North, South Korea in talks over summit, reopening liaison office
SEOUL, July 28 (Reuters) – North and South Korea are in talks to reopen a joint liaison office that Pyongyang demolished last year and hold a summit as part of efforts to restore relations, three South Korean government sources with knowledge of the matter said. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been exploring ways to improve strained ties by exchanging multiple letters since April, the sources said on condition of anonymity due to diplomatic sensitivity.
Risking China’s anger, Blinken meets representative of Dalai Lama in India
NEW DELHI, July 28 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with a representative of Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in New Delhi on Wednesday, a State Department spokesperson said, a move that is likely to provoke anger in China. Blinken met briefly with Ngodup Dongchung, who serves as a representative of Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), also known as the Tibetan government in exile, the spokesperson said.
PM Johnson wants U.S. travellers back as restrictions set to ease
LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants U.S. citizens to come to England “freely” and is discussing a travel corridor with the United States, LBC radio said on Wednesday, before an expected easing of COVID-19 restrictions for visitors from abroad. A decision to allow fully vaccinated EU and U.S. travellers into England without having to isolate is expected shortly and the new rules could come into force as early as next week, a government source said on condition of anonymity.
WHO says coronavirus deaths up 21% in last week
GENEVA — The World Health Organization says the number of coronavirus deaths globally jumped by 21% in the last week. Most of the 69,000 deaths were reported in the Americas and Southeast Asia.
Tokyo sets another virus record days after Olympics begin
TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo reported 3,177 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, setting an all-time high and exceeding 3,000 for the first time days after the start of the Olympics. The new cases exceeded the earlier record of 2,848 set the previous day and brought the total for the Japanese capital to 206,745 since the pandemic began early last year.
