Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, March 1. /TASS/: Belarus and China are interested in establishing peace in Ukraine as soon as possible and in preventing an escalation of the crisis, and are ready to exert efforts to restore regional peace, reads a joint statement on the further development of relations and comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries in the new era, which the leaders of the two countries Alexander Lukashenko and Xi Jinping adopted following talks in Beijing on Wednesday.

HONG KONG, Mar 1 (NNN-XINHUA) – An earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.5, jolted 104 km NW of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea, at 05:36 GMT today, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The epicentre, with a depth of 582.6 km, was initially determined to be at 4.792 degrees south latitude, and 149.58 degrees east longitude.

HANOI, March 1 (Reuters) - Vietnam's Communist Party has nominated Vo Van Thuong as the country's new president, two party sources said on Wednesday, following the sudden forced resignation in January of his predecessor as part of a sweeping anti-corruption campaign.

Thuong, 52, is the youngest member of the party's Politburo, the country's top decision-making body, and is widely regarded as being close to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam's most powerful figure.

BEIJING, March 1 (Reuters) - China is willing to "constructively" participate in solving the debt problems of relevant countries under a multilateral framework, its Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday.

China, the world's largest bilateral creditor, has criticised multilateral lenders for not accepting losses, or haircuts, on loans to low-income countries while Beijing is being asked to do so on credit it has extended on its own.

HONG KONG, March 1 (Reuters) - India's Adani Group has told creditors it has secured a $3 billion loan from a sovereign wealth fund, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, as the embattled conglomerate seeks to ease debt concerns after a short-seller attack.

The credit line from the sovereign wealth fund could be increased to $5 billion, the sources said, citing a memo that was circulated to participants as highlights of a three-day investor roadshow that ended on Wednesday.

JAKARTA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia on Wednesday began building a 2.6-billion-U.S. dollar hydroelectric power plant on its second-largest island of Kalimantan.

The Mentarang Induk power plant is developed by PT Kayan Hydropower Nusantara, a partnership between Indonesia and Malaysia.

"We sincerely hope there will be economic transformation toward a powerful green economy," President Joko Widodo said at the ground-breaking ceremony.

The construction is scheduled to be finished in seven years.

MANILA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Filipinos have become concerned over the enhanced military alliance and strategic partnerships between the Philippines and the United States to build collective security with regional allies Australia and Japan.

Many have been gripped by fear of danger brought by an increased flurry of activity among the allied militaries, including more extensive joint military exercises involving an enormous number of American troops in the Philippines, which is at the center of the Indo-Pacific region.

BEIJING (AP) — China lashed out Wednesday at a new U.S. House committee dedicated to countering Beijing, demanding its members “discard their ideological bias and zero-sum Cold War mentality.”

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party must “view China and China-U.S. relations in an objective and rational light,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a brief tour of Central Asia in Uzbekistan before heading to India for what is expected to be a contentious Ukraine-dominated meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 20.

Blinken met Wednesday in Tashkent with senior Uzbek officials a day after warning his counterparts from all five Central Asian nations about the dangers posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

SHIJIAZHUANG, Feb 28 (Xinhua/APP): Archaeologists in north China’s Hebei Province have found a tomb dating back to the Jin Dynasty (265-420).

The tomb was located 5.2 meters under the ground and featured a brick chamber. A total of 16 items of pottery ware, including a cup, pot, bullock-cart and horse, were found in the tomb.

Judging from the funerary objects, it is speculated that the tomb owner might have been a woman, according to Ren Xueyan, leader of the archaeological team at the Damingfu ruins, where the tomb is located.