Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The oxygen supply for the 53 crew members of an Indonesian submarine missing in waters off Bali is believed to have run out early Saturday with no sign of the vessel while the search resumed, bolstered by the arrival of a sonar-equipped Australian warship.

The KRI Nanggala 402 went missing after its last reported dive Wednesday off the resort island, and concern is mounting it may have sunk too deep to reach or recover in time. The navy chief said the submarine was expected to run out of oxygen early Saturday morning.

BEIJING, April 22 (APP): Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s visit to Iran is of special importance during which both sides discussed regional security and economic cooperation.

“I have noticed two important points: one is that both sides discussed regional security issues, and the other is that both sides discussed economic cooperation under the new situation,” Cheng Xizhong, Visiting Professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law and former Defense Attache in South Asian countries said on Thursday.

JAKARTA, April 23 (NNN-Bernama) — Security and enforcement agencies in ASEAN need to be ready to face evolving trends in transnational criminal activities during the post-COVID-19 period, especially in the fight against human trafficking.

Chairman of ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational  Crime (SOMTC), Awang Sufian Sabtu said ASEAN will continue to give its steadfast support to both regional and  international efforts to combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP).

(Reuters) --- China is set to resume cargo train service with North Korea, people familiar with the matter said, following a 15-month border closure due to COVID-19, as trade with the impoverished and isolated country begins to rebound.

The bridge linking the city of Dandong with Sinuiju, across the Yalu River in North Korea, will partially reopen to allow cargo train service "sometime before or after May 1", the head of a transportation company handling cross-border trade told Reuters on Wednesday.

(Reuters) --- Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said on Thursday that China hoped the upcoming ASEAN summit on member Myanmar would pave the way for a “soft landing”.

The in-person summit in Jakarta on Saturday is the first concerted international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar, where security forces have killed hundreds of pro-democracy protesters since a Feb. 1 coup.

WENCHANG, Hainan, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The combination of the core module of China's space station, Tianhe, and the Long March-5B Y2 rocket has been transported to the launching area of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province on Friday.

The combination will then undergo various pre-launch function tests and joint tests as planned, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The facilities and equipment at the launch site are in good condition and preparations have been carried out as scheduled, the agency said. 

TOKYO (AP) — Japan is set to issue a third state of emergency for Tokyo and three western urban prefectures amid skepticism it will be enough to curb a rapid coronavirus resurgence ahead of the Olympics in July.

Health and economy ministers in charge of the virus measures were meeting with experts on a government taskforce to obtain their preliminary endorsement for the plan.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is set to formally announce later Friday a state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and its two western neighbors Kyoto and Hyogo from April 25 through mid-May.

BANGKOK (AP) — When the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations holds a special summit Saturday to discuss Myanmar, the regional body will be under as much scrutiny as the general who led the February coup ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street fell following a report that President Joe Biden will propose raising taxes on the wealthiest investors.

Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul rose while Tokyo and Sydney retreated.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.9% overnight after Bloomberg News, citing unidentified sources, said Biden will propose raising taxes on people who make more than $1 million on stock trades.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian navy ships were scouring the waters off Bali on Friday as they raced against time to find a submarine that disappeared two days ago and has less than a day’s supply of oxygen left for its 53 crew.

The KRI Nanggala 402 went missing after its last reported dive Wednesday off the resort island, and concern is mounting the submarine may have sunk too deep to reach or recover. The navy chief said the submarine was expected to run out of oxygen by around 3 a.m. Saturday.