Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) — For the past four days, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been calling for authoritarian governments in eastern Europe and Central Asia to ease restrictions on press freedom despite criticism for his own treatment of journalists at home.

In Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan over the weekend and again on Monday, Pompeo raised human rights issues, including freedom of the press, with his interlocutors and denied any double-standard was at play.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s two-day working visit to Malaysia starting today is set to further enhance and solidify long-standing relations between the two nations.

Khan’s second visit here since his ascension to the prime minister’s post in August 2018 would include a high-level delegation from Islamabad including Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Defence Production Minister Zubaida Jalal.

(AP) --- A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 17,300 people globally.

Cases confirmed as of Monday morning in Beijing:

— China: 17,205 cases on the mainland. In addition, Hong Kong has 14 cases and Macao has seven. Most of the 361 deaths have been in central Hubei province, where illnesses from the new type of coronavirus were first detected in December.

— Thailand: 19

— Japan: 20

— Singapore: 18

— South Korea: 15

— Taiwan: 10

— Malaysia: 8

— Australia: 7

— Germany: 10

BEIJING (AP) — China sent medical workers and equipment Monday to its just-completed, 1,000-bed hospital for treating victims of a new virus that has caused 362 deaths and more than 17,300 infections at home and abroad.

BEIJING, Feb 2 (APP): The selfless support of Pakistan’s leadership and people to China in the fight against the new coronavirus epidemic is very laudable and once again embodies the special friendly relations between China and Pakistan and the two people.

TASHKENT, February 2. /TASS/: US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has arrived in Uzbekistan’s capital city Tashkent to hold talks on bilateral and regional cooperation and take part in a ministerial meeting in the C5+1 (Central Asia-USA) format, the Uzbekforeign ministry said on Sunday.

"US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has arrived in Uzbekistan," the ministry said.

The program of Pompeo’s visit includes talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov.

2 February 2020; AFP: The number of confirmed deaths from China's coronavirus outbreak rose to 304, as authorities in hardest-hit Hubei province on Sunday reported 45 new fatalities.

In its daily update, figures from the provincial health commission also showed a sharp increase in confirmed infections in Hubei, with 1,921 new cases.

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air will resume flights to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau from Sunday, the companies said, after the Hanoi government eased restrictions over virus concerns.

Vietnam on Saturday declared a public health emergency over the coronavirus epidemic and said it would halt all flights to and from China including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan), Feb 2 (AFP/PTI) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on countries to offer asylum to ethnic minorities fleeing China's troubled Xinjiang region during a visit Sunday to oil-rich Kazakhstan -- a country that borders the region.

"We ask simply for them to provide safe refuge and asylum for those seeking to flee China," Pompeo said at a press appearance with Kazakh foreign minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia’s securities regulator said on Sunday it will examine whether AirAsia Group (AIRA.KL) and unit AirAsia X (AIRX.KL) broke securities laws, after UK prosecutors accused executives of receiving bribes from Airbus for buying planes. (AIR.PA)

The allegations came to light on Friday when Airbus agreed a record $4 billion settlement with France, Britain and the United States. Prosecutors said it had bribed public officials and hidden payments as part of a pattern of worldwide corruption.