BLOG

Dozens of tanks and hundreds of soldiers fired explosives and machine guns in drills on Monday on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, a main stronghold for a nation that is perhaps the world’s least-known military powerhouse. Just across the sea from rival Russia, Japan opened up its humbly named Self Defense Force’s firing exercises to the media in a display of public firepower that coincides with a recent escalation of Chinese and Russian military moves around Japanese territory. The drills, which foreign journalists rarely have a chance to witness, will…

Lawmakers in the Solomon Islands debated on Monday whether they still have confidence in the prime minister, after rioters last month set fire to buildings and looted stores in the capital. China, meanwhile, said it was shipping in aid for its citizens caught up in the violence. Many businesses remained closed in Honiara ahead of the vote over concerns that violence could erupt again, leading to an eerie calm. Troops and police from Australia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Zealand are helping keep the peace at the request of…

 United States health officials said that while the omicron variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading throughout the country, early indications suggest it may be less dangerous than delta, which continues to drive a surge of hospitalisations. President Joe Biden’s chief medial adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci, told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that scientists need more information before drawing conclusion’s about omicron’s severity. Reports from South Africa, where it emerged and is becoming the dominant strain, suggest that hospitalisation rates have not increased alarmingly. Thus far, it does…