Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States should stop politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic and focus on defeating the virus and boosting the economy, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Friday.

Zhao made the remarks at a daily news briefing after U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper reportedly said that it is "difficult to believe information from the Communist Party of China" and that "they have been misleading the United States and opaque."

TOKYO (AP) — Hospitals in Japan are increasingly turning away sick people as the country struggles with surging coronavirus infections and its emergency medical system collapses.

In one recent case, an ambulance carrying a man with a fever and difficulty breathing was rejected by 80 hospitals and forced to search for hours for a hospital in downtown Tokyo that would treat him. Another feverish man finally reached a hospital after paramedics unsuccessfully contacted 40 clinics.

BEIJING, April 17 (APP): The Chinese government has earmarked $10 million in its Poverty Reduction and Regional Cooperation Fund to support the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in assisting its developing member countries (DMCs) to address the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) challenges.

17 April 2020; AFP: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened a martial law-like crackdown to stop people flouting a virus lockdown in the nation's capital.

Duterte spoke a day after authorities reported an upsurge of cars on Manila's roads, which have been nearly deserted since a sweeping lockdown was imposed a month ago on about half the country's 110 million people.

NILAI, April 17 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The quarantine process imposed on 30 Malaysians who returned here from Spain, United Kingdom and Indonesia on April 2 has ended and they were allowed to go home today.

These students were quarantined for 14 days at the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT) in Bandar Enstek here before making their way home at 9 a.m. today.

Fifteen of them had returned from Indonesia, 14 from Spain, and one from the United Kingdom. Of the total, 11 were men and 19 women.

YANGON, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Myanmar will release almost 25,000 prisoners in an amnesty to mark the traditional New Year, the president’s office said on Friday.

President Win Myint said 24,896 people jailed across the country, including 87 foreigners, would be freed unconditionally “to bring delights to the citizens of Myanmar and taking into consideration humanitarian concerns”.

The president gave no details of the crimes the prisoners were convicted of.

PUTRAJAYA, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — While Malaysia has not detected any COVID-19 cluster among the foreign workers, there have been continuous efforts to screen them for the coronavirus.

Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a daily press conference that the ministry would focus on high-risk areas with a huge population of foreign workers.

“The screening is ongoing with our district health offices. So far we have not seen a cluster formation. It is a continuous process,” he said.

TOKYO, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Japan’s Cabinet said on Friday that an official had tested positive for the coronavirus, making him the third case among officials at the Cabinet office.

The case inside the Cabinet office comes as Japan has expanded a state of emergency to all regions. The move allows local municipalities to urge people to stay inside, but without punitive measures or legal force.

SINGAPORE, April 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Oil prices pushed higher Friday as President Donald Trump’s plan for a reopening of the virus-battered United States offset worries about a devastating supply shock triggered by the pandemic.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up nearly three percent in Asian trade at $28.65 a barrel while US benchmark WTI rose 0.6 percent to $19.99 a barrel — but still around its lowest level since 2002.

Oil markets tracked a rise in Asian stock markets and on Wall Street overnight.

17 April 2020; AFP: More than a quarter of Myanmar's prison population is being released, the president's office announced Friday, after calls grew to ease pressure on overcrowded jails with coronavirus fears gripping the country.

The Southeast Asian nation grants an annual amnesty to thousands of prisoners to mark its April New Year holiday, but this is the largest recorded in recent years.