swedish retailing giant Ikea goes on trial Monday accused of running an elaborate system to spy on staff and job applicants using private detectives and police officers. Ikea France, as a corporate entity, will be in the dock as well as several of its former executives who risk prison terms. French investigative publications Le Canard Enchaine and Mediapart uncovered the surveillance scheme in 2012, and prosecutors got on the case after the For

North Korea accused the new US administration of adopting "lunatic theory" Thursday, ruling out any engagement with Washington unless it changed course, as President Joe Biden's top envoys held talks in Seoul. The comments from Pyongyang's first vice foreign minister Choe Son Hui came with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin in South Korea on the second leg of an Asian tour to bolster a united front against the nuclear-armed North and an increasingly a

ATLANTA (AFP) -- Eight people, most of them Asian women, were killed in shootings at three different spas in the US state of Georgia Tuesday, with a 21-year-old white man in custody on suspicion of staging all three attacks, police said. The shootings came with many Asian-Americans already on edge following a recent spike in hate crimes against the community, and triggered immediate fears that Asian-run businesses may have been deliberately targeted. Four of the victims were killed at Young's

ROME (AFP) -- The Vatican on Monday said the Catholic Church does not have the power to bless same-sex unions despite their "positive elements", calling it impossible for God to "bless sin". The Vatican's powerful office responsible for church doctrine, The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), issued a response to the question, "Does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex?" "Negative," read the r

TOKYO (AFP) -- Spectators will be barred from the start of the Tokyo Olympics torch relay, organisers said Monday, announcing a pared-back launch as the countdown to the postponed Games begins in earnest. Fans were told to stay away from next week's "simplified" starting ceremony and first leg of the nationwide relay, which was put on hold a year ago when the Olympics were delayed over the coronavirus. "The grand start ceremony and the first section of the Fukushima torch relay.

YANGON (AFP) -- Myanmar's junta late Sunday imposed martial law in two densely populated Yangon townships after at least 18 protesters were killed in one of the deadliest days since the February 1 coup. Sunday's violence brings the number of people killed in mass protests since the military wrenched civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power to around 100, though activists and rights groups believe it could be higher. The junta has repeatedly justified its power grab by alleging widespread el

The EU's medicines regulator approved the single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Thursday, making it the fourth jab to get the green light for the 27-nation bloc. "This is the first vaccine which can be used as a single dose," Emer Cooke, chief of the Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency (EMA), said in a statement. (AFP)

Competitors at this year's Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Games will be offered coronavirus vaccines bought from China, Olympic chief Thomas Bach announced Thursday. The Chinese Olympic Committee have made "an offer to make additional vaccine doses available to participants for Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022", Bach said. "The IOC will pay for these additional doses of vaccines for the Olympic and Paralympic teams. "The IOC will also pay for two doses more that ca

Prince William on Thursday defended the British royal family after his younger brother Harry and wife Meghan accused them of racism in a bombshell interview watched around the world. "We're very much not a racist family," William told reporters during a visit to a multi-racial school in a deprived area of east London. The Duke of Cambridge, son of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, added that he had yet to speak to Harry in California since the interview first aired in the United S

LONDON (AFP) -- Suicidal thoughts, a racist relative and an heir-to-the-throne trapped by tradition -- Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have lifted the lid on life inside Britain's royal family with an explosive interview that reverberated around the world. The two-hour sit-down with Oprah Winfrey by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was the most startling since Harry's late mother Princess Diana made her own bombshell revelations in 1995, and triggered similar questions about the ability of Queen

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Equities rose in Asia on Monday as investors took a breather following last week's heavy selling, with a drop in US Treasury yields giving markets some much-needed stability, while the passage of Joe Biden's stimulus through the House provided some cheer. However, observers warned that trading floors were still gripped by fears the expected global economic recovery will fuel inflation and force a hike in interest rates earlier than previously thought, removing a key pillar of

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The United States on Saturday authorized Johnson & Johnson's Covid vaccine for emergency use, giving the nation a third shot to battle the outbreak that has killed more than 500,000 Americans. The single-shot vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe Covid-19, including against newer variants, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said before giving it a green light. "This is exciting news for all Americans, and an encouraging development in our efforts to