Top Asian News 1:41 p.m. GMT

Pakistan plane with 98 on board crashes near Karachi

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A passenger plane with 98 people on board crashed in a crowded neighborhood on the edge of the international airport near Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday after what appeared to be an engine failure during landing. Mayor Wasim Akhtar said at least five or six houses were destroyed in the crash of the domestic flight operated by Pakistan International Airlines. He said all those on board died, but two civil aviation officials later said that at least two people survived the crash. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.

Hong Kong opposition slams China national security law move

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers sharply criticized China’s move to take over long-stalled efforts to enact national security legislation in the semi-autonomous territory, saying it goes against the “one country, two systems” framework under which Beijing promised the city freedoms not found on the mainland. The proposed bill, submitted Friday on the opening day of China’s national legislative session, would forbid secessionist and subversive activity, as well as foreign interference and terrorism. It comes after months of pro-democracy demonstrations last year that at times descended into violence between police and protesters. The bill, among the most controversial items on the agenda of the National People’s Congress in years, drew strong rebukes from the U.S.

China boosts spending for virus-hit economy, takes up HK law

BEIJING (AP) — China’s No. 2 leader on Friday promised higher spending to revive its pandemic-stricken economy and curb surging job losses but avoided launching a massive stimulus on the scale of the United States or Japan. Premier Li Keqiang told lawmakers Beijing would set no economic growth target, usually a closely watched feature of government plans, in order to focus on fighting the outbreak. The virus battle “has not yet come to an end,” Li warned. Also Friday, legislators took up a proposed national security law for Hong Kong that activists complain might be used to suppress political activity. The Trump administration has warned it might withdraw the former British colony's preferential trade status if the “high degree of autonomy" promised by the mainland is eroded.

Key points about China's legislative session

What you need to know today about the virus outbreak

The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating across Latin America, Russia, India and Pakistan while the number of cases are flattening and businesses start to reopen in much of Europe, Asia and the United States. India saw its biggest single-day spike since the pandemic began, and Pakistan and Russia recorded their highest death tolls. Even so, many governments say they need to shift their focus to saving jobs. In the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, the unemployment numbers are staggering. The Federal Reserve chairman has estimated that 25% of Americans could be jobless by June, while in China analysts estimate about a third of the urban workforce is unemployed.

Asia Today: India's cases surge again, China opens Congress

BANGKOK (AP) — India reported its biggest single-day spike in virus cases Friday ahead of a resumption of domestic flights after a two-month halt. The 6,088 new cases reported in the last 24 hours took its total to 118,447. Deaths rose to 3,583 while more than 48,000 people have recovered, according to the health ministry. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state in India with more than 41,000 cases. The number of fatalities in the state rose to 1,454, the highest in the country. India has the 11th most confirmed cases in the world. It has eased its nationwide lockdown to restart economic activities and gave states more power to set the next phase of reopenings.

Even where virus accelerates, lockdowns are cracking open

NEW DELHI (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic accelerated across Latin America, Russia and the Indian subcontinent on Friday even as curves flattened and reopening was underway in much of Europe, Asia and the United States. Many governments — even those where the virus is still on the rise — say they have to shift their focus to saving jobs that are vanishing as quickly as the disease can spread. In the United States and China, the world's two largest economies, unemployment is soaring. The Federal Reserve chairman has estimated that up to one American in four could be jobless, while in China analysts estimate around a third of the urban workforce is unemployed.

India struggles with twin challenges of cyclone and pandemic

NEW DELHI (AP) — In the middle of a pandemic, if a cyclone comes hurtling toward you, what should you do? Debasis Shyamal, a fisherman, forgot about social distancing. He crammed himself into a government shelter, minutes before Cyclone Amphan crashed into his coastal village in West Bengal on Wednesday hurling winds of up to 170 kilometers (105 miles) per hour. He stayed awake in the dark, listening to the carnage outside. “No one was thinking about the virus. We were just trying to stay alive,” he said. The cyclone has now dissipated. But the pandemic hasn’t. In the past 48 hours, the cyclone killed 77 people and the coronavirus nine in West Bengal, one of India’s poorer states.

China hikes defense spending by 6.6%, lowest rate in years

BEIJING (AP) — China will increase its defense spending by 6.6% in 2020, the lowest rate in years as it battles an economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus outbreak, the government said Friday. The figure is down from the double-digit percentage increases of just a few years ago that have given China the second biggest defense budget in the world behind the U.S. Spending will total 1.3 trillion yuan ($180 billion), according to the website of the National People's Congress, the ceremonial parliament that opened its annual session Friday. The People’s Liberation Army, the ruling Communist Party’s military wing, is the world’s largest standing military and in recent years has added aircraft carriers, nuclear-powered submarines and stealth fighters to its arsenal, most of them produced domestically.

China congress precautions now include virus tests for media

BEIJING (AP) — At 5:40 a.m. on an overcast morning, I was on my way to cover the opening of China’s biggest political gathering of the year when we ran into that rarest of sights in the age of coronavirus. “Wow! A traffic jam at this hour of the day?” the driver exclaimed, tapping the brakes to stop on Beijing’s Avenue of Eternal Peace. A minor one, sure, but a sign of how normality is returning to China. That China is holding the Two Sessions — bringing 5,000 delegates to the capital for two concurrent meetings — is a clear signal of confidence on the part of President Xi Jinping that he has the pathogen under control.