Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TAIPEI (Reuters) - China is providing the World Health Organization (WHO) with wrong information about the number of coronavirus cases in Taiwan, the island’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, after the WHO published incorrect case numbers earlier this week.

Taiwan is not a WHO member because of China’s objections. Beijing says the island is a wayward Chinese province and not a country and is adequately represented in the organization by China.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday payments received to offset the costs of a high-value order could not be constituted as a bribe.

Mahathir was replying to questions by reporters on the controversial sponsorship deal that executives of Malaysia’s AirAsia Group Bhd (AIRA.KL) struck with the budget carrier’s sole plane supplier Airbus (AIR.PA).

BEIJING, Feb 6 (NNN-XINHUA) – The registration for clinical trials on the antiviral drug, Remdesivir, has been approved, and the first batch of pneumonia patients infected by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) are expected to start taking the drug today (Thursday), according to an official conference, Wednesday.

The approval is jointly supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the National Health Commission and the National Medical Products Administration.

BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1,153 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Wednesday, Chinese health authorities announced Thursday.

Wednesday saw 261 people walk out of the hospital after recovery, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

By the end of Wednesday, a total of 563 people had died of the disease and 28,018 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in China.

5 February 2020; AFP: Chinese telecom giant Huawei said on Tuesday it would set up manufacturing hubs in Europe, as it tries to fight off US pressure on EU nations to stop it from operating.

"Huawei is more committed to Europe than ever before," said the company's top executive for Europe Abraham Liu during a Chinese New Year reception in Brussels.

5 February 2020; AFP: Millions more people have been ordered to stay indoors as China battles to curb the spread of a new virus that authorities said Wednesday has already killed nearly 500 people.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong will close two cruise terminals and will put anyone coming from mainland China into compulsory quarantine for 14 days, its leader Carrie Lam said on Wednesday.

Lam said the measures were aimed at curbing the cross-border flow of people to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus, which originated on mainland China. Some medical staff have been on strike for the past three days, demanding a full border closure.

There have been 21 confirmed cases in Hong Kong, Lam said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 (NNN-BERNAMA) — A girl from China who had been earlier confirmed with 2019-nCov infection and treated at the Hospital Sultanah Maliha in Langkawi, has been discharged following recovery from the virus.

Commending the hospital for its successful treatment of the girl, Ministry of Health Director General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement Tuesday said the girl’s successful treatment showed that the 2019-nCoV infection was treatable and that patients could recover completely, as had been reported in many cases in China.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The wife of Malaysian ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak went on trial Wednesday for alleged corruption in the same courthouse as her husband, with a top prosecutor saying she wielded considerable influence due to her “overbearing nature.”

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Feb 5 (NNN-BB NEWS) – Cancer patients in Brunei have increased by 17 percent from 2014 to 2018, compared to the period of between 2009 to 2013, Health Minister, Haji Mohammad Isham, said.

According to the minister, on World Cancer Day, which fell on Tuesday (yesterday), about 644 nationals and permanent residents of Brunei Darussalam were diagnosed with cancer, and the number of cancer deaths in 2018 was 304.