Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Technical staff from the animal disease prevention and control center inject chickens with the H5N1 bird flu vaccine in Shangsi county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region Wednesday.
Photo: Reuters.

China said it was mobilizing resources nationwide to combat a new strain of deadly bird flu that has killed four people, as Japan and Hong Kong stepped up vigilance against the virus and Vietnam banned imports of Chinese poultry.

The H7N9 bird flu strain does not appear to be transmitted from human to human, but authorities in Hong Kong yesterday raised a preliminary alert and said they were taking precautions at the airport.

A truck moves past U.S. Army Patriot missile air defence artillery batteries at U.S. Osan air base in Osan, south of Seoul. North Korea has placed two of its intermediate range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them on the east coast of the country in a move that could threaten Japan or U.S. Pacific bases, South Korean media reported yesterday.
Photo: Reuters

North Korea told Russia yesterday to consider evacuating its embassy in Pyongyang, as reports suggesting the North was preparing an imminent missile launch prompted a fresh spike in global concern.

An embassy spokesman told Russian news agencies that the North Korean foreign ministry had suggested they “examine the question of evacuating employees” from the mission.