Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Nov 24 (Reuters) - China will temporarily exempt citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia from needing visas to visit the world's second-largest economy in a bid to give a boost to post-pandemic tourism.

From Dec. 1 to Nov. 30 next year, citizens of those countries entering China for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, or transiting for no more than 15 days, will not need a visa, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has concluded that Russian support likely enabled North Korea to put a spy satellite into orbit for the first time this week, and it should be clear in several days whether it is functioning properly, officials said Thursday.

The launch has deepened regional animosities, with both Koreas threatening to breach a past reconciliation deal and take hostile actions along their heavily armed border.

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar ’s military-controlled government said Thursday that almost half of more than 250 cargo trucks stranded by fighting against ethnic minority armed groups near the northeastern border with China have been destroyed in a fire caused by bombs dropped by drones.

Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson of the ruling military council, said in a statement phoned to state television MRTV that trucks parked in a compound near a trade zone in Muse township caught fire after drones belonging to ethnic armed organizations launched an attack at about 9:45 a.m. on Thursday.

BEIJING, Nov 22 (APP): China welcomed the temporary ceasefire reached by the parties to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday.
Addressing a regular briefing held here, she hopes it will help ease the plight of the humanitarian crisis, de-escalate the conflict and ease tensions.
As per media reports, the Israeli cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposed hostage release deal with Hamas, which will also see a temporary halt in fighting.

BEIJING, Nov 22 (APP): Pakistan set up a national pavilion and showcased the nation’s latest technologies and products at the 25th China International High-Tech Fair (CHTF) in Shenzhen, China.

BEIJING, November 22. /TASS/: Beijing is ready to keep bolstering bilateral relations with Moscow, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at his meeting with Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin.

"China is willing to make joint efforts with Russia constantly bolstering bilateral relations, which are characterized by eternal good-neighborliness, comprehensive strategic interaction and mutually beneficial cooperation," the Chinese leader said.

PHNOM PENH, Nov 22 (NNN-AKP) – The World Bank has approved a 163-million-U.S. dollar project, to support Cambodia’s efforts to strengthen water supply and sanitation services, in four provinces, benefiting over 175,000 people, said its press release, today.

The press release said that, in 2022, less than a third of Cambodians had access to a safely managed water supply, and just over a third used safely managed sanitation.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia has implemented 16 free trade agreements (FTAs) and 62 bilateral investment guarantee agreements (IGAs) to date, said Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

He said Malaysia is currently negotiating new FTAs such as the Malaysia-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Economic Partnership Agreement (MEEPA), an economic partnership agreement between Malaysia and EFTA members including Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. This has been under negotiation since 2014.

JAKARTA, Nov 22 (NNN-Bernama) — Russia has agreed with the points of resolutions adopted during the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, specifically addressing the situation in Gaza, according to Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

This was due to a warm and open discussion on the Gaza issue between the special envoys of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday.

MANILA, Nov 22 (NNN-PNA) – The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), today confirmed that 17 Filipino seafarers were among the crew members of a cargo vessel, taken hostage by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

In a television interview, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary, Eduardo de Vega, expressed alarm over the ongoing hostage crisis involving the Filipinos and other nationalities working on the hijacked ship.

“We are alarmed. It is not the first time Filipino seafarers were held hostage,” de Vega said.