Asia Pacific

IOC offers Tokyo medical help amid call for cancellation

TOKYO — Confronted in Japan with some of the strongest medical-community opposition yet to the Tokyo Olympics, IOC President Thomas Bach offered Wednesday to have added medical personnel available to help out when the games open in just over nine weeks.

Asia Pacific

Japan expands virus emergency ahead of Tokyo Olympics

TOKYO — Japan on Friday further expanded a coronavirus state of emergency, currently in Tokyo and five other prefectures, to nine areas, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government is determined to hold the Olympics in just over two months.

Asia Pacific

EXPLAINER: Why Japan has been slow to roll out vaccinations

TOKYO — Japan's rollout of COVID-19 vaccines began belatedly in mid-February, months behind the United States and many other countries. Officials blamed a shortage of Pfizer Inc. vaccine from Europe as the main culprit in the delay.

Asia Pacific

Frustration in Japan as leader pushes Olympics despite virus

TOKYO — A full-page newspaper ad says Japanese will be "killed by politics" because the government is forcing them to endure the pandemic without vaccines. More than 300,000 people have signed a petition calling for the Tokyo Olympics to be canceled...

Asia Pacific

Japan ruling party renews charter change drive amid pandemic

TOKYO — Japan's governing party is renewing its push for its long-cherished goal of revising the country's pacifist constitution, saying effective anti-coronavirus measures such as lockdowns aren't possible without an emergency clause in the charter providing enforcement and the limiting of private rights...