Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, April 30 (Xinhua) -- When Yoon Suk-yeol, president of South Korea, reverently crooned lines from the song "American Pie" to a smiling U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House, it perfectly depicted the diplomatic status quo between the two countries.

With its president fond of singing American songs, the South Korean government has made no secret of its intention of dancing to the American tune.

BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese naval vessels evacuated 493 people from Sudan in a second evacuation operation that concluded on Saturday, as the evacuees arrived at the Saudi Arabian port of Jeddah, according to an official statement.

The evacuees include 272 Chinese and 221 foreigners from countries such as Pakistan and Brazil.

The first evacuation operation carried out by the Chinese navy earlier this week helped 678 people leave Sudan.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s factory activity declined in April, an official survey showed Sunday, signaling policymakers’ challenges in sustaining momentum in the country’s economic recovery.

According to the government statistics bureau and an official industry group, a monthly purchasing managers’ index declined to 49.2 from March’s 51.9 on a 100-point scale where numbers below 50 indicate activity contracting.

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) — Voters in Uzebekistan, the most populous former Soviet Central Asian republic, cast ballots Sunday in a referendum on a revised constitution that promises human rights reforms but that also would allow the country’s president to stay in office until 2040.

Approval appears certain. Backers have conducted an array of promotional events featuring local celebrities, and elections in Uzbekistan are widely regarded as noncompetitive.

HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese authorities were preparing Sunday to release a man who disappeared three years ago after publicizing videos of overcrowded hospitals and bodies during the COVID-19 outbreak, a relative and another person familiar with his case said.

29 Apr 2023; AA: At least 38 Chinese aircraft and a combat drone crossed the Taiwan Strait early Friday, the island nation’s Defense Ministry claimed. 

The Chinese jets, including the TB-001 drone, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s southwest, southeast, and northeast air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the ministry which also released the flight paths of the Chinese jets. 

KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (Bernama) — Two Taiwan nationals who were wanted in a shooting case in their country were detained at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). 

Both suspects were believed to be members of a secret society as well as members of a scam syndicate in Taiwan.          

Malaysia’s Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said both men were nabbed as soon as they arrived at KLIA on April 20 from Taiwan. 

SEOUL, April 29 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has hit out at the Washington Declaration issued by the United States and South Korea after a summit between leaders of the two countries, state news agency KCNA reported Saturday.

TOKYO, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Japan should have a correct understanding of China from the root, adopt strategic independence, understand the trend of the times, and truly promote the stable development of bilateral relations with a constructive attitude, Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianghao said.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korea’s leader says her country would stage more provocative displays of its military might in response to a new U.S.-South Korean agreement to intensify nuclear deterrence to counter the North’s nuclear threat, which she insists shows their “extreme” hostility toward Pyongyang.