Briefly

JAPAN

US bases on Okinawa locked down over spike

Two US Marine bases in Japan's Okinawa have been put into lockdown after dozens of coronavirus infections, with local officials criticizing the US military's containment efforts. Additional restrictions are also in place at seven other Marine bases in the region after the spike in cases, a spokesman confirmed. There are tens of thousands of US servicemen stationed on the southern Japanese island, which has recorded roughly 150 civilian COVID-19 infections. Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said on Monday that 62 cases have been detected in recent days among US forces, most of them at US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and Camp Hansen. There are approximately 20,000 US Marines in Okinawa, along with thousands more troops from other US military services.

MIDDLE EAST

IMF predicts worst downturn in 50 years

The International Monetary Fund on Monday again sharply lowered its Middle East and North Africa economic forecast, to its lowest level in 50 years, over the "twin shock" of the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices. The region's economy will contract by 5.7 percent this year, and shrink by as much as 13 percent in countries torn by conflict, the Washington-based IMF warned. In its regional economic outlook update, the IMF projected the economies of the Middle East and North Africa to contract by 5.7 percent this year, 2.4 percentage points lower than in its April forecast.

INDIA

Bachchan family hit by COVID-19

Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has tested positive for the coronavirus, her actor husband Abhishek Bachchan said on Sunday, just a day after he and his father, screen legend Amitabh Bachchan, were admitted to hospital with the infectious disease. Their eight-year old daughter Aaradhya was also COVID-19 positive, he tweeted, adding that they were recovering at their home in Mumbai. Aishwarya Rai took the Miss World crown in 1994 and made her acting debut in the late 1990s. The number of infections in the country neared 900,000 on Monday with a record 28,701 cases reported in the past 24 hours.

YEMEN

Houthis launch attacks on Saudi Arabia

Yemen's Houthi rebels said on Monday that they had launched missile and drone attacks toward the southwest of Saudi Arabia, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported. The attacks targeted a military airport in Khamis Mushait city of Asir region and an oil facility in the industrial area of Jizan region, the television said, citing a statement by Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government from Sanaa in late 2014.

Agencies - Xinhua