Japanese PM Shinzo Abe lifted a state of emergency across a large part of the country on Thursday, but said the biggest urban centres of Tokyo and Osaka will remain under restrictions until there is a convincing containment of the new coronavirus. Abe announced the lifting of the emergency in 39 of Japan’s 47 prefectures, as the country strives to balance the damage to the economy from prolonged shutdowns.

China is bracing to make widespread coronavirus testing a new normality. In the coming months all residents of Wuhan, approximately 11 million, will be tested, with the programme to go on to other provinces, news wires reported.  Wuhan decided to conduct mass testing after a cluster of new infections emerged, sources said. China is able to produce 5 million test kits a day, the country’s industry ministry said last month.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani ordered the country's security forces on Tuesday to resume offensive operations against the Taliban and other insurgent groups, following two separate attacks that killed dozens of people, news wires reported. No group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks on a maternity hospital in the capital Kabul and a funeral in the eastern province of Nangarhar, but Ghani, in a TV address, blamed the Taliban and the Islamic State group.

China reported a new cluster of coronavirus cases in Wuhan Monday after a month without fresh infections at the pandemic's global epicentre, as a northeastern city was placed under lockdown.

China’s National Health Commission reported 14 new confirmed coronavirus cases on 9 May, the highest number since 28 April and up from only one case a day earlier, according to data published on Sunday.

China and South Korea both reported more coronavirus infections Friday after reopening economies damaged by devastating outbreaks. Around the globe, governments are opting to accept the risks of easing pandemic-fighting restrictions that left huge numbers of people without income or safety nets.

China's new prototype spacecraft "successfully landed" on Friday, marking an important step in its ambitions to run a permanent space station and send astronauts to the moon. The spacecraft - which was launched Tuesday - arrived safely at a predetermined site, the China Manned Space Agency said, after a hitch in an earlier part of the key test.

North Korea's Kim Jong Un has sent a "verbal message" to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, state media KCNA reported Friday, after weeks of speculation about his health. The news agency did not explain what it meant by a "verbal message," and it was not clear if Kim and Xi had spoken directly, AFP noted.

At least seven people were killed and hundreds hospitalised after a pre-dawn gas leak at a chemical plant in eastern India on Thursday that left unconscious victims lying in the streets, authorities said. The gas escaped out of tanks at a complex owned by South Korea's LG Chem that had suspended operations because of India's coronavirus lockdown.

North and South Korean troops exchanged fire along their tense border on Sunday, the South’s military said, blaming North Korean soldiers for targeting a guard post. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul North Korean troops fired several bullets at a South Korean guard post inside the heavily fortified border. South Korea fired two rounds in response after issuing a warning broadcast, it said.