Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Dec 16 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Saturday reaffirmed the urgent need to reform the United Nations (UN) to strengthen its functions.

In a joint statement following their bilateral meeting in Tokyo, held on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit, both leaders said this reform should includes the Security Council, ensuring it reflects the geopolitical realities of the 21st century.

JAKARTA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- As many as 12 people were dead and 7 others wounded in a bus accident on a toll road in Indonesia's West Java province on Friday, a police officer said.

The bus hit a guardrail on Cipali toll road at 15:40 Jakarta time, said spokesman of the provincial police office Senior Commissioner Ibrahim Tompo.

The driver might have lost control of the vehicle when the bus was passing through a part of the road that bends to the left, the spokesman said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 (NNN-Bernama) — The Malaysian ringgit opened marginally lower Friday despite a falling US Dollar Index (DXY) as market expectation for an interest rate cut in 2024 supersedes statistical releases, including the better-than-expected US retail sales and initial jobless claims statistics, said an analyst.

At 9.01 am, the ringgit eased to 4.6700/6740 against the greenback from Thursday’s close of 4.6695/6745.  

SEOUL, Dec 15 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s overseas direct investment fell for the fourth straight quarter, on lingering uncertainty over global economy, government data showed, today.

Overseas investment through the purchase of foreign stocks and the establishment of foreign offices, stood at 14.62 billion U.S. dollars in the Jul-Sept quarter, down 20.4 percent, from the same quarter of last year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

HONG KONG, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Every day, nearly 60 fully loaded very large crude-oil carriers sail between the Persian Gulf and Chinese ports, carrying about half of the oil that powers the world's second-largest economy.

As the vessels enter the South China Sea, they ply waters increasingly controlled by China's growing military, from the missile batteries and airfields at its bases on disputed islands to its stealthy Type 055 destroyers.

ULAN BATOR, Dec.14 (Xinhua) -- Russia will not reduce its electricity supply to Mongolia in the near future, said the Mongolian government's press office on Thursday.

"The Russian side said that it will not limit the supply of electricity in the near future. The inter-governmental commission of the two countries will continue to work on the issue," the press office said in a statement.

BEIJING, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Thursday said that the U.S. government has continuously expanded its scope of surveillance, meddled in other countries' internal affairs, and interfered in international affairs, which runs counter to international law and the basic norms of international relations. The United States should have a better sense of boundary and less obsession for control.

TOKYO, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday ousted all four cabinet ministers of the ruling party's largest faction, as he seeks to control the damage following a political fundraising scandal, local media reported.

TOKYO, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A man in his 30s living in Japan's Saitama prefecture near Tokyo has died of mpox disease, the first such death in the country, the health ministry said Wednesday.

According to the ministry, the man suffered from immunodeficiency due to being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

The man was diagnosed with mpox at a local hospital in September and died two months later, the ministry said, adding that he had no history of overseas travel.

HANOI, Dec 13 (Reuters) - China's President Xi Jinping will meet Vietnamese leaders on Wednesday on the second day of a state visit to Hanoi, during which dozens of deals have been announced, including on diplomatic ties, railways and telecommunications.

His first trip to Vietnam in six years came after the visit of U.S. President Joe Biden in September, in a sign of the increasing importance of the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub amid trade tensions between the two global powers.