Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING (AP) — Only a few people strolled the pedestrian-only streets Sunday in central Beijing’s historic Qianmen district, normally an area that would be bustling with tourists on what was a national holiday and a sunny spring day.

Many Chinese marked a quiet May Day this year as the government’s “zero-COVID” approach restricts travel and enforces lockdowns in multiple cities. Millions remain restricted to their buildings or compounds in Shanghai, China’s largest city, under a lockdown that has only slightly eased.

BEIJING (AP) — A woman was rescued Sunday from the rubble of a building in central China more than 50 hours after it collapsed, leaving dozens trapped or missing, state media said.

Separately, police arrested nine people including the building owner on suspicion of causing a major liability accident, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 30 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Malaysia reported 2,579 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight, bringing the national total to 4,445,897, according to the health ministry.

There are six new imported cases and 2,573 local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed.

A further six deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 35,542.

The ministry reported 6,055 new recoveries, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 4,360,061.

JAKARTA, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia has invited both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the Group of 20 (G20) summit in November, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Friday.

"Indonesia is ready to contribute to the peace effort," Widodo said in a virtual press conference. "Indonesia wants to unite the G20. Do not let there be a split. Peace and stability are the keys to the world economic development."

TOKYO, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The Japan Coast Guard said on Friday that the tourist boat that went missing six days ago with 26 people aboard was found underwater off Hokkaido in northern Japan.

The 19-ton Kazu I was located on Friday after the Maritime Self-Defense Force conducted a search with an underwater camera off the Shiretoko Peninsula in northeastern Hokkaido.

So far, the bodies of 14 people have been retrieved since the boat went missing on April 23. Twelve people remain unaccounted for.

NANTONG, Jiangsu, April 30 (Xinhua) -- China successfully sent five satellites into planned orbit from a platform in the East China Sea at 11:30 a.m. Saturday (Beijing Time).

The Jilin-1 Gaofen series satellites were launched by a Long March-11 carrier rocket and have successfully entered their planned orbit.

They will provide commercial remote sensing data services for sectors including land resource survey, urban planning and disaster monitoring.

The launch marked the 418th flight mission of the Long March series carrier rockets. 

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned again that the North could preemptively use its nuclear weapons if threatened, as he praised his top army officials for a massive military parade in the capital, Pyongyang, this week.

Kim expressed “firm will” to continue developing his nuclear-armed military so that it could “preemptively and thoroughly contain and frustrate all dangerous attempts and threatening moves, including ever-escalating nuclear threats from hostile forces, if necessary,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Saturday.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s manufacturing activity fell to a six-month low in April as lockdowns continued in Shanghai and other manufacturing hubs in an attempt to stem COVID-19 outbreaks, according to a survey released Saturday.

The monthly purchasing managers’ index, released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, fell to 47.4 in April, down from 49.5 in March on a 100-point scale. Numbers below 50 show activity contracting.

The domestic COVID-19 outbreaks have impacted China’s factory activities and market demand, said the bureau’s statistician Zhao Qinghe.

BEIJING (AP) — Restaurants in Beijing have been ordered to close dine-in services over the May holidays as the Chinese capital grapples with a COVID-19 outbreak.

Authorities said at a news conference Saturday that dining in restaurants has become an infection risk, citing virus transmissions between diners and staff.

Restaurants have been ordered to only provide takeout services from Sunday to Wednesday, during China’s Labor Day holidays.

Beijing began mass testing millions of residents earlier this week as it scrambled to stamp out a growing COVID-19 outbreak.

BANGKOK, April 29. /TASS/: More than 2.29 million people have been affected by tropical storm Megi in the Philippines. A total of 214 people died, according to the updates report of the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), which was released on Friday.

According to NDRRMC, more than 69,700 displaced people are still staying at 200 evacuation centers. As many as 33,500 people were evacuated beforehand. A total of 132 people are reported missing.