Shanghai aims to reopen broadly and allow normal life to resume from June 1, a city official said on Monday, after declaring that 15 of its 16 districts had eliminated cases outside quarantine areas.
Deputy Mayor Zong Ming, speaking at a daily online news conference, gave the clearest timetable yet for a return to normal for the city's 25 million people who have been frustrated by more than six weeks of lockdowns and inconsistent messaging as to when they can resume their lives.
Shanghai officials declared the city's epidemic under control but they also said their goal until May 21 would be to prevent a rebound in infections, meaning many curbs will remain in place.
Eliminating cases outside quarantine areas is a key condition for resuming normal life under China's strict zero-COVID policy.
The city plans to gradually increase domestic flights and rail services, and from Monday will begin reopening supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies.
Shanghai's lockdown, along with COVID curbs in numerous other Chinese cities, have battered the world's second-largest economy and disrupted global supply chains.
Hackers targeting Australia's major pension funds in a series of coordinated attacks have stolen savings from some members at the biggest fund and compromised more than 20,000 accounts in A$4.2 trillion (AED 15.4 trillion) retirement savings sector.
South Korea's Constitutional Court on Friday decided to oust President Yoon Suk Yeol, upholding parliament's impeachment motion over his short-lived imposition of martial law last year that sparked the country's worst political crisis in decades.
At least seven migrants have died, including one boy, one girl and two women, after their boat sank off the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece's coastguard said on Thursday.
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Variable parking fees will come into effect in Dubai on Thursday, with premium rates of AED 6 an hour marked for "busy zones near public transport, shopping destinations and business districts".