President Donald Trump campaigned on keeping the United States out of foreign wars, but it didn’t take long to convince him to come to the direct aid of Israel.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed determination to defend rules-based, free and multilateral trade systems and work to expand the main Asia-Pacific trade group at a time of tension over U.S. tariffs.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, struggling to stabilize his minority government, says he will seek to maintain regional security and prepare for tough negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump to win his commitment to maintain a strong American presence in the Asia-Pacific.

The NFL will expand its international search for talent by opening an academy in rugby-mad Australia to develop promising teenagers in the Asia-Pacific region into college and pro prospects.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting the tiny kingdom of Tonga as the United States continues to increase its diplomatic efforts in the Pacific while China’s influence in the region grows.

A top State Department official says the American diplomatic push aimed at countering China’s increasing influence in the Asia-Pacific region appears to be paying dividends, with many nations showing a willingness to partner with the United States.

For more than two years, the isolation of the Pacific archipelago nation of Tonga helped keep COVID-19 at bay.

A senior international aid official says Afghanistan is being hit by multiple crises that are “progressively getting worse,” with drought, economic collapse and displacement all pushing the population into catastrophic hunger.

Officials say that after months of study, the Pentagon has decided no immediate major changes are needed in the global positioning of U.S. forces.

China has applied to join an 11-nation Asia-Pacific free trade group in an effort to increase its influence over international policies.

Officials in Thailand have announced a seven-hour curfew and other restrictions for the capital and nine other provinces to try to slow a growing number of cases and deaths in a coronavirus surge that began in early April.

Asian shares are mostly lower as investors await a much watched U.S. jobs report for indications of how the recovery from the pandemic is faring.

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2010, file photo, Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi addresses a summit at the United Nations headquarters. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi addressed the nation live on television and radio, urging people to remain vigilant with their virus precautions. Samoa was among a dwindling handful of nations to have not reported a single case of the virus. He said the sailor returned a positive test four days after arriving, but then a second test on Thursday returned a negative result. — India has recorded 45,576 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours as authorities battle to slow a surge of infections in its capital by increasing testing.

The S&P 500, which matters more to the performance of most 401(k) accounts, added to its own record set on Friday. It lagged the rest of the market amid lessened interest for tech stocks. Investors aren’t abandoning Big Tech amid the vaccine hopes. That has many money managers pulling some of the big profits made on Big Tech and steering them into beaten-down areas of the market. Benchmark U.S. crude oil climbed 3% to settle at $41.34 per barrel amid hopes that a healthier economy would burn more fuel.

Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan, left, and other officials attend a press conference in Hong Kong Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. Hong Kong and Singapore will launch an air travel bubble at the end of the month, allowing travelers in both cities to visit the other without having to serve quarantine. The bubble will be suspended for two weeks if either Hong Kong or Singapore reports a seven-day moving average of more than five untraceable coronavirus infections, according to the Hong Kong government. “Hong Kong and Singapore are similar in terms of epidemic control. However, the exemption from quarantine is only one-way, and Hong Kong residents travelling to the mainland must still serve 14 days of quarantine on arrival.

Infections from the two clusters have grown to 6,945 by Saturday, bringing to over 10,000 the number of confirmed cases in the country including 19 deaths. — India has registered 48,268 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. The figure raises the country’s total virus tally to over 8.1 million, behind only the U.S. Over 7.4 million people have recovered. — China has reported six new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in an outbreak in Xinjiang, bringing the total in the far-west region to 51. The total number of confirmed cases has reached 85,973, including 4,634 who have died.

HONG KONG Renewed restrictions took effect in Hong Kong on Wednesday, with restaurants limited to takeout after 6 p.m., as the Asian financial center battles a resurgence of the coronavirus. Mask-wearing has been made compulsory on public transport for the first time, with fines of up to 5,000 Hong Kong dollars ($650). Hong Kong Disneyland, which had reopened last month, shuttered again in accordance with the renewed restrictions. Its two new cases recorded Wednesday and all 27 of its active cases are people quarantined after foreign travel. South Korea requires two-week quarantines on all passengers arriving from overseas.