Here are a few stories from around Asia you may have missed this week.

The Philippines is going through a hot spell with the country's Department of Education saying school authorities can call off in-person classes to safeguard the health of students and staff. The Philstar paper reported, “The country is bracing for the return of El Niño, the weather phenomenon that could bring dry spells and droughts, and cause a wide range of health problems. Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian said they are ready to assist farmers and farm workers who are affected by El Niño.”

China has announced that as of April 29, all inbound travelers only need a negative antigen test result within 48 hours of flying rather than the previous mandatory PCR tests before boarding flights, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning at a daily press conference on Tuesday.

Immediately after the announcement, Chinese embassies in other countries issued updates to the latest epidemic prevention and control guidelines for travelers to China.

The Indian Space Research Organisation on April 22 launched a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C55 (PSLV-C55) mission carrying two Singapore satellites weighing 757kg. 

The primary payload is an earth observation satellite. The two satellites are intended to be launched into an eastward low-inclination orbit.

Japan's start-up Ispace admitted on Wednesday that its plan to become the first private company to land on the Moon had failed. However, it has pledged to move ahead with new missions. 

The unmanned Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander had been scheduled to arrive on the Moon's surface on Wednesday, but communications were lost during its descent and had still not been re-established 25 minutes after the scheduled landing. "It has been determined that there is a high probability that the lander eventually made a hard landing on the Moon's surface,” Ispace said in a statement. 

The company said its engineers were working to establish why the landing had failed.

Blasts in a police ammunition depot in northwestern Pakistan has killed 17, police said. 

The dead include nine policemen, five detainees and three civilians, Swat valley police chief Shafiullah Gandapur said on Tuesday. More than 50 people were injured and several buildings in the vicinity collapsed. The Dawn newspaper reported that "The explosion that rocked the police station, which reportedly occurred on the premises of the Counter Terrorism Department office, came hours after a raid by the department in Lakki Marwat resulted in the killing of three suspected militants."

(Cover: Local residents and tourists flock to a beach resort in Batangas, Philippines, April 8, 2023. /CFP)