Vietnam reports first coronavirus deaths after months of successful curbs
HANOI – Vietnam recorded its first two deaths from COVID-19 on Friday after winning plaudits worldwide for one of the most successful national responses to the pandemic. The country of…
Australia to get US-funded military fuel reserve as relations with China cool
SYDNEY – Australia is to set up a US-funded military fuel reserve in the city of Darwin, authorities said, a show of stronger co-operation between the allies who both face…
Vietnam ready to use ‘full force’ to arrest new coronavirus wave
HANOI – Vietnam has told tens of thousands of people who visited a central city to report to disease control centres, as nine new coronavirus cases were confirmed and the country…
Australia reports record spike in coronavirus cases, 13 deaths
SYDNEY – Australia has recorded its deadliest day in the coronavirus pandemic with at least 13 deaths and more than 700 new infections mainly in Victoria state, where the government…
Brazil reopens international flights to tourists even as coronavirus deaths spike
BRASILIA/SAO PAULO – Brazil has reopened international air travel to foreign tourists, which had been banned since March, even as the country’s coronavirus outbreak ranks as the world’s second worst.…
Vietnam brings 140 virus-hit workers home on rare rescue flight from Africa
HANOI – A specially converted Vietnam Airlines passenger plane equipped with ventilators and state doctors has returned from Equatorial Guinea to Hanoi carrying 140 Vietnamese workers infected with COVID-19. The…
About 3 billion animals harmed in Australian bushfires, WWF says
SYDNEY – Nearly 3 billion koalas, kangaroos and other native Australian animals were killed or displaced by bushfires in 2019 and 2020, showed a study by the World Wide Fund…
Johnny Depp was the victim of ‘abuser’ Heard, court told
LONDON – Johnny Depp was not violent towards former wife Amber Heard and she was the one who would attack him, a London court has heard, as the Hollywood actor’s…
Vietnam agrees $US348 million Japan loan to build 6 patrol vessels – media
HANOI – Vietnam has signed an agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to borrow 36.63 billion yen ($US348.2 million) to build six patrol vessels, state media reported, amid…
Malaysia’s Najib sentenced to over a decade in jail in first 1MDB graft trial
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia‘s former leader Najib Razak has been found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 12 years in jail in the first trial over a multi-billion-dollar scandal at…
