Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

June 15 (Reuters) - Russia considers Turkey's possible military operation in Syria unwise as it could escalate and destabilise the situation, the RIA news agency cited Russia's Syria envoy Alexander Lavrentyev as saying on Wednesday.

Lavrentyev also said Moscow no longer considered Geneva a suitable venue for talks between Syrians, according to the TASS agency.

The Russian envoy was in Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan on Wednesday for talks with Turkey, Iran, and the Syrian government and rebels.

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JAKARTA, June 15 (Reuters) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, sacking the trade minister and announcing a replacement following controversy over a series of policy reversals on palm oil exports.

Zulkifli Hasan, chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and a former forestry minister, was sworn in as the country's new trade minister, among other changes.

TOKYO, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Japan concluded its 150-day regular parliamentary session Wednesday, with the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida deciding amid political and party headwinds an upper house election will be held on July 10.

Official campaigning ahead of the election will kick off on June 22, government officials said, with the focus of the election race likely to be centered around soaring prices and measures for economic growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Wednesday ahead of a Federal Reserve decision on how sharply to raise interest rates to cool U.S. inflation.

Shanghai and Hong Kong advanced. Tokyo and Sydney declined. Oil prices edged higher.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.4% on Tuesday.

Traders expect the Fed rate hike to be three-quarters of a percentage point, or triple the usual margin. They worry aggressive action to cool inflation that is running at a four-decade high might tip the biggest global economy into recession.

BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua/APP): China has detailed measures to boost its climate change monitoring and risk prevention capabilities, marking a significant step forward in the country’s efforts to enhance its climate resilience.

The country will seek to basically build a climate-resilient society by 2035, with significant improvements in its ability to adapt to climate change, according to the national climate change adaptation strategy 2035, jointly released by 17 departments including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

BEIJING, Jun 14 (APP): China and Pakistan will continue to cooperate in cross-border e-commerce to create more prosperity and happiness between the two countries, said Badar U Zaman, Commercial Counselor of the Pakistan Embassy in China.

Cross-border e-commerce is one of the most important areas for China and Pakistan to achieve success and forge ahead, he recently highlighted.

China attaches great importance to strengthening cross-border e-commerce cooperation with overseas markets.

NUR-SULTAN, June 14. /TASS/: All negotiating parties for the Astana-format Syrian peace talks have confirmed their participation in the event, which is scheduled to be held in the Kazakh capital on June 15-16, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov told reporters on Tuesday.

HANOI, Jun 14 (NNN-VNA) – Vietnam’s southern region, reported more than 39,300 dengue fever infections, with 36 deaths from the disease so far this year.

Among the infections, nearly 1,200 were severe cases, according to Doctor Luong Chan Quang from Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute.

The number of infections doubled that of the same period last year, he said, at a meeting on dengue prevention and control, held yesterday.

Half of the infections and 45 percent of the total deaths have been recorded in the past four weeks.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jun 14 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Malaysia reported 2,092 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight, bringing the national total to 4,528,390, according to the health ministry.

The ministry reported four more deaths, bringing the death toll to 35,716. No new imported cases were reported.

The ministry also reported 1,876 new recoveries, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 4,470,067.

There are 22,607 active cases, with 24 being held in intensive care and 12 of those in need of assisted breathing.

TAIPEI, June 14 (Reuters) - The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway and Taiwan's government supports U.S. warships transiting it, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, rebuffing claims from China to exercise sovereignty over the strategic passage.

The narrow strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the communists, who established the People's Republic of China.