Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

PHNOM PENH, Feb 21 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Prak Sokhonn, will pay an official visit to Thailand on Feb 23 and 24, to increase cooperation between the two neighbours, said a foreign ministry press statement, today.

“The two deputy prime ministers will hold a bilateral meeting, to deliberate across-the-board aspects of the excellent bilateral relationship and thriving cooperation, ranging from trade, investment, tourism and labour, to connectivity, education, health, and culture,” it said.

HANOI, Feb 21 (NNN-VNA) – Three people died and 17 others were injured, in a crash between a sleeper bus and a truck, in Vietnam’s central province of Quang Nam early today.

The accident took place at around 1:30 a.m. on National Highway 1A in Tam Anh Nam Commune, Nui Thanh District, Quang Nam Province, when the sleeper bus carrying 30 passengers smashed into the rear end of a brick-loaded truck that was parked on the roadside.

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to visit Moscow for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the plan.

Xi's meeting with Putin will be part of a push for multi-party talks on peace in Ukraine and allow China to reiterate its calls that nuclear weapons not be used, the report added. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A spectacular collection of centuries-old Cambodian jewelry has been returned to the Southeast Asian country, the latest treasures to be retrieved from the estate of well-known antiquities collector and dealer Douglas Latchford, who was accused of buying and selling looted artifacts.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s latest missile launches are a demonstration of the country’s avowed ability to use nuclear force against South Korea and the mainland U.S. How immediate is that threat?

North Korea claims its nuclear forces are capable of destroying its rivals, and often follows its provocative weapons tests with launch details. But many foreign experts call the North’s claims propaganda and suggest that the country is not yet capable of hitting the United States or its allies with a nuclear weapon.

BEIJING (AP) — The foreign minister of China, which has provided strong political backing for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, said Tuesday his country wants to play a role in ending the conflict.

Qin Gang told participants at a security conference in Beijing that China was concerned the almost yearlong war could escalate further and spin “out of control.”

China would continue to urge peace talks and provide “Chinese wisdom” to bring about a political settlement, he said.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Tuesday that he will dissolve Parliament in March, paving the way for a general election to be held in May.

The government’s four-year term expires on March 23, but in remarks to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Prayuth suggested he would dissolve the House of Representatives before that. Prayuth also set May 7 as the election date, though details still need to be worked out.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A delegation of U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday met with Taiwan’s president, who promised to deepen military cooperation between the two sides despite objections from China, which claims the island as its own territory.

The group was one of many U.S. delegations President Tsai Ing-wen has welcomed in recent years even as Beijing has stepped up diplomatic and military harassment of Taiwan.

MANILA, Feb 20 (NNN-PNA) – Six people, including a local official, were killed, when unidentified gunmen opened fire at a van, in Nueva Vizcaya province, in the northern Philippines, yesterday morning, police said.

The police said, the attack occurred around 8:45 a.m. local time, along a highway in Bagabag town, while the van was travelling north to Aparri, a town in the northern Philippine Cagayan province.

SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The armed forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted a multiple-rocket launching drill Monday morning, the official Korean Central News Agency reported, in response to the U.S.-South Korea combined air drill a day earlier.

The long-range artillery unit of the Korean People's Army (KPA) on the western front fired two rocket shells of 600 mm multiple-rocket launchers towards the eastern waters, the state news agency reported Monday.