1 May 2020; AFP: Riot police hit Hong Kong's streets on Friday ahead of planned rallies by pro-democracy protesters who were looking to defy restrictions on gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic to voice anger against authoritarian Chinese rule.
The semi-autonomous financial hub was upended by seven months of violent protests last year, hammering its reputation for stability and leaving the city deeply divided.
1 May 2020; AFP: A journalist who had worked for some of China's most powerful propaganda outlets has been jailed for 15 years after being accused of attacking the ruling Communist Party, court documents showed.
The sentence handed down on Chen Jieren is one of the harshest moves yet against free speech by China's government under President Xi Jinping, who has muzzled the press and ordered Chinese media outlets to serve the ruling Communist Party's interests.
TOKYO, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Japan will likely extend the nationwide state of emergency until the end of May at the earliest as the nation continues to grapple with containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, government sources said Thursday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday reportedly told Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), that he was almost certainly going to extend the state of emergency past May 6.
BEIJING (AP) — Beijing’s parks and museums including the ancient Forbidden City reopened to the public Friday after being closed for months by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Forbidden City, past home to China’s emperors, is allowing just 5,000 visitors daily, down from 80,000. And parks are allowing people to visit at 30% of the usual capacity.
Large-scale group activities remain on hold and visitors must book tickets in advance online, according to Gao Dawei, deputy director of the Beijing Gardening and Greening Bureau.
TOKYO (AP) — North Korea’s collapse has been predicted — wrongly— for decades.
Some said it would happen after fighting ended in the Korean War in 1953. Others thought it would be during a 1990s famine or when national founder Kim Il Sung died in 1994. And when the death of his son, Kim Jong Il, thrust a little-known 20-something into power in 2011, some felt the end was near.
It’s no surprise then that recent rumors that leader Kim Jong Un is seriously ill have led to similar hand-wringing.
Tokyo, Apr 30 (AP) Under Japan's coronavirus state of emergency, people have been asked to stay home. Many are not. Some still have to commute to their jobs despite risks of infection, while others continue to dine out, picnic in parks and crowd into grocery stores with scant regard for social distancing.
On Wednesday, the first day of the Golden Week holidays that run through May 5, Tokyo's leafy Shiba Park was packed with families with small children, day camping in tents.
Beijing, Apr 30 (AP) China's manufacturing activity weakened in April as the coronavirus pandemic clobbered global consumer demand, hampering Beijing's efforts to revive the world's second-largest economy, two surveys showed on Thursday.
China became the first major economy to reopen factories in March after the ruling Communist Party declared victory over the outbreak. But the United States, Europe and other major markets have yet to lift controls that are keeping consumers from spending.
Beijing, Apr 30 (PTI) Chinese President Xi Jinping has termed China's battle against COVID-19 as a major strategic achievement, as the ruling Communist Party is all set to hold the postponed Parliament session on May 22 amid a steady decline in the coronavirus cases.
China's National Health Commission (NHC) on Thursday said the country reported only four new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total number to 82,862, while no death due to the disease was registered. The virus has claimed 4,633 lives in the country.
KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The government of Uzbekistan is establishing a nationwide movement billed ‘Kindness and Support’ to help the country weather the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement to Bernama, Uzbekistan’s Embassy in Malaysia said that the initiative – the brainchild of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev – is intended to further ensure the sufficient supply of food and medical facilities to families in need and to temporarily jobless individuals.
TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan may hold an emergency meeting before a scheduled rate review in June to set up a reward scheme for financial institutions that boost lending to small firms hit by the coronavirus, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Thursday.
Japan’s $1.1 trillion stimulus package has cheap loans on offer for firms hit by a virus-related slump in sales, and Kuroda has ordered staff to prepare a scheme spurring financial institutions to boost lending to such firms.
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