Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Brunei has stepped up monitoring nationwide to detect cases with acute hepatitis of unknown origin among children aged between one month and 16 years old, the health ministry said on Saturday.

According to the ministry, acute hepatitis is not one of the common features of COVID-19 infection in children or a complication of COVID-19 vaccination in children.

The health ministry said no similar cases have been detected in Brunei so far.

Brunei reported 162 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total tally to 142,627.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea flight-tested a ballistic missile that was likely fired from a submarine on Saturday, South Korea’s military said, continuing a provocative streak in weapons demonstrations that may culminate with a nuclear test in the coming weeks or months.

BEIJING, May 6 (APP): Pakistan's export to China crossed $ 1.039 billion in the first quarter of 2022, recording a nearly 17% increase from January to March this year, as per General Administration of Customs of the People Republic of China (GACC).

According to data from GACC, in the first three months of this year, China's exports to Pakistan also increased 28.69 percent amounting to $6.058 billion as compared with the previous year which was $ 4.70 billion.

MANILA, May 6 (Reuters) - Street vendor Nellie Baraquio will cast a ballot in a presidential election in the Philippines for the first time on Monday, and the campaign sticker on her worn-out ice box leaves little doubt about who is getting her vote.

The 38-year-old believes the red-shirted man smiling in the sticker, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, is the best bet to lead her nation, despite his late father and namesake having presided over what critics say was the darkest chapter in the country's recent history.

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, May 6 (Reuters) - Residents of Beijing fretted over anti-virus restrictions curbing their movement while also worrying about the dozens of new COVID-19 cases reported daily, as China's leaders threatened action against critics of their zero-tolerance COVID policy.

Incurring a heavy economic cost and facing rare bursts of public criticism on its tightly-controlled internet, China is increasingly isolating itself from a world in which COVID restrictions are becoming a thing of the past.

MANILA, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' total external trade in goods rose by 18.6 percent in March to 19.35 billion U.S. dollars with China remaining its biggest trading partner, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Friday.

Of the total external trade in March, the statistics agency said 62.9 percent were imported goods, while the rest were exported goods.

China was the Philippines' biggest supplier of imported goods with 17.5 percent of the total imports in March, while exports to China reached a share of 16.5 percent of the total.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower Friday as fears spread that U.S. interest rate hikes to fight inflation might stall economic growth.

Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney declined. Tokyo edged higher as trading resumed after a holiday.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index plunged 3.6% on Thursday for its biggest one-day loss in two years as optimism that drove the previous day’s rally evaporated.

BEIJING (AP) — A building collapse one week ago in central China killed 53 people, state media reported Friday as the search of the large pile of debris ended after rescuers found 10 survivors.

Authorities said at a news conference that all the missing had been accounted for as of 3 a.m., state broadcaster CCTV said in an online post.

VIENTIANE, May 5 (NNN-KPL) – The World Bank expects to support 11 projects in Laos, at a cost of about 395 million U.S. dollars, from 2022 to 2026, the Vientiane Times said today.

Collaboration between Laos and the World Bank will focus on three areas, including promoting green growth, investment in human resource development, and environmental protection.

SINGAPORE, May 5 (NNN-Bernama) — Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will receive Malaysian state of Johor’s highest honour from Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, while his wife, Ho Ching, will receive a state award, at an investiture ceremony in Johor on Friday (May 6), The Straits Times reported.

Quoting a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the report said Lee and  Ho will visit the state to attend the ceremony, which will be held at the Istana Besar in Johor Bahru.