North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country's economy improved this year but called for measures to tackle the "tense" food situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic and last year's typhoons, Reuters reported, citing state media on Wednesday. Kim chaired a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's central committee on Tuesday to review progress on major policies and craft measures to resolve economic issues, according to the official KCNA news agency.

Japan's PM Yoshihide Suga survived a no-confidence vote by the opposition on Tuesday, news wires reported. The opposition move came just over a month before the Tokyo Olympics are due to start on 223 July. The capital is still under a state of emergency until Sunday. The opposition has criticized Suga for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his unwavering commitment to put on the Olympic Games.

Afghan government forces abandoned or were pushed out of six more district centres across the country in the past 24 hours, as Taliban militants gain more ground, local officials confirmed on Monday cited by the dpa. The fallen district are in the provinces of Herat, Ghor, Sar-e Pul, Zabul, and Farah.

China's Parliament on Thursday passed the anti-foreign sanctions law, providing a comprehensive legal cover for blocking foreign sanctions against Chinese officials and entities and protecting them against the long-arm jurisdiction, especially from the US, Reuters reports.

Preliminary results in Mongolia’s presidential election show the chairman of the ruling Mongolian People’s Party and ex-PM minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh winning by a large margin, news wires reported. Wednesday’s election was held amid restrictions aimed at containing the largest surge of Covid-19 cases to hit the vast landlocked nation of just 3m people.

Foreign journalists covering the Tokyo Olympics will have their movements tracked by GPS and could have their passes revoked if they break the rules, the Games president Seiko Hashimoto announced on Tuesday, news wires reported. The about 6,000 reporters visiting Japan for the Olympics must provide a detailed list of areas they will visit for their first two weeks in Japan, such as sports venues and hotels. Hashimoto said tracking technology would be used to make sure they only go where they are supposed to.

China is hosting foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations this week amid heightened competition between Beijing and Washington for influence in the region.

China announced it had moved a step ahead with its aggressive vaccination against Covid-19, Reuters reported. The country gave a green light for emergency usage on kids of its Sinovac Biotech vaccine. Under the new decision patients aged between 3 and 17 years will be included in the vaccination programmes. Sinovac CEO Yin Weidong confirmed the news in an interview for the state television.

Recent developments on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border are both dangerous and worrying, and immediate de-escalation is needed. Peter Stano, Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said in a statement, released on Friday afternoon, that the European Union urges both sides to refrain from any further military deployment and actions. 

Japan is set to extend the current coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and other regions less than two months before the opening of the Olympics, news reported citing government officials on Friday. A panel of experts has agreed to the government’s plan to extend the measure in Tokyo and eight other prefectures to 20 June as the country has failed to curb coronavirus infections amid the extremely slow pace of vaccinations and the rapid spread of new variants of the virus.