SEOUL, June 22 — Health authorities in South Korea said for the first time on Monday it is in the midst of a "second wave" of novel coronavirus infections focused around its densely populated capital, stemming from a holiday in May.

PUTRAJAYA, June 22 — National Security Council (NSC) will discuss in-depth on whether it will allow wedding ceremonies to be held in a special meeting tomorrow.

BANGKOK, June 22 — Thailand hopes to ease some coronavirus restrictions on foreigners entering the country after going for 28 days without recording any domestic transmissions, a senior official said on Monday.

RABAT, June 22 — Morocco will further loosen lockdown measures for the services sector and domestic transport starting June 24, the government said on Sunday.

MADRID, — Passengers wearing masks and wheeling suitcases arrived at Madrid's main airport and French people crossed the border to buy bargain alcohol and tobacco on Sunday as Spain opened its borders to most European countries and ended a state of emergency imposed to contain Covid-19.

CAIRO, June 22 — Hundreds of thousands of Egyptian high-school pupils armed with masks, gloves and hand sanitizers started their final exams on Sunday, despite objections from some parents worried about spreading the coronavirus.

LONDON, June 19 — Hospitalised Covid-19 patients of South Asian ethnicity in Britain are 20 per cent more likely to die from the disease than white people, a large-scale study said on Friday, the latest evidence that minority groups are disproportionately hit by the virus.

MILAN/LONDON, June 19 — Scientists in Italy have found traces of the new coronavirus in wastewater collected from Milan and Turin in December 2019 - suggesting Covid-19 was already circulating in Northern Italy before China reported the first cases.

JAKARTA, June 19 — Indonesia announced a tax break on Friday for manufacturers of personal protective equipment and household antiseptic products used during the coronavirus outbreak.

JAKARTA, June 19 — Indonesia's headline annual inflation may ease further to 1.79 per cent this month, the central bank said on Friday, based on its assessment of price movements as of the third week of June.

SEOUL, June 19 — Hwang Min-yong, a 37-year-old South Korean businessman, recently received his black Porsche Cayenne coupe with red leather seats after a seven-month wait and took it out for a spin on a scenic road overlooking a river near Seoul.

BEIJING, June 19 — China has released genome sequencing data for the coronavirus responsible for a recent outbreak in Beijing, with officials saying on Friday it identified a European strain based on preliminary studies.

JAKARTA, June 19 — Around 6.4 million Indonesians have lost their jobs due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and new rounds of layoffs are likely to hit Southeast Asia's biggest economy by August, the country's chamber of commerce and industry (Kadin) said.

SHANGHAI, June 19 — China's latest plans to overhaul its disease control system may not improve its ability to handle future virus outbreaks, according to some experts inside and outside the country.

SINGAPORE/JAKARTA, June 19 — A second and final trio of ships used as floating storage tanks for gasoline is en route to unload cargoes in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, according to industry sources and shipping data, showing fuel demand is growing across Asia.

SINGAPORE, June 19 — Singaporeans headed to restaurants to reunite with lovers and friends on Friday as the city-state lifted restrictions on socialising and dining out after more than two months of lockdown.

SYDNEY/LOS ANGELES, June 19 — An air cargo boom driven by demand for protective gear against the coronavirus has peaked and rates, while still 50 per cent above normal levels, are falling in a worrying trend for airlines relying on freight revenue in the absence of passengers.

BEIJING, June 19 — About 20 per cent of projects under China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to link Asia, Europe and beyond have been "seriously affected" by the coronavirus pandemic, an official from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

GAZA, June 19 — Wearing riding pants, logo-decorated shirts and helmets, Gaza horse-riders resumed local show-jumping competitions on Thursday as coronavirus restrictions were eased.

TOKYO, June 19 — Japanese shoppers queued at Uniqlo stores and crashed its website on Friday as the clothing chain began selling face masks with breathable fabric used in the brand's popular underwear, preparing for the coronavirus outbreak lasting through summer.