China’s COVID-19 outbreak developing rapidly, health official says

China’s latest COVID-19 outbreak is developing rapidly, a health official said, as the authorities demanded high vigilance at ports of entry amid growing infections in a northeastern border city caused by the virus arriving from abroad. Some 377 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms were reported from Oct. 17-29, National Health Commission (NHC) data showed.

Anti-feminism backlash on the rise in South Korea

Condemnation of quotas for women, vilification of a short-haired Olympic gold medallist, and calls to abolish the gender ministry itself: a backlash against feminism is on the rise in South Korea — with even presidential candidates joining in. While South Korea is the world’s 12th-largest economy and a leading technological power, it remains a male-dominated

Olympic Chief’s Deep Ties to Uyghur Slave Labor Revealed

A top Olympics official who said he’s “dead serious” about human rights has allowed his sports charity to take wads of cash from a Chinese sportswear company using Xinjiang cotton made by slave laborers. Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs, the chairman of the IOC’s coordination commission for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, also runs the Samaranch Foundation,

Tokyo Covered Up Arrival of Deadly New COVID Variant Just Before the Olympics

Three days before the Olympics began, on July 20, Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) reported to an international organization that the highly infectious Lambda variant had been detected in an airport test in Japan for the first time, but did not announce it widely to the public. The report was submitted to an international COVID-19

IOC yet to talk to Belarus officials, China probe ongoing

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has yet to talk to any Belarussian team officials involved in the case of sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who took refuge in Poland this week after refusing to return to her homeland from Tokyo. The committee also said it was waiting for a report from the Chinese team on why two of its medallists appeared

Taiwan’s national flag anthem played in front of Chinese athletes for 1st time

Badminton gold medalist Wang declares himself from Taiwan, Chinese competitor Li congratulates ‘China’s Taipei team’ Taiwan’s badminton duo on Saturday (July 31) not only captured the country’s first Olympic gold in the sport, but their win over a Chinese team meant that the Taiwanese national flag’s anthem was played in front of Chinese athletes for

Belarus Olympic sprinter arrives in Vienna amid safety fears

A plane carrying a Belarusian Olympic sprinter seeking refuge landed in Austria on Wednesday after she resisted an attempt by her Olympic team’s officials to send her home, where she feared reprisals from the authoritarian government. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya boarded a plane at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport that left for Vienna, but she was expected to

Hong Kong crowd booing China’s anthem sparks police probe

Hong Kong police are investigating an incident where a crowd watching the Olympics booed China’s anthem. Hundreds gathered at a shopping mall on Monday to watch a broadcast and cheer on Hong Kong fencer Edgar Cheung, who won gold in the men’s individual foil. When the Chinese national anthem was played, some in the crowd

Tokyo new virus cases near 2,000 a day before Olympics open

Tokyo hit another six-month high in new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, one day before the Olympics begin, as worries grow of a worsening of infections during the Games. Thursday’s 1,979 new cases are the highest since 2,044 were recorded on Jan. 15. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is determined to hold the Olympics, placed Tokyo

As COVID-19 cases tied to Tokyo Olympics rise, experts warn of ‘worrying’ situation on the ground

Roughly 15 per cent of those staying on site are likely unvaccinated COVID-19 cases among Olympic delegates are on the rise and roughly 15 per cent of those staying on site are unvaccinated, prompting warnings from medical experts about potential ripple effects if the world’s largest sporting event doesn’t clamp down on virus transmission. Set