Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States and China, the world’s two biggest carbon polluters, agreed to cooperate to curb climate change with urgency, just days before President Joe Biden hosts a virtual summit of world leaders to discuss the issue.

The agreement was reached by U.S. special envoy for climate John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua during two days of talks in Shanghai last week, according to a joint statement.

(Reuters) --- Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Indonesia on April 24, a Thai foreign ministry spokesman said on Saturday, for his first known foreign trip since he staged a Feb. 1 coup.

Myanmar has been in upheaval since Min Aung Hlaing ousted an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, with security forces killing 728 people, according to an activist group tally, in an attempt to stamp out protests.

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court on Friday sentenced five leading pro-democracy advocates, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai, to up to 18 months in prison for organizing and participating in a massive march during 2019 anti-government protests that triggered an overwhelming crackdown from Beijing.

A total of nine advocates were given jail terms, but four of them, including 82-year-old lawyer and former lawmaker Martin Lee, had their sentences suspended after their age and accomplishments were taken into consideration.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s junta on Saturday announced it pardoned and released more than 23,000 prisoners to mark the new year holiday, but it wasn’t immediately clear if they included pro-democracy activists who were detained in the wake of the February coup.

The release was announced on state broadcaster MRTV, which said that the military leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing pardoned the 23,047 prisoners, including 137 foreigners who will be deported from Myanmar. He also reduced sentences for others.

BEIJING, Apr 16 (APP): Broken tea from China and Pakistan can be blended and make new products for the international market, said He Qingyuan, deputy director of Tea Research Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Yunnan has many advantages in developing the black tea industry. “One is that the ecological environment is very good and the quality of tea is very high. Second, the variety of Yunnan black tea is very unique, which is rich in nutrients and contains very high levels of tea polyphenols and theaflavins,”He Qingyuan said.

BANGKOK, April 16 (NNN-Bernama) — Thailand will not impose a nationwide lockdown or curfew amidst number of new COVID-19 cases hitting another record high Friday.

Over the last 24 hours, Thailand recorded 1,582 new COVID-19 cases marking a rising tide of cases over the week bringing the total number of infections in the kingdom to 39,038. However, the number of fatalities remain at 97.

(Reuters) --- Chinese carrier drills and stepped-up incursions into Taiwan's air defence zone in recent weeks are meant to send a message to Washington to stand down and back off, security sources in Taipei say.

The increased activity - which China, unusually, described as "combat drills" on Wednesday - has raised alarm in both Taipei and Washington, though security officials do not see it as a sign of an imminent attack.

(Reuters) --- Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai will serve 12 months in prison for taking part in an unauthorised assembly during the 2019 mass pro-democracy protests in the Chinese-ruled financial hub.

Hong Kong's District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock gave Lai a 15-month sentence, reduced by three months in mitigation.

Martin Lee, who helped launch the city’s largest opposition Democratic Party in the 1990s and is often called the former British colony’s “father of democracy,” was given a suspended sentence of 11 months in the same case.

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao Thursday summoned the Japanese ambassador to China Tarumi Hideo. Wu lodged solemn representations against the Japanese government's decision to dump the wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

Wu said Japan's relevant decision disregarded the global marine environment, the safety of international public health, and the security interests of people from the surrounding countries.

TOKYO (AP) — The head of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday was again forced to assure the world that the postponed games will open in just over three months and not be canceled despite surging COVID-19 cases in Japan.

Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto was asked at a news conference if there were any conditions under which the Olympics would be canceled.

The question comes as the general secretary of ruling LDP political party, Toshihiro Nikai, raised the possibility the day before.