Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn was officially crowned Saturday in an elaborate centuries-old royal tradition that last happened seven decades ago.

The coronation represents a renewal of the monarchy’s power after the October 2016 death of Vajiralongkorn’s revered father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. It also comes amid more than a decade of political strife, including a 2014 military coup and a contentious election less than two months ago.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Saturday fired several unidentified short-range projectiles into the sea off its eastern coast, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said, a likely sign of Pyongyang’s growing frustration at stalled diplomatic talks with Washington meant to provide coveted sanctions relief in return for nuclear disarmament.

South Korea’s military has bolstered its surveillance in case there are additional weapons launches, and South Korean and U.S. authorities are analyzing the details.

PHNOM PENH, May 3 (Xinhua): Cambodia celebrated the World Press Freedom Day here on Friday, with a call for fight against fake news, saying that it is posing threats to peace, democracy and development.

The celebration, held under the theme of the media's potential role in supporting peace and democracy, was attended by more than 100 media representatives and practitioners in the country.

TASHKENT, May 3. /TASS/: The appointment of Russia’s new ambassador to Belarus does not indicate any crisis in relations between the two countries, which continue to be partners and allies, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told reporters on Friday.

"I am dead against interpreting all that as a kind of crisis. That’s an ordinary move. Various incidents occur in diplomatic practice," he said.

"Relations between Belarus and Russia have a strategic partnership nature, these are allied [relations]," Karasin stressed.

TASHKENT, May 3. /TASS/: Russia is in favor of creating a drug-free world based on strict and full compliance with the conventions on narcotic drugs, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a ministerial meeting of the parties to the Memorandum of Understanding on Sub-Regional Drug Control Cooperation on Friday.

KAJANG, Malaysia (AP) — The Vietnamese woman who was tried for the killing of the estranged half brother of North Korea’s leader was released from a Malaysian prison and was planning to return home later Friday, her lawyer and an embassy translator said.

Doan Thi Huong’s release likely closes the case, since four North Koreans named as co-conspirators in the 2017 slaying are not in custody. Malaysian officials never officially accused North Korea and made it clear they didn’t want the trial politicized.

MOSCOW, May 2 (Xinhua): Russia and the United States have "incompatible" positions on the Venezuelan affairs, but Moscow is ready to talk with Washington, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.

"Although U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and I agreed to continue contacts, I do not see how it is possible to combine our positions," Lavrov told reporters in Uzbekistan's capital city of Tashkent.

TASHKENT, May 2. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has denounced the statement of Russia’s role in the situation in Venezuela made by the US representatives as untrue.

"The enumeration all that official representatives for the American administration say about Venezuela leads to endless questions, and as a rule, diplomatically speaking, the answer to all these questions would be ‘wrong,’" the top diplomat said, answering a TASS question.

TASHKENT, May 2. /TASS/: The site for the construction of the first nuclear power station in Uzbekistan under Rosatom’s project has been coordinated, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told journalists on Thursday.

"An agreement was reached on the site [for the nuclear power plant’s construction]," he said.

BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua): China has strengthened the intellectual property rights (IPR) protection of traditional culture, crafts and intangible cultural heritage, according to a report from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The report recalled the inscription of China's Lum medicinal bathing of Sowa Rigpa on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2018.