Southeast Asia

Mountainside Fitness posts their safety guidelines as the facility remains open even as Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has issued an executive order for all gyms to close due to the surge in coronavirus cases in Arizona Thursday, July 2, 2020, in Phoenix. For the third straight day, several health clubs in metro Phoenix were defying Ducey's 30-day shutdown order to close gyms, bars, water park and tubing businesses, raising questions about whether officials who have been criticized for responding indecisively to the pandemic will be effective in shutting down the clubs. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

The Latest: WHO urges focus on first wave of coronavirus

Jul. 3, 2020 4:20 PM EDT

GENEVA — The World Health Organization’s emergencies chief says “we need to put up a fight now” during a peak in the current wave of the coronavirus pandemic — rather than focusing on when a second wave might come. Dr. Michael Ryan said the world will be much better at fighting...

Philippines warns China of 'severest response' over drills

Jul. 3, 2020 11:13 AM EDT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine foreign secretary warned China on Friday of “the severest response” if ongoing Chinese military exercises in the disputed South China Sea spill over into Philippine territory. Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said China’s People’s...

Plastic sheets on a traditional Jeepney bus separate passengers as part of health measures to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in metropolitan Manila, Philippines on Friday, July 3, 2020. The government is allowing some routes for Jeepneys to be opened to help public transportation as the government slowly eases the coronavirus lockdown (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Asia Today: Kim urges North Koreans to keep up virus fight

Jul. 3, 2020 11:06 AM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged officials to maintain alertness against the coronavirus, warning that complacency risked “unimaginable and irretrievable crisis,” state media said Friday. Despite the warning, Kim reaffirmed North Korea's claim to not have had a...

In this handout image provided by the Myanmar State Counsellor Office, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is shown while she attends a video conference, Friday, July 3, 2020, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Suu Kyi expressed sadness Friday over a landslide at a jade mining site in the country's north that took over 100 lives, blaming the tragedy on joblessness. (Myanmar State Counsellor Office via AP)

Myanmar leader blames joblessness for deadly mining tragedy

Jul. 3, 2020 10:55 AM EDT

HPAKANT, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi expressed sadness Friday over a landslide at a jade mining site in the country’s north that took at least 172 lives, blaming the tragedy on joblessness. Suu Kyi, speaking on a scheduled Facebook Live broadcast with representatives of the...

Duterte pleads for calm after police fatally shoot troops

Jul. 3, 2020 10:51 AM EDT

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine president flew to the country’s volatile south on Friday to plead with military forces not to retaliate following the fatal police shootings of four soldiers, including two officers, in violence the army chief called “a rubout.” President...

FILE - In this file photo dated Monday, June 8, 2020, Presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis, rear fourth from left, opens the court session as the trial resumed for three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with crimes including murder for their alleged roles in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine nearly six years ago, at the high security court building at Schiphol Airport, near Amsterdam. Judges in the trial on Friday July 3, 2020, have granted requests for further investigations submitted by lawyers representing one of the Russian suspects. (AP Photo/Robin van Lonkhuijsen, FILE)

Judges allow extra investigations for defense at MH17 trial

Jul. 3, 2020 10:04 AM EDT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Judges in the trial in absentia of three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with involvement in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on Friday granted some requests for further investigations submitted by lawyers representing one of the Russians. Among the additional...

FILE - In this May 28, 2020, file photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, talks during his speech at the presidential palace in Manila, Philippines. Duterte on Friday, July 3,2020, has signed a widely opposed anti-terror law which critics fear could be used against human rights defenders. President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Anti-Terrorism Act after weighing the concerns of different groups, his spokesman said. (Ace Morandante/Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division via AP, File)

Philippine president signs widely opposed anti-terror law

Jul. 3, 2020 8:43 AM EDT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine president on Friday signed a widely opposed anti-terror law which critics fear could be used against human rights defenders and to muzzle dissent. President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Anti-Terrorism Act after weighing the concerns of different groups, demonstrating...

Flight crew wear protective masks as they arrive at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Friday, July 3, 2020. As the country starts to ease its travel restrictions allowing foreign visitors in on a controlled basis, a laboratory at the airport will have the results of COVID-19 virus testing ready within 90 minutes for arriving travelers. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Holidays to test Thailand's easing of virus restrictions

Jul. 3, 2020 8:06 AM EDT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities urged vigilance Friday as the country celebrates its first long holiday weekend after lifting most restrictions imposed to fight the spread of the coronavirus. No new local infections have been reported in Thailand in more than a month. The four day holiday starting...

The Latest: South Korea has 63 newly confirmed virus cases

Jul. 2, 2020 10:56 PM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea has reported 63 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 as health authorities scramble to mobilize public health tools to the southwestern city of Gwangju, where more than 50 people were found sickened over the past week. The figures announced by the Korea Centers for Disease Control...

People gather near the bodies of victims of a landslide near a jade mining area in Hpakant, Kachin state, northern Myanmar Thursday, July 2, 2020. Myanmar government says a landslide at a jade mine has killed dozens of people. (AP Photo/Zaw Moe Htet)

Landslide at Myanmar jade mine kills at least 162 people

Jul. 2, 2020 4:05 PM EDT

HPAKANT, Myanmar (AP) — At least 162 people were killed Thursday in a landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar, the worst in a series of deadly accidents at such sites in recent years that critics blame on the government's failure to take action against unsafe conditions. The Myanmar Fire Service...

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