Latest Japan government News

Dr. Angel Temponi, left, administers the second dose of the Moderna vaccine to Dr. Barton Bernstein Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021 at Yuma Regional Medical Center in Yuma, Ariz. (Randy Hoeft/The Yuma Sun via AP)

The Latest: Arizona COVID-19 cases down despite high rate

Jan. 22, 2021 6:26 PM EST

PHOENIX -- Health officials say the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Arizona are declining despite the state having the worst infection rate in the country. Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ said Friday that the number of patients and even the positivity test rate have dipped...

Police officers and workers in protective suits close off a neighborhood as it is placed under lockdown in Shanghai, China, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. Shanghai has imposed lockdowns on two of China's best-known hospitals and some surrounding residential communities after they were linked to new coronavirus cases. (Chinatopix via AP)

Asia Today: Shanghai outbreak prompts 2 hospital lockdowns

Jan. 22, 2021 8:46 AM EST

BEIJING (AP) — Shanghai has imposed lockdowns on two of China's best-known hospitals after they were linked to new coronavirus cases. Outpatient services have been suspended at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Renji Hospital. They have been cordoned off, along with some surrounding residential...

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2020, file photo, Thomas Bach, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, speaks during the joint press conference between IOC and Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) in Tokyo, Japan. The International Olympic Committee is pushing back against reports that the postponed Tokyo Olympics will be canceled and will not open on July 23. The Tokyo Games were postponed 10 months ago at the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, and now their future appears threatened again.(Du Xiaoyi/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Amid cancellation talk, Tokyo Olympics `focused on hosting'

Jan. 22, 2021 7:01 AM EST

TOKYO (AP) — IOC President Thomas Bach and local organizers are pushing back against reports that the postponed Tokyo Olympics will be canceled. Now set to open July 23, the Tokyo Games were postponed 10 months ago at the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, and now the event appears threatened again. The...

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks during a meeting of the coronavirus infection control headquarters at his office in Tokyo Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. Suga, in a speech earlier, said the vaccine is “the clincher” in the fight against the pandemic and vowed to start vaccinations as soon as late February, when a health ministry approval of the Pfizer vaccine, the first applicant, is expected. (Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool Photo via AP)

Japan vaccination uncertainty casts doubts over Olympics

Jan. 22, 2021 5:34 AM EST

TOKYO (AP) — Japan is publicly adamant that it will stage its postponed Olympics this summer. But to pull it off, many believe the vaccination of its 127 million citizens for the coronavirus is key. It's an immense undertaking in the best of circumstances and complicated now by an overly cautious...

A Sri Lankan airport worker stands next to a thermal scanner inside a terminal at the Katunayake International Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. Sri Lanka's tourism minister said that the airports in the country will be reopened for tourists according to health guidelines from Jan.21. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

The Latest: Sri Lanka reopens tourism after 10-month closing

Jan. 20, 2021 11:56 PM EST

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka is welcoming tourists again after keeping the doors closed to visitors for nearly 10 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The government’s action Thursday is seen as an effort to revive the island nation’s tourism industry, which has been badly hit by the...

A man walks by the logo of Tokyo Olympic Games planned to start in the summer of 2021, in Tokyo, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. Tokyo organizers have no public program planned to mark the milestone. There is too much uncertainty for that right now. Tokyo and other parts of Japan are under an emergency order because of surging coronavirus cases. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Tokyo Olympics Q&A: 6 months out and murmurs of cancellation

Jan. 19, 2021 6:37 AM EST

TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Olympics are to open in six months on July 23 and organizers have no public program planned to mark the milestone. There is too much uncertainty for that right now. Tokyo and other parts of Japan are under an emergency order because of surging coronavirus cases with about 4,500...

A man holds up a child, both wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, to reach out a tree branches at the Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. A Chinese province grappling with a spike in coronavirus cases is reinstating tight restrictions on weddings, funerals and other family gatherings, threatening violators with criminal charges. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

The Latest: China grapples with virus outbreaks in northeast

Jan. 18, 2021 11:37 PM EST

BEIJING — China is now dealing with coronavirus outbreaks across its frigid northeast, prompting additional lockdowns and travel bans. The country reported a total of 118 newly confirmed cases Tuesday — most of them in Jilin province, the Hebei region just outside Beijing and Heilongjiang province...

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi delivers a speech during an upper house plenary session at the parliament in Tokyo Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. Motegi blamed South Korea for further deteriorating their already strained relations by allegedly making illegal compensation demands over wartime sexual abuse of Korean women and use of forced laborers, urging Seoul to drop the case and fix the “abnormal development.” (Kyodo News via AP)

Japan urges South Korea to drop wartime compensation demands

Jan. 18, 2021 7:18 PM EST

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's foreign minister accused South Korea on Monday of worsening already strained ties by making “illegal” demands for compensation for the sexual abuse of Korean women and use of forced laborers during World War II. Toshimitsu Motegi, in a diplomatic policy speech in...

Foreign passengers wearing protective suits prepare for their flight to China at Manila's International Airport, Philippines, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. Coronavirus infections in the Philippines have surged past 500,000 in a new bleak milestone with the government facing criticisms for failing to immediately launch a vaccination program amid a global scramble for COVID-19 vaccines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Asia Today: Philippine cases hit 500K amid vaccine struggles

Jan. 18, 2021 7:16 AM EST

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Coronavirus infections in the Philippines have surged past 500,000 in a new bleak milestone with the government facing criticism for failing to immediately launch a vaccination program amid a global scramble for COVID-19 vaccines. The Department of Health reported 1,895 new...

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga delivers a policy speech during an ordinary Diet session at the upper house of parliament in Tokyo, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Japan's PM vows Olympics will be proof of victory over virus

Jan. 18, 2021 5:45 AM EST

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga vowed Monday to get the pandemic under control and hold the already postponed Olympics this summer with ample coronavirus protection. In a speech opening a new Parliament session, Suga said his government would revise laws to make anti-virus measures...

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