Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TOKYO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A domestic flight of Japan's All Nippon Airways (9202.T) returned to its departure airport on Saturday after a crack was found on the cockpit window of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft midair, a spokesperson for the airline said.

Flight 1182 was en route to Toyama airport but headed back to the Sapporo-New Chitose airport after the crack was found on the outermost of four layers of windows surrounding the cockpit, the spokesperson said, adding there were no injuries reported among the 59 passengers and six crew.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Ruling-party candidate Lai Ching-te emerged victorious in Taiwan’s presidential election on Saturday and his opponents conceded, a result that will determine the trajectory of the self-ruled democracy’s relations with China over the next four years.

China had called the poll a choice between war and peace. Beijing strongly opposes Lai, the current vice president who abandoned his medical career to pursue politics from the grassroots to the presidency.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan is holding its presidential election on Saturday, a race that China has called a choice between war and peace. China considers the self-ruled island about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off its east coast a breakaway province and has threatened to take control over it, by force if necessary.

VIENTIANE, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Laos is willing to promote cooperation in various areas with China to build a high-quality Laos-China community with a shared future, said General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith on Wednesday.

The Lao leader made the remarks when meeting with Li Shulei, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee here.

MANILA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines and Indonesia on Wednesday agreed to strengthen energy cooperation to safeguard energy security.

Energy ministers of the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on energy cooperation at the presidential palace in Manila, where Indonesian President Joko Widodo was received by his Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos.

Widodo arrived in Manila on Tuesday night for a three-day official visit.

MANILA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Tuesday her country is ready to work with other Southeast Asian nations to finalise a long-delayed code of conduct for the South China Sea, where many of its neighbours have overlapping claims with China.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — At least three people were hospitalized after mistakenly eating colorful pods of liquid laundry detergent that were distributed as a campaign freebie in Taiwan’s presidential race, according to Taiwanese media reports.

One of the victims said she thought the pods were candy, the Central News Agency reported.

TOKYO, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The death toll has climbed to 168 in Japan's Ishikawa on Monday after a series of earthquakes of up to 7.6 magnitude struck the central prefecture and its vicinity last week, as heavy snow and rain have hampered rescue operations.

The number of people currently unaccounted for surged to 323 in the hardest-hit prefecture as of 2 p.m. local time, while at least 565 people suffered injuries due to the quakes, according to local authorities.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea again fired artillery shells near its tense sea boundary with the South on Sunday, as the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un mocked the South’s ability to detect its weapons launches.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff dismissed Kim Yo Jong’s statement as “a comedy-like, vulgar propaganda” meant to undermine the South Korean people’s trust in the military and stoke divisions.

SEOUL, January 5. /TASS/: South Korea’s armed forces held firing drills in response to a North Korean shelling attack on the islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeongdo, Yonhap reported, citing South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

It is noted that marine units stationed on these islands took part in the drills. The South Korean side shelled the adjacent waters using K9 self-propelled howitzers.