Briefly

RUSSIA

Visa for NASA envoy denied in tit for tat

Moscow on Wednesday said it had refused a visa for a new representative in Russia for NASA, accusing Washington of blocking Russian visa applications to the United States. "It was a retaliatory measure," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. Tensions between Moscow and Washington have reached their lowest point since the end of the Cold War following allegations of hacking and election interference.

JAPAN

Deal on cost sharing for hosting US forces

Japan and the United States have agreed to extend an agreement on how much Japan pays for the upkeep of US military bases on its soil for another year, as they continue talks on a new pact, Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi said on Wednesday. Under the current five-year arrangement, which will now run until April 2022, Japan earmarked 199.3 billion yen ($1.9 billion) for the fiscal year ending on March 31.

UNITED NATIONS

$15m put to Ebola battle in Guinea, DRC

The UN has released $15 million to help Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo fight Ebola outbreaks, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday. Guinea announced the new Ebola outbreak on Sunday in Gouecke of its southern Nzerekore Prefecture, reporting three deaths out of seven cases. The new cases of Ebola in the DRC are in North Kivu Province.

Agencies - Xinhua