Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (NNN-Bernama) — The Malaysian Foreign Ministry (MOFA) with the cooperation of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and activists is coming up with a comprehensive status paper to ensure the Rohingya refugee children in Malaysia get proper education. 

Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said the Rohingya children from Alternative Learning Centres (ALCs), whether run by their own community or NGOs, should have proper venues and teachers with certification. 

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (NNN-Bernama) — The ASEAN Secretariat needs to buck up and have some sense of urgency in providing updates on the development in Myanmar, says Malaysian Foreign Minister  Saifuddin Abdullah.

The minister said he and his fellow ASEAN foreign ministers were only receiving reports on the situation in Myanmar from their own contacts through international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), but not from the ASEAN secretariat itself. 

BEIJING, Sept 5 (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck China's Sichuan province on Monday, the strongest to hit the region since 2017, killing more than 40 people and shaking the provincial capital of Chengdu and more distant provinces.

Forty-six people were killed in the quake, Chinese state media Xinhua reported on Tuesday, citing local authorities at a press briefing.

Some roads and homes near the epicentre were damaged by landslides, while communications were down in at least one area, state television reported.

SEOUL, Sept 5 (Reuters) - South Korea raised its typhoon-alert to its highest level on Monday as approaching Typhoon Hinnamnor forced flight cancellations, the suspension of some business operations and the closure of schools.

Heavy rain and strong wind pounded the south of the country as the typhoon approached from the south at a speed of 33 km per hour (20.5 mph). Hinnamnor is expected to make landfall southwest of the port city of Busan early on Tuesday, after reaching the holiday island of Jeju on Monday.

TASHKENT, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have both decided to finance Central Asia's largest wind farm project the Zarafshan Wind Farm.

The ADB said Monday in a statement that it "signed a 52-million-U.S. dollar loan agreement" with Abu Dhabi-headquartered energy company Masdar "to finance Uzbekistan's first wind power plant and the largest yet developed in Central Asia."

BEIJING, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Typhoon Hinnamnor, the 11th of the kind this year, has been gaining strength and is expected to bring torrential downpours, gale-force winds and rough seas to coastal regions in East Asia as it inches northward.

South Korea's state weather agency said Typhoon Hinnamnor has reached waters off the southern island of Jeju on Monday, as South Korea braces for what could be the most powerful storm ever to hit the country.

BANGKOK (AP) — The United Nations special envoy on Myanmar declared Monday that she will not visit the Southeast Asia nation again unless its military government allows her to meet with ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The envoy, Noeleen Heyzer of Singapore, also warned of the “tragic reality that large numbers of people will be forced to flee” Myanmar in search of safety, and that the international community must help provide them with humanitarian assistance.

BEIJING, Sept. 4 (APP): Pakistan and China are enhancing agricultural cooperation under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) while Pakistan is ready to become food basket for China, Commercial Counsellor, Pakistan Embassy Beijing, Ghulam Qadir said.

He made these remarks while addressing International Forum on Development and Investment of Modern Supply Chain of Food on sidelines of 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) held here.

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Sept 4 (Reuters) - China's southern tech hub of Shenzhen said it will adopt tiered anti-virus restriction measures starting on Monday, while the southwestern metropolis of Chengdu announced an extension of lockdown curbs, as the country grapples with fresh outbreaks.

Shenzhen, which went into a weekend lockdown on Saturday, announced a new round of COVID-19 testing, and vowed to "marshal all available resources, mobilise all forces, and take all possible measures" to stamp out the pandemic.

BEIJING (AP) — Cities in eastern China suspended ferry services and classes and flights were canceled in Japan on Sunday as Typhoon Hinnamnor, the strongest global storm this year, blew its way past Taiwan and the Koreas with fierce winds and heavy rains.

Shanghai grounded ferry services and deployed more than 50,000 police officers to aid with rescues and guide traffic away from danger areas. The eastern business hub of Wenzhou ordered all classes suspended on Monday.