Top Asian News 2:42 a.m. GMT

Asia Today: Seoul enforces limits on diners, shuts gyms

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has reported 299 new cases of the coronavirus as officials placed limits on dining at restaurants and closed fitness centers and after-school academies in the greater capital area to slow the spread of the virus. The 17th consecutive day of triple-digit increases brought the national caseload to 19,699, including 323 deaths. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 209 of the new cases came from capital Seoul, nearby Gyeonggi province and Incheon, a region that had been at the center of a viral resurgence this month. Thirty cases were also reported in the southeastern city of Daegu, the epicenter of the previous major outbreak in late February and March.

Death toll rises to 29 in north China restaurant collapse

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities say the death toll has risen to 29 in the collapse of a two-story restaurant in the northern province of Shanxi. The Ministry of Emergency Management says another 28 people were injured, seven of them seriously, when the building suddenly tumbled on Saturday. It said Sunday that rescue operations have now concluded, but there was no immediate word on what caused the collapse. The restaurant was in Shanxi province’s Xiangfen county, about 630 kilometers (400 miles) southwest of Beijing. Hundreds of rescue workers wearing hardhats and face masks had searched the rubble, lifting slabs of concrete in hopes of freeing survivors.

Scores injured as police break up Muslim march in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian forces on Saturday fired shotgun pellets and tear gas to disperse hundreds of Shiite Muslims participating in a traditional religious procession in Indian-controlled Kashmir, injuring scores, witnesses said. Police in the main city of Srinagar said the mourners on the outskirts of the city violated coronavirus prohibitions that restrict all religious processions and gatherings across the disputed region to stem the spread of the disease. Police said they were still confirming the number of injured. Medics at one hospital said they treated at least 30 people, some of them with pellet and tear gas injuries. Many others were admitted to another hospital.

AP PHOTOS: Pandemic casts pall over Muharram in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — For Nasir Hussain, observing the Muslim month of Muharram, which marks the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson in the battle of Karbala, is an article of faith. But as the coronavirus spreads in Indian-controlled Kashmir, he and his extended family prefer to commemorate the holy days inside their home in the disputed region’s main city. “We have to survive this epidemic to keep the mission of Imam Hossein alive,” said Hussain, a business executive, explaining that the virus has not stopped them from mourning but only from going to community congregational halls. On a recent humid August night, Hussain’s family sat in the brightly lit drawing room at their residence at Srinagar’s sprawling Dal Lake, attentively listening to a religious broadcast on cable TV.

7 suspected rebels, 1 Indian soldier killed in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Seven suspected rebels and an Indian army soldier were killed in two gunbattles in Indian-administered Kashmir in the last 24 hours, officials said Saturday. Three militants and a soldier died early Saturday after troops and police launched a search operation in a village in southern Pulwama district, said Col. Rajesh Kalia, an Indian army spokesperson. He said troops recovered an assault rifle and two pistols from the slain militants. On Friday, joint teams of army, paramilitary and police forces cordoned off a village in southern Shopian district following a tip that militants were hiding there, leading to an exchange of fire, police said.

Tokyo transparent toilet's walls go opaque when door closed

TOKYO (AP) — Now you see them, now you don’t. The walls of two newly installed public toilets in Tokyo's Shibuya neighborhood are see-through before people enter, but turn opaque when the doors are closed and locked from the inside. The so-called transparent toilets, which opened this month, were designed by award-winning Japanese architect Shigeru Ban for a project organized by The Nippon Foundation that redesigned a total of 17 public toilets in the neighborhood. The goal was to make them accessible to anyone, regardless of gender, age or disability. The see-through walls glow in vibrant colors — green, yellow, orange.

Shinzo Abe -- aka 'Super Mario' -- loses out on Olympics

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was a star at the closing ceremony of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, parading before a sellout crowd at the Maracana Stadium as Nintendo game character Super Mario. Abe's humorous invitation to the next Olympics in Tokyo was a big hit among Brazilian fans, and to a worldwide television audience. It turns out that Abe won't be around — at least not in an official capacity — when the postponed Olympics are set to open on July 23, 2021. He announced on Friday he intends to step down because of a chronic health problem.

Abe says 'gut wrenching' resignation leaves goals unfinished

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said he is stepping down because a chronic health problem has resurfaced. He told reporters Friday that it was “gut wrenching” to leave many of his goals unfinished. Abe has had ulcerative colitis since he was a teenager and has said the condition was controlled with treatment. Concerns about his health began this summer and grew this month when he visited a Tokyo hospital two weeks in a row for unspecified health checkups. He is now on a new treatment that requires IV injections, he said. While there is some improvement, there is no guarantee that it will cure his condition and so he decided to step down after treatment Monday, he said.

World leaders praise Japan PM Abe's contributions to ties

World leaders wished Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a rapid recovery and praised his contributions to bilateral relations during his years as Japan's longest-serving leader. Abe announced Friday that he is stepping down because of a health problem. He is expected to stay on until a new governing party leader is elected and formally approved by the parliament. ___ UNITED STATES: President Donald Trump said he was surprised by Abe's stepping down and paid his "highest respect to ... a very, a great friend of mine.” Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said, "We had a great relationship. And I just feel very bad for him.

Key dates in tenure of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he will step down due to his health. Some key dates in his life and career: Sept. 21, 1954 — Shinzo Abe is born to parents who both came from political families, and his father, Shintaro Abe, later became foreign minister. 1977 — Graduated from Seikei University in Tokyo. 1979 — Starts working at Kobe Steel. 1993 — First elected as legislator from the southwestern prefecture of Yamaguchi. 2005 — Appointed chief Cabinet secretary under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. 2006 — Is elected leader of the governing Liberal Democratic party, making him prime minister. 2007 — Resigns as prime minister, citing health reasons.