Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea reported 18 new coronavirus cases Saturday after bars and nightclubs were urged to close following a spate of infections, while Pakistan bowed to economic pressure and allowed some businesses to reopen despite a surge in case numbers.

The United States, Brazil and Italy also were wrestling with how to ease curbs on business and public activity. Others imposed new restrictions: Kuwait in the Middle East announced a lockdown from Sunday through May 30.

PYONGYANG, May 8. /TASS/: Authorities of North Korea slammed recent combat drills of South Korea as the ‘reckless military provocation,’ the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported citing a spokesperson for the North Korean Defense Ministry.

"On Wednesday, the South Korean military staged a joint military drill in the hotspot waters in the West Sea of Korea with the involvement of more than twenty fighters of F-15K, KF-16, F-4E and FA-50 belonging to the air combat command of the Air Force and storm boats under the Navy's 2nd Fleet and others," the news agency stated.

PYONGYANG, May 8. /TASS/: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has extended a verbal message to Chinese President Xi Jinping praising all efforts of the authorities of China to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday agreed to cooperate closely on measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, including the development of drugs and vaccines, Japan’s top government spokesman said.

Abe and Trump held talks by phone for about 45 minutes from around 10:00 a.m. (0100 GMT), Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Top U.S. and Chinese trade representatives discussed their Phase 1 trade deal on Friday with China saying they agreed to improve the atmosphere for its implementation and the United States saying both sides expected obligations to be met.

The discussion in a telephone call comes amid escalating tension between the countries, exacerbated by a war of words over U.S. criticism of China’s handling of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

TOKYO (Reuters) - As Japan prepares to ease coronavirus restrictions in some parts of the country, a growing number of the country’s businesses were planning to resume operations after month-long shutdowns have brought economic activity to a grinding halt.

Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday that the government was looking at ways to bring some parts of the country out of lockdown measures as infections in several regions outside main centres were reporting zero infections on a daily basis.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares surged Friday on optimism the worst of the economic fallout from the pandemic may be over, as Wall Street logged its biggest rally in a week.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1.8% to 20,025.91. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.3% to 1,954.48. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8% to 5,408.90. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1% to 24,220.86, while the Shanghai Composite picked up 0.7% to 2,891.83.

Beijing, May 7 (PTI) President Xi Jinping has cautioned people against complacency over the declining trend of coronavirus cases in the country as China on Thursday downgraded COVID-19 risk levels in all regions, signalling its successful containment.

All regions in China have seen their risk level downgraded to the lowest level starting Thursday, state-run China Daily reported.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 (NNN-BERNAMA) —  An Indian national and a Sri Lankan man were sentenced to eight months’ jail each by the Magistrate’s Court here today after they pleaded guilty to a charge with breaking into a supermarket and stealing goods worth RM353.70.

Magistrate M. Saravanan handed down the sentence on Kumaran, 25, and Chinna Maruthu, 22, both unemployed.

They were ordered to serve the jail sentence from their date of arrest, which was last Friday.

KUCHING, May 6 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) has identified 101 projects worth RM16.828 billion on which works have continued during the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) period.

Its chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said of the total, 42 projects costing about RM16.6 billion involved allocations from the state government, federal government, people’s projects and alternative fund.