The Latest Breaking News from Kyodo

Japan is the only G7 nation that doesn’t allow people of the same gender to marry.

North Korea abruptly stopped importing COVID-19 prevention and control products from China in May, trade data released by Beijing showed, after the country bought face masks and ventilators from its neighbour in previous months.

The World Health Organization has cast doubts on North Korea's claims of progress in the fight against a COVID-19 outbreak, saying it believes the situation is getting worse, not better, amid an absence of independent data.

North Korea reported 96,020 more people showing fever symptoms and no additional deaths amid the country's first confirmed coronavirus outbreak, state media KCNA said on Tuesday.

North Korea has lifted movement restrictions imposed in the capital Pyongyang after its first admission of COVID-19 outbreak weeks ago, media reported, as the isolated country says the virus situation is now under control.

In the months before it acknowledged its first official COVID-19 outbreak, North Korea suddenly imported millions of face masks, 1,000 ventilators, and possibly vaccines from China, trade data released by Beijing showed.

According to North Korea, its fight against COVID-19 has been impressive: About 3.3 million people have been reported sick with fevers, but only 69 have died. If all are coronavirus cases, that's a fatality rate of 0.002%, something no other country, including the world's richest, has achieved against a disease…

For Japan, U.S. President Joe Biden's comment he would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan signalled no formal change in policy. But behind the scenes in Tokyo, it was seen as a welcome warning at a time of growing alarm over China.

Japan scrambled jets after Russian and Chinese warplanes neared its airspace during a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday, with Tokyo conveying "grave concerns" about what it saw as a provocative move timed to coincide with the Quad summit.