19 February 2020; AFP: Former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak was taken to prison Wednesday to begin a 17-year term for bribery and embezzlement after losing an appeal against a lighter sentence.
Lee, in office from 2008 to 2013, was briefly jailed in 2018 after being sentenced to 15 years and fined 13 billion won ($11 million), but was granted bail while he appealed.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday it firmly opposes new rules imposed by the United States against five Chinese government and ruling Communist Party-backed media entities and warned it reserved the right to respond to Washington’s actions.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the comments during a daily briefing.
TASHKENT (Reuters) - Uzbek police have detained 21 people suspected of being linked to an Islamist militant group operating in Syria, police said on Wednesday.
Police said the detained men were under the “ideological influence” of another Uzbek man who was a member of the Katiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad group comprised mostly of Central Asians.
They planned to finance the group and join it, police said in a statement.
BEIJING (AP) — Wang Feng, house-bound by China’s virus outbreak, counts on the parka-clad delivery drivers of e-commerce giant JD.com to keep her kitchen stocked.
Demand for online food vendors has surged since China’s government told the public to stay home as part of the most sweeping anti-disease controls ever imposed.
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — Hundreds of passengers began leaving the Diamond Princess cruise ship Wednesday after the end of a much-criticized, two-week quarantine that failed to stop the spread of a new virus among passengers and crew.
Results were still pending for some passengers who’ve been tested for the coronavirusthat has infected tens of thousands of people in China and more than 540 on the ship.
Beijing, Feb 18 (AFP/PTI) A hospital director at the epicentre of China's virus epidemic died Tuesday, state media said, the latest medical worker to fall victim to the coronavirus which has spread across the country.
The COVID-19 virus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan late last year, has spread to more than 72,000 people and killed 1,900 in China.
BEIJING, Feb 18 (APP): China on Tuesday welcomed the deal between the US and Taliban on reducing violent activities and hoped it would be smoothly implemented and created conditions for the final political resolution of the Afghan issue.
NUR-SULTAN, February 18. /TASS/: Negotiations between Moscow and Nur-Sultan on possible Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline route through Kazakhstan will continue, says Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nogayev.
"Implementation of this project is still a plan at this point; no concrete parameters have been outlined yet. There are various options of delivering Russian gas to China. We offered to build this pipeline through Kazakhstan, if possible," Nogayev said.
KOTA KINABALU, Feb 17 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Peter Anthony will take legal action against a local portal over allegations that several Sabah Public Works Department (JKR) contracts had been awarded without any tenders.
He said his ministry has lodged a police report and is calling on the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to take action against the portal as well.
The state government is always open to criticisms by any parties but these should be constructive and not just wild accusations, he said.
CYBERJAYA, Feb 17 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia’s upcoming economic stimulus package, which would be announced next week, would serve to mitigate the financial impact of Covid-19 and help industries rebound when the outbreak is contained.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said Malaysia is among the earliest to launch the package even though the impact of the outbreak has yet to be ascertained.
“The announcement which would be made by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad showed that the government places emphasis and priorities on the challenges posed by the outbreak.
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