Briefly

UNITED STATES

Mandatory tests for travelers to be relaxed

The administration of President Joe Biden is preparing to relax COVID-19 testing restrictions for travelers from China as soon as Friday, media reported, citing people familiar with the decision. They were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Washington Post was the first to report on Tuesday about the expected move. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Last week, Japan dropped a requirement that all travelers take a test for the virus upon arrival from China.

UKRAINE

UN chief to talk Black Sea grain deal renewal

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Wednesday to discuss extending a deal with Moscow that allows the Black Sea export of Ukraine grains amid Russia's conflict with the country, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday. The 120-day deal, initially brokered by the UN and Turkiye in July and extended in November, will be renewed on March 18 if no party objects. Russia has signaled that obstacles to its own agricultural exports need to be removed before it lets Ukraine's Black Sea grain deal continue.

JAPAN

Workers eye bumper pay hike in union talks

Japan's big companies are expected to deliver the largest pay raise in 26 years in next week's "shunto "wage negotiations, offering policymakers hope the country might finally emerge from its deflationary doldrums. But the expected average salary hike of around 3 percent will likely include just a 1 percent increase in base pay, casting doubts on whether Japan can achieve the kind of sustained wage gains the central bank sees as key to stably reaching its 2 percent inflation target, Reuters reported.

Agencies via Xinhua