Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TOKYO, Mar 14 (NNN-XINHUA) – Japan’s health ministry and local governments said, the number of COVID-19 infections rose by 21 to 697 cases in Japan, as of 6:30 p.m. local time here.

The death toll currently stands at 26, according to the health ministry, with the figure including those from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship, that was quarantined in Yokohama, close to Tokyo.

Of the 697 confirmed cases, the majority are in Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, which has confirmed 136 cases and previously declared a state of emergency over the situation.

TOKYO, Mar 14 (NNN-NHK) – Tokyo 2020 will work closely with all municipalities and related organisations in Japan, to ensure the Olympic Torch Relay safely begins on Mar 26, the organisers said, after the torch relay for the Games on Greek soil was cancelled.

The Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) announced on Friday, the suspension of the Greek leg of the Olympic Torch Relay, citing concerns about public gatherings amid the spread of the COVID-19 in Greece.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has instructed his close aide and ruling party heavyweight Akira Amari to consider tax cuts to help the economy weather the hit from the coronavirus outbreak, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday.

Amari, head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s tax panel, said he discussed with Abe “various options on budget and tax measures” that could be considered if the economy needed support, the paper said.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The United States should “think twice” before giving Malaysia back the money recovered from an anti-kleptocracy probe into state fund 1MDB, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday, as the party accused of graft at 1MDB was back in power.

Mahathir, 94, abruptly resigned last month before being replaced by Muhyiddin Yassin, whose coalition includes the former ruling party United Malays National Organisation despite voters rejecting UMNO in the 2018 general election amid a backlash over the multi-billion dollar scandal at 1MDB.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong democracy activist Chan Kin-man walked free from prison on Saturday saying he had no regrets for his leading role in the 2014 “Umbrella” civil disobedience movement and that sacrifice was needed to achieve universal suffrage.

“Life in prison was difficult, but I have no regret at all... as this is a necessary price to pay for fighting for democracy,” Chan said, chanting “I want universal suffrage” with dozens of supporters.

PUTRAJAYA,  March 13 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The government has imposed a total travel ban on all individuals arriving from Denmark, effective from Saturday, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof.

The move was in line with Denmark’s decision to go into lockdown, he said at a news conference after chairing a Working Committee on COVID-19 meeting here Thursday.

SEOUL, March 13 (NNN-YONHAP) — South Korea’s financial markets were thrown into turmoil on Friday under growing panic sell-offs, with the benchmark stock index plunging over 8 percent to an 8 1/2-year low and the Korean won trading at a 4-year low against the U.S. dollar, as investors rushed to sell risky assets amid growing concerns over economic fallout from the new coronavirus outbreak.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price (KOSPI) Index extended losses to surrender 149.25 points, or 8.14 percent, to 1,685.08 as of 11:10 a.m, reported Yonhap News Agency.

BEIJING, March 13 (NNN-ANADOLU) — The death toll in China from the novel coronavirus outbreak has risen to 3,179, the country’s National Health Commission said Friday.

The agency said seven more people died in the last 24 hours while eight new cases were detected by authorities, bringing the total number of confirmed cases close to 80,813.

Six of the deaths occurred at the epicenter of the outbreak, Hubei province, and one in Shandong province.

13 March 2020; AFP: A Chinese government campaign to cast doubt on the origin of the coronavirus pandemic is fuelling a row with the United States, with a Beijing official promoting conspiracy theories and Washington calling it the "Wuhan virus".

The spat comes as China tries to deflect blame for the contagion and reframe itself as a country that took decisive steps to buy the world time by placing huge swathes of its population under quarantine.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil fell a third day as the horror show for crude investors continued on Friday amid panic about evaporating demand from the coronavirus pandemic, with Brent set for its biggest weekly loss since 1991 and U.S. crude heading for its worst week since 2008.

Brent crude LCOc1 was down 47 cents, or 1.4%, at $32.75 a barrel by 0317 GMT after falling more than 7% on Thursday. For the week, Brent is set to fall nearly 28%, the biggest weekly decline since the week of Jan. 18, 1991, when it fell 29% at the outbreak of the first Gulf War.