KUALA LUMPUR, Mac 30 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Asia-Pacific’s prosperity lies in peaceful co-existence not harmful bloc politics, as championed by some seeking to use the region as part of a confrontational strategy, a Russian official said here, yesterday.

BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with President-elect of the Republic of Indonesia and Great Indonesia Movement Party General Chairman Prabowo Subianto, who is on a visit to China, in Beijing on Monday.

Xi congratulated Prabowo on winning the election and asked Prabowo to relay sincere greetings and best wishes to President Joko Widodo.

02 April 2024; MEMO: Despite the Israeli army’s destruction of scores of mosques in the Gaza Strip, the call to prayer (Adhan) still resonates from these houses of worship at its designated times, Anadolu news agency reported.

In northern Gaza, the minaret of the Masjid al-Awda still stands tall, though the Israeli air strikes destroyed the mosque during the ongoing war since 7 October 2023.

2 April 2024; NEW YORK (AP) — Inmates in New York are suing the state corrections department over the decision to lock down prisons during next Monday’s total solar eclipse.

01 April 2024; MEMO: World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged Israel on Sunday to urgently enable access to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza and establish a humanitarian corridor, Anadolu news agency reported.

“We urge Israel to urgently facilitate access and a humanitarian corridor so WHO and partners can carry out the lifesaving transfer of patients,” Tedros said on X.

BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- It is of symbolic and historical significance that China won the dispute with Australia at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over Australia's anti-dumping measures on steel products imported from China, an expert observed.

01 April 2024; MEMO: Israeli officers and soldiers have admitted that most of the fatalities classified by the army as “terrorists” during its war on the Gaza Strip are actually civilians, a report said Sunday.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz collected testimonies from officers and soldiers who have fought in Gaza during the war, which has been ongoing since Oct. 7, 2023.

“The Israeli army says 9,000 terrorists have been killed since the Gaza war began,” the report said.

31 March 2024; MEMO: Police in Malaysia have arrested three people suspected of supplying firearms to an Israeli passport holder, who was detained earlier this week at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

TOKYO, Apr 2 (NNN-NHK) – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 struck off Japan’s northern prefecture of Iwate early today, according to the country’s weather agency.

The temblor occurred at 04:24 a.m. local time, at a depth of 80 km, measuring lower 5 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale, which peaks at 7, said the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

The epicentre was located off Iwate prefecture’s northern coast, at a latitude of 40.1 degrees north, and a longitude of 141.7 degrees east.

No tsunami warnings have been issued.

2 April 2024; NEW DELHI (AP) — A court in India on Monday placed a top opposition leader in two weeks of judicial detention after his 10 days in the custody of a federal agency expired, in a case that opposition parties say is part of a crackdown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on rivals ahead of a national election later this month.

BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- China urges the Philippines to immediately stop violating China's sovereignty and its provocations on Ren'ai Jiao, and return to observing the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Monday.

ATHENS, April 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thick clouds of dust blown in from the Sahara once again covered Greek skies Monday, especially Athens and Thessalonika, with temperatures rising as high as 31øC (88øF).

The dust storms, which had already affected Greece last week as well as regions such as Switzerland and Southern France, made breathing difficult for many people. 

A high of 26øC was forecast in the capital Athens Monday, which public television station ERT described as conditions more akin to May.