North Korea on Thursday test-fired its first ballistic missiles since President Joe Biden took office, as it expands its military capabilities and increases pressure on Washington while nuclear negotiations remain stalled, AP reported.

China's foreign ministry summoned the head of the European Union's delegation to Beijing in protest after the bloc slapped sanctions on Chinese officials over the treatment of the mostly Muslim Uighur people, dpa reported. Nicolas Chapuis was summoned for talks on Monday, the ministry said in a Tuesday statement, during which China's Vice Foreign Minister Qin Gang said the punitive measures were based on "lies and false information."

China on Monday blacklisted 10 EU individuals and four entities in response to Brussels’ sanctions against Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.

Japan on Monday ended the coronavirus state of emergency that was in place in Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures despite growing concerns about a resurgence of new infections and increasing cases of new strains of the virus, dpa reported.

In North Korea’s first comments directed at the Biden administration, Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister on Tuesday warned the United States to “refrain from causing a stink” if it wants to “sleep in peace” for the next four years, AP reported.

Defence and foreign ministers from the United States and Japan are meeting Tuesday to discuss their shared worry over China’s growing territorial ambitions in the East and South China seas as the Biden administration tries to reassure key regional allies, AP reported. 

Japan is paying tribute on 11 March to the victims of the 2011 earthquake and resulting tsunami in the north-east of the country, which also triggered the world's worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl crisis.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the country's military to be constantly ready in the face of "instabilities" and "uncertainties," state media reported Wednesday, cited by DPA.

Japan has decided to stage this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics without overseas spectators due to concern among the Japanese public about COVID-19, Kyodo news agency said on Tuesday, citing officials with knowledge of the matter.

The United States and South Korea have reached agreement in principle on a new arrangement for sharing the cost of the American troop presence, which is intended as a bulwark against the threat of North Korean aggression, both countries announced.