Simon Denyer

“His majesty is very worried about the current infection situation of the covid-19 disease,” Yasuhiko Nishimura, grand steward of the agency, told a regular news conference on Thursday, the Kyodo News agency reported. “I suppose that he is concerned…

TOKYO — Olympic athletes and officials breaking strict coronavirus rules could face a range of punishments ranging from warnings to disqualification, organizers of the Tokyo Summer Games said Tuesday. The International Olympic and Paralympic…

TOKYO — The International Olympic Committee this week unveiled updated plans for holding the Summer Games in Japan, meticulous “playbooks” that promise to ensure the safety not only of the athletes taking part but also of the Japanese public during a…

TAIPEI, Taiwan — After President Trump in 2017 scrapped a trans-Pacific trade deal assembled by the Obama administration and 11 other governments, countries from Vietnam to Australia paused to ponder whether a trade agreement would be worthwhile…

The whole world is watching the chaotic aftermath of the U.S. presidential race. And the whole world is wondering what is going on. Leaders around the world saw former vice president Joe Biden strengthen his path to the White House on Friday after…

As the world reckoned with another day of uncertainty over the result of the U.S. presidential election, President Trump’s premature victory claim, unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud and the threat of legal challenges continued to overshadow…

TOKYO — Hungry bears with a taste for grapes and chestnuts are causing havoc across Japan, and thousands of the animals are ending up dead as a result. Two people have been killed and almost 100 have been injured this year as human-bear encounters…

Those trends have forced democracies in the Asia-Pacific region closer, and Pompeo told Japan’s Nikkei newspaper he wanted to reinforce collaboration among a group of four regional powers known as the Quad — Australia, Japan, India and the United…

BEIRUT — An unforeseen summer surge of coronavirus cases in countries that had seemingly quelled their outbreaks is helping to drive the unrelenting growth of the global pandemic, undercutting predictions that a "second wave" would not occur until…

TOKYO — It is one of the many mysteries of the coronavirus pandemic: Why has the death toll from covid-19 apparently been lower in Asia than in Western Europe and North America? Even allowing for different testing policies and counting methods, and…

A South Korean heiress-slash-business executive crash lands in North Korea after her paraglider is caught in a typhoon, and ends up falling out of a tree, straight into the arms of a strait-laced and taciturn North Korean army captain. But, in South…

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Crew members aboard the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship say they are terrified of catching the deadly coronavirus yet aren't being afforded the same protections as the passengers they serve. Ten shipboard workers have been…

Unprecedented restrictions are being placed on travel to and from China, reflecting the growing global alarm as the coronavirus outbreak adds new cases and deaths. Meanwhile, risks mount to China’s economy, which could bring major ripple effects…

The State Department heightened its travel advisory for China on Thursday, urging citizens not to travel there due to the rapid spread of coronavirus. The announcement came hours after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “public…

TOKYO — Doug Perez has a Chinese girlfriend and a Labrador puppy, and he is not leaving the virus-hit city of Wuhan without them. But other Americans in Wuhan may finally get their chance to leave after the State Department said Thursday that it was…

The World Health Organization will reconvene its emergency committee Thursday to determine whether the coronavirus outbreak amounts to a public health emergency of international concern, as the total number of people infected in mainland China…

BEIJING — As officials grow increasingly fearful about their ability to contain the fast-spreading outbreak of a novel coronavirus, this metropolis recorded its first death on Monday, hundreds of foreign nationals prepared to flee the country, and…

MIYAKO, Japan — A high-stakes “game of chicken” is playing out in the East China Sea, as Beijing pokes and provokes Tokyo with an intensifying campaign of aerial and maritime encroachments designed to challenge Japan’s control of disputed…

This video is currently not available OSAKA, Japan — President Trump and key foreign leaders are barreling toward a clash at the Group of 20 summit in Japan, as the U.S. president prepared to highlight his unhappiness about trade and European leaders…

TOKYO — Their story is a depressingly familiar one. An indigenous people live as hunter-gatherers practicing animist beliefs, before settlers sweep across their land, bringing disease and discrimination and almost wiping out their culture. On Friday,…