Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SHANGHAI, Dec 21 (Reuters) - China's financial hub Shanghai was set to record its chilliest period in December in four decades, spurring authorities to issue warnings for low temperatures and wind, while northern cities battled icy conditions forecast to ease only next week.

The city's lowest temperatures on Thursday will be minus 4 to minus 6 degrees Celsius (21 to 24 degrees Fahrenheit) in Shanghai's suburbs, and temperatures will remain below zero all day throughout the city, the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said in a post on its Weibo social media account.

DAJIA, Taiwan, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is ramping up exchanges with folk religious groups in rural Taiwan in an attempt to manipulate political opinion in Beijing's favour ahead of elections next month, according to Taiwan government documents and security officials.

TOKYO, Dec 18 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in an exclusive interview with Japan’s leading media group The Nikkei once again highlighted the hypocrisy over the crisis in Gaza by “so-called countries that promote democracy and human rights.” 

This insightful interview conducted by journalist Norman Goh on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit on Sunday is featured in Nikkei Asia, the flagship publication of Nikkei, Inc., and the world’s largest financial newspaper. 

TOKYO, Dec 18 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in an exclusive interview with Japan’s leading media group The Nikkei once again highlighted the hypocrisy over the crisis in Gaza by “so-called countries that promote democracy and human rights.” 

This insightful interview conducted by journalist Norman Goh on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit on Sunday is featured in Nikkei Asia, the flagship publication of Nikkei, Inc., and the world’s largest financial newspaper. 

SEOUL, Dec 18 (NNN-YONHAP) – The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), yesterday, condemned the second meeting of the U.S.-South Korea Nuclear Consultative Group, which escalates military tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

In a statement, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence of the DPRK, lashed out at the two countries for holding the meeting late last week in Washington, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

HONG KONG (AP) — A landmark national security trial opened Monday in Hong Kong for prominent activist publisher Jimmy Lai, who faces a possible life sentence if convicted under a law imposed by Beijing to crush dissidents.

Lai, 76, was arrested in August 2020 during a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement under the sweeping national security law enacted following huge protests four years ago. He is charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to put out seditious publications.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the sea Monday in a resumption of its high-profile weapons testing activities, its neighbors said, as the North vows strong responses against U.S. and South Korean moves to boost their nuclear deterrence plans.

BEIJING (AP) — Nissan Motor Co. is expanding its research ties with a leading Chinese university as it and other foreign car companies try to claw back market share in the important Chinese market.

The Japanese automaker announced Sunday that it would launch joint research next year with Tsinghua University on reaching Generation Z — defined for this project as those born between 1995 and 2009 — and on the social responsibility of automakers in battery recycling, charging stations and other electric vehicle-related issues.

BEIJING, Dec 16 (APP): Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has put forward three suggestions for continuing to advance the process of improving relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

TOKYO, Dec 16 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has reassured Japanese investors that, although the new Madani government is just one year old, it is stable, with very clear policies for Malaysia to forge a strong growth path.

Anwar said this at a roundtable meeting with captains of industries in Tokyo, after a one-to-one session with three Japanese corporations.