Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States should stop wasting time in its fight against the coronavirus and work with China to combat it, rather than spreading lies and attacking the country, the Chinese government’s top diplomat Wang Yi said on Sunday.

Sino-U.S. ties have nosedived since the outbreak of the new coronavirus, with the administrations of President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping repeatedly trading barbs over issues related to the pandemic, especially U.S. accusations of cover-ups and lack of transparency.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands protesting on Sunday against Beijing’s plan to directly impose national security laws on the city, signalling a return to mass protests that roiled the financial hub last year.

Crowds thronged the bustling shopping district of Causeway Bay, where echoes of “Hong Kong independence, the only way out,” and other slogans rang through the streets.

A protester wearing a black hoodie and surgical mask held a banner that said: “I stand for Hong Kong’s independence.”

PYONGYANG, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has held a military meeting on measures and policies to improve the country's armed forces to defend its sovereignty and stability, the state news agency reported on Sunday.

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the fourth enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) set forth "new policies for further increasing the nuclear war deterrence of the country and putting the strategic armed forces on a high alert operation."

BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The most important thing that can be learned from COVID-19 is that the life and health of people in different countries have never been so closely connected, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday.

Also, it has never been made so clear that all nations live in the same global village and that humanity is in fact a community with a shared future, Wang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual national legislative session.

New York, May 24 (AP/PTI) Claims promoted by the Trump administration that the global coronavirus pandemic originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the central Chinese city are a pure fabrication," the institute's director said.

Wang Yanyi was quoted by state media on Sunday as saying the institute did not have any knowledge before that nor had we ever met, researched or kept the virus...We didn't even know about the existence of the virus, so how could it be leaked from our lab when we didn't have it?

Hong Kong, May 24 (AP/PTI) Hong Kong police fired volleys of tear gas in a popular shopping district as hundreds took to the streets Sunday to march against China's proposed tough national security legislation for the city.

Pro-democracy supporters in Hong Kong have sharply criticized China's proposal to enact a national security law that would ban secessionist and subversive activity, as well as foreign interference and terrorism in the semi-autonomous territory.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Millions of Muslims in Indonesia are marking a muted and gloomy holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the end of the fasting month of Ramadan — a usually joyous three-day celebration that has been significantly toned down as coronavirus cases soar.

The world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, with more than 240 million people, has reported nearly 22,000 infections and 1,350 fatalities, the most in Southeast Asia. It means no congregational prayers at mosques and open fields, no family reunions, no relatives bearing gifts for children.

Beijing, May 23 (PTI) The first COVID-19 vaccine to reach phase I clinical trial is safe, well-tolerated, and capable of generating an immune response against the novel coronavirus in humans, says a new research published in The Lancet journal.

According to the study of 108 adults, the vaccine produced neutralising antibodies, and a response mediated by the immune system's T-cells against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2.

SINGAPORE, May 23 (NNN-CNA) – Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH), reported 614 new COVID-19 cases as on Friday noon, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 30,426.

Of the newly confirmed cases, four were cases in the community, and 610 were work permit holders residing in dormitories. There were no imported cases.

Of the new cases, 99 percent were linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing, the ministry said.

MANILA, May 23 (NNN-PNA) – An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 shook Philippines’ main island of Luzon today (Saturday), the Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology (Phivolcs) said.

The institute said, the quake, which struck at 10:10 a.m. local time, hit about 16 km southwest of San Luis town, in Aurora Province, at a depth of seven km.

Phivolcs initially reported that the earthquake was magnitude 5.1, but later upgraded it to magnitude 5.4 in an updated bulletin.