WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Two Chinese nationals have been indicted for seeking to steal COVID-19 vaccine research and hacking hundreds of companies in the United States and abroad, including defense contractors, the US Justice Department said Tuesday. Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 33, also targeted human rights activists in the United States, China and Hong Kong, Assistant Attorney General John Demers said. The indictment comes amid rising tensions between the global superpowers fueled by the coro

World News July 22, 2020

NEW DELHI (AFP) -- India on Friday became the third country in the world to record one million coronavirus cases, following Brazil and the United States where infections also continued to surge. The virus has killed more than 588,000 people and infected nearly 14 million around the world since first being detected in China late last year. But, despite extraordinary restrictions on people travelling that have crippled the global economy, the pandemic is worsening in many parts of the world. I

World News July 17, 2020

BEIJING (AFP) -- Beijing 2022 organisers were "pressing ahead" with preparations for the Winter Olympics Friday after a senior IOC official warned the coronavirus could force the Games to be postponed. Dick Pound, a former International Olympic Committee vice-president, told AFP that all options would have to be considered if the Beijing Games cannot be held in 2022. Beijing is due to host the Winter Olympics just six months after the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games, which have been put ba

World News July 17, 2020

MOSCOW (AFP) -- President Vladimir Putin has ordered snap military drills involving 150,000 personnel and hundreds of aircraft and naval vessels to ensure "security in Russia's southwest," the defence ministry said Friday. "In accordance with the decision of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces snap exercises are being conducted by troops of the Southern and Western military districts," Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted as saying in a statement. The

World News July 17, 2020

BEIJING (AFP) -- US officials have "lost their minds and gone mad" in their dealings with Beijing, China's foreign ministry said Friday, in the latest verbal salvo between the two superpowers. Tensions between Washington and Beijing have run high this year and some of the most outspoken critics of China in American congress were this week hit with sanctions, days after the US imposed visa bans and asset freezes on several Chinese officials. US Attorney General Bill Barr added fuel t

World News July 17, 2020

BEIJING (AFP) -- China urged France Monday to guarantee a "fair and just" environment for its companies after Paris decided to restrict licenses for telecom operators using 5G technology from Huawei. The United States and Australia have banned Huawei from their 5G networks and the Financial Times reported Monday that Britain could decide this month to phase out the company's equipment from its system. France's National Agency for Security of Computer Systems said Monday, however, th

World News July 6, 2020

NEW DELHI (AFP) -- India's densely populated cities ordered new restrictions as the confirmed number of coronavirus cases neared 700,000, passing Russia with the third-highest number of infections. More than 697,400 cases have now been recorded, a rise of 24,000 in 24 hours, the health ministry said, while Russia has just over 681,000. The surge has forced some cities to tighten their anti-virus measures -- including the eastern metropolis of Kolkata, which halted flights from other maj

World News July 6, 2020

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The United States recorded 39,379 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed Sunday, as infections continue to trend up around the country. The country's total number of cases now stands at 2,876,143 . The world's largest economy also recorded a further 234 fatalities, bringing the death toll to 129,891, the Baltimore-based institution's tracker showed at 8:30pm (0030 GMT Monday). Sunday's tally comes after a string of surging daily new

World News July 6, 2020

BEIJING (AFP) -- China issued a travel warning for Canada on Monday and said bilateral relations could deteriorate further over Ottawa's response to a controversial national security law in Hong Kong. Canada last week suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and halted exports of sensitive military gear to the financial hub as Western nations voiced concern about the legislation's impact on the city's special rights. "China strongly condemns this and reserves the right to make fur

World News July 6, 2020

LONDON (AFP) -- The British government on Friday said it had officially told the European Union it would not seek an extension to the post-Brexit transition period beyond December 31 this year. Britain left the bloc in January but remains under EU rules until the end of the year, as new terms are thrashed out between the two sides for their future relationship. London maintains it does not need more time to secure a free trade deal, despite deadlock in the talks over key areas, and a tight t

World News June 12, 2020

BANGKOK (AFP) -- Thailand will open "travel bubbles" with countries which have comparably low coronavirus infections, officials said Friday, as the kingdom tries to claw back money for its battered tourism sector.The country closed its borders at the start of April, leading to millions of job losses across a tourism industry which accounts for around 20 percent of GDP. Despite registering the first COVID-19 case outside of China in January, Thailand has recorded just 3,129 infections

World News June 12, 2020

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that an elderly man bleeding from the head after he was shoved to the ground by US riot police was a far-left agitator faking the shocking incident. "I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?" Trump asked on his massively followed Twitter account. Two police officers in Buffalo, New York, were charged with assault after the incident last week in which protester Martin Gugino, 75, w

World News June 11, 2020

BEIJING (AFP) -- China reacted angrily on Thursday to a US military transport jet's flight over the self-ruled island of Taiwan, calling it an "illegal act" and "serious provocation". The overflight adds to rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over a slew of issues, and the US relationship with the island claimed by China is high on the list of disagreements. Taiwan's defence ministry said a Boeing C-40A Clipper transport jet flew over the island on Tuesday, th

World News June 11, 2020

VATICAN CITY (AFP) -- Pope Francis said on Sunday the worst of the coronavirus crisis was over in Italy, addressing the faithful for  the first time in Saint Peter's Square since the health emergency began. The pontiff's address came a day after the Vatican said there were no more cases of COVID-19 within its population. "Your presence in the square is a sign that in Italy the acute phase of the epidemic is over," Francis told those assembled for his weekly Angelus pr

World News June 7, 2020

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Hong Kong protester Crystal has yet to tell her parents she has fled overseas to seek asylum in Canada, one of a growing number of residents choosing self-exile as Beijing tightens control. The 21-year-old student spent months on the front lines of the pro-democracy protests, which first exploded with huge marches last June and descended into increasingly violent battles with riot police as each month went by. A year on, she is waiting to hear if she will be granted refugee

World News June 5, 2020