Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 (NNN-Bernama) — The ‘Saudi Visa Bio’ biometric app launched in Malaysia Monday will facilitate the registration of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims from Malaysia, besides shortening the period of entry procedures into the Holy Land.

According to Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Mahmoud Hussein Saeed Qattan, Saudi Arabia’s move to launch the smartphone app in Malaysia reflects the strength of the relationship between the two countries.

SEOUL, March 28 (Reuters) - Reports suggest North Korea's biggest missile test ever may not have been what it seemed, raising new questions over the secretive country's banned weapons programme.

North Korea said it had test-fired its new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday, the first test of a missile that size since 2017.

North Korean state media heralded the launch as an "unprecedented miracle", and South Korean and Japanese officials independently confirmed flight data that showed it flew higher and longer than any previous test. 

KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Defense Services Asia 2022, a biennial defense and weaponry show, opened Monday in the Malaysian capital city Kuala Lumpur.

The 2020 edition of the show had been canceled following the pandemic and this year's edition marks the first large-scale event in the country since the pandemic began, with more than 25,000 visitors from more than 50 countries and regions participating in the event from March 28-31.

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China has announced tax-relief policies for parents rearing children under 3 years old, according to a State Council circular issued on Monday.

Starting Jan. 1, 2022, the individual taxable income of such parents can be reduced by a total of 1,000 yuan (157 U.S. dollars) per month for each baby, said the circular.

The deduction can be applied in full by one parent or can be split evenly, added the circular.

NANNING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- All 132 victims of the China Eastern Airlines plane crash have been identified through DNA testing, an official told a press briefing on Monday.

After the accident, public security authorities across 20 provincial-level regions were organized to identify the victims by collecting DNA samples of those on board and their relatives, said Liu Kaihui, an official with the Ministry of Public Security.

Seoul, Mar 28 (AP) North Korea said Monday leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to develop more powerful means of attack, days after the country's first intercontinental ballistic missile launch in more than four years.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Thousands of American and Filipino forces began on Monday one of their largest combat exercises in years that will include live-fire maneuvers, aircraft assaults, urban warfare and beach landings in a showcase of U.S. firepower in the northern Philippines near the sea border with Taiwan.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Monday as worries about the pandemic, inflation and the war in Ukraine weighed on market sentiment.

Benchmarks in Hong Kong and Sydney gained while Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai declined.

Adding to concern over the economic impact from the pandemic, Shanghai went into a nine-day semi-lockdown. With China’s economic growth already slowing, the extreme measure could worsen unemployment, sap consumer demand and further complicate already snarled global supply chains.

The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.2% lower to 3,207.10.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s daily average of new COVID-19 cases declined last week for the first time in more than two months, but the number of critically ill patients and deaths will likely continue to rise amid the omicron-driven outbreak, officials said Monday.

South Korea reported an average of about 350,000 new cases last week, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Monday. It was the first drop in the weekly average in 11 weeks, KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong said.

BEIJING (AP) — China began its most extensive lockdown in two years Monday to conduct mass testing and control a growing outbreak in Shanghai as questions are raised about the economic toll of the nation’s “zero-COVID” strategy.