Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING (AP) — More than 100,000 people had moved to safer areas by Monday as heavy rains brought flood risks to a region of southwest China that was devastated by a heatwave and drought for most of the summer.

Heavy rain was forecast for parts of Sichuan province and Chongqing city through at least Tuesday. Chongqing, a megacity built in a hilly area and that also oversees the surrounding mountains and countryside, issued a flash flood warning for both days.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Malaysia reported 2,491 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight, bringing the national total to 4,774,003, according to the health ministry.

There are no new imported cases, with all 2,491 cases being local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed.

Another five deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 36,196.

The ministry reported 3,715 new recoveries, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 4,703,299.

ULAN BATOR, Aug 28 (NNN-XINHUA) – A total of 97 forest and steppe fires have been recorded across Mongolia, since the beginning of this year, destroying 1,051,907 hectares of forest and grassland, the country’s National Emergency Management Agency, said today.

The number of registered wildfires is up around 73 percent, compared with the same period last year, the emergency agency said, in a statement.

The sharp increase is mainly due to people’s negligence, the agency said, warning citizens not to make open fires or throw cigarette butts on the ground.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. Navy sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in the first such transit publicized since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier in August, at a time when tensions have kept the waterway particularly busy.

The USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville are conducting a routine transit, the U.S. 7th Fleet said. The cruisers “transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State,” the statement said.

Taipei (Taiwan), Aug 28 (AP) The US Navy sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, in the first such transit publicised since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier in August, at a time when tensions have kept the waterway particularly busy.

The USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville are conducting a routine transit, the US 7th Fleet said.

26 August 2022; AA: Kazakhstan on Saturday suspended exports of weapons and military products for one year.

A defense industry commission meeting was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov, the president's office said in a statement.

The proposal by the Industry and Infrastructure Development Ministry to suspend exports of weapons, military equipment and military products until the end of August 2023 was evaluated and it was approved by the commission members.

BANGKOK, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Agriculture and food ministers as well as senior officials from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies on Friday vowed enhanced cooperation to ensure food security in the region.

At the 7th APEC Food Security Ministerial Meeting held online, Thailand's Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Chalermchai Sri-On who chaired the meeting said health, economic and environmental challenges have put tremendous stress on the global food system.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s government said Friday it will present its 2023 national budget on Oct. 7, three weeks ahead of schedule, sparking speculation that it may call an early general election.

Polls aren’t due until September next year, but Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has come under pressure from his United Malays National Organization party to dissolve Parliament for an early vote.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s top court on Saturday condemned as a smear attempt the leaking of an alleged guilty verdict against the wife of former Prime Minister Najib Razak days after he was imprisoned for graft linked to the looted 1MDB state fund.

The High Court is due to deliver its verdict Thursday in Rosmah Mansor’s graft trial over a 1.25-billion-ringgit ($279-million) solar energy project. Najib began a 12-year prison term Tuesday after losing his final appeal in one of the five graft cases against him involving 1MDB.

BANGKOK, Aug 26 (NNN-Bernama) — Prayuth Chan o-cha who is awaiting for the constitutional court’s decision to see if he could continue as Thailand’s prime minister in the meantime is continuing with his routine as the defence minister.

Thai Ministry of Defence distributed photos of Prayuth returning to work at the Defence Ministry Friday.

In a statement, acting government spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri said Prayuth would continue to serve as the minister defence for the people and Thailand.

“The cabinet continues function as normal,” he said.