Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

(Reuters) --- Breathless, fevered and without the extra oxygen that could help keep them alive, the new coronavirus patients at a hospital near Myanmar's border with India highlight the threat to a health system near collapse since February's coup.

To help her tend the seven COVID-19 patients at Cikha hospital, day and night, chief nurse Lun Za En has a lab technician and a pharmacist's assistant.

Mostly, they offer kind words and paracetamol.

(Reuters) --- A crew member of a Japanese cargo ship was feared dead on Sunday after he was recovered near a vessel that had capsized and sunk following a collision in domestic waters, local media reported.

Japanese coast guard ships and aircraft have been searching since Friday for three missing crew members of the cargo ship after the collision with a Marshall Islands-registered tanker in the Seto Inland Sea.

(Reuters) --- Australian blogger Yang Hengjun, facing trial in Beijing on espionage charges that he denies, asked the judge to exclude evidence obtained in interrogations where he says he was tortured, according to a message conveyed to family and friends.

In his first comments since Thursday's court hearing, which was closed to family and Australian consular officials because China says it involved state secrets, Yang also expressed concern that geopolitical tensions may influence the outcome of his trial.

HONG KONG, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), on Saturday signed in accordance with the HKSAR Basic Law the Improving Electoral System (Consolidated Amendments) Ordinance 2021 passed by the Legislative Council (LegCo).

The ordinance will come into immediate effect after it is published in the gazette on Monday.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam has discovered a new coronavirus variant that’s a hybrid of strains first found in India and the U.K., the Vietnamese health minister said Saturday.

Nguyen Thanh Long said scientists examined the genetic makeup of the virus that had infected some recent patients, and found the new version of the virus. He said lab tests suggested it might spread more easily than other versions of the virus.

BEIJING, May 29. /TASS/: The planned meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden will not affect Moscow’s policy on Beijing, nor will it affect the Chinese-Russian relations of a comprehensive partnership, Chen Wenling, Chief Economist of China Center for International Economic Exchange (CCIEE) told TASS on Saturday.

BEIJING, May 29. /TASS/: The China National Space Administration (CNSA) conducted a launch of the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft that is expected to dock the Tianhe module of China’s new space station, which is being created in the orbit, according to a live stream on the Sina news portal.

The spacecraft was launched at 20.55 local time (15.55 Moscow time) from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site (in the northeast of the southern Chinese province of Hainan) aboard a Chang Zheng 7 rocket.

PHNOM PENH, May 29 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodia’s Health Minister, Mam Bunheng, said that, traditional Chinese medicine, Lianhua Qingwen Capsule is “effective” to treat COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms.

Lianhua Qingwen Capsules, a patented traditional Chinese medicine, widely used in China, to treat symptoms of COVID-19 patients, was licensed by Cambodia’s health ministry for use in April.

(Reuters) --- The underground government set up by opponents of Myanmar's military junta said its first batch of recruits have finished training for a new defence force, releasing video of them parading in uniform.

The National Unity Government had announced it would form a People's Defence Force to challenge the army, which seized power on Feb. 1, ousting elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and plunging the Southeast Asian country into chaos.

(Reuters) --- Orphans, conscripted soldiers, and students - some appearing to be children - are "volunteering" to work manual labour in North Korea, including in coal mines, farms, and large construction projects, the country's state media have reported.

Hundreds of graduates of orphan schools "volunteered to work in difficult fields", according to reports by state news agency KCNA.