Compiled by CHAN MAY THENG, CHOW HOW BAN and R. ARAVINTHAN

       AS Beijing fights to contain Covid-19, many residents have started panic buying and are snapping up freezers in anticipation of total lockdowns.

       Sin Chew Daily reported that on April 24 alone, consumers bought 300 freezers from Suning retail shops and its online platform.

       The company said the sales figure that day was equivalent to one month worth of sales, adding that it had extended the operating hours at its 67 outlets by two more hours to meet consumer demand.

       It said it had stocked up 5,000 more freezers and would provide instant delivery services for the purchase of freezers and refrigerators.

       The company expected the demand for other electrical appliances such as fans, rice cookers and microwaves to rise as well.

       On Monday, China recorded another 1,908 Covid-19 cases via local transmissions and 15,889 local asymptomatic cases. There were 33 cases in Beijing.

       The Beijing government said it had identified two chains of infection in Chaoyang and Fengtai districts, where 90% of the population would undergo nucleic acid testing three times within five days.

       > Nanyang Siang Pau reported that Chinese singer-songwriter Li Ronghao has dismissed rumours of his troubled relationship with his wife, Taiwanese singer Rainie Yang.

       “Even during the pandemic, some people were talking nonsense and rumours about me. Don’t worry, I have gathered evidence and my lawyer is on it,” the 36-year-old posted on his Weibo account on Monday.

       Yang also shared her husband’s post saying that the rumours were “so fake that no one would believe them”.

       In recent weeks, reports claimed that Li was separating from Yang, whom he married in 2019 after being involved in a romantic relationship with Chinese singer Jike Junyi.

       > Kwong Wah Yit Poh reported that Malaysian singer Victor Wong would possibly return to the country in June to visit his parents for the first time in almost three years.

       “Due to the pandemic, I have not gone back to meet my parents for more than two and a half years. I miss them a lot,” he said.

       The 50-year-old said he was particularly touched by a scene he did in a setting likened to an airport for his latest music video See You Today, which was about treasuring moments with your loved ones.

       The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.