Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BANGKOK (AP) — The 3-year-old boy had taken only two steps from his mother’s lap when a deafening explosion rang out. The blast caught the woman in the face, blurring her vision. She forced her eyes open and searched for her son around the busy jetty where they’d been waiting for a ferry, near their small village in south-central Myanmar.

Through the smoke, she spotted him. His small body lay on the ground, his feet and legs mangled with flesh peeled away, shattered bones exposed.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Sunday its latest intercontinental ballistic missile test was meant to further bolster its “fatal” nuclear attack capacity and threatened additional powerful steps over upcoming military drills between the United States and South Korea.

The United States responded by flying long-range supersonic bombers in a show of force later Sunday for separate joint exercises with South Korean and Japanese warplanes.

SEOUL, Feb 18 (Reuters) - North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile into the sea off Japan's west coast on Saturday after warning of a strong response to upcoming military drills by South Korea and the United States.

Japanese authorities said the missile plunged into waters inside Japan's exclusive economic zone more than an hour after it was launched, suggesting the weapon was one of Pyongyang's largest missiles.

MUNICH/BEIJING, Feb 18 (Reuters) - China's top diplomat on Saturday accused the United States of violating international norms with "hysterical" behaviour, as a running spat over a suspected Chinese spy balloon bubbled to the fore at a global security conference in Munich.

The comments by Wang Yi further clouded the prospects of a meeting between Wang and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the sidelines of the gathering. Asked by Reuters later whether he would meet Blinken, Wang smiled and declined comment.

BANGKOK (AP) — Nearly a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, the battlefield has narrowed and stiff resistance has forced Moscow to scale back its military goals. But the diplomatic consequences of the war still reverberate worldwide.

The fighting has reshaped global alliances, renewed old anxieties and breathed new life into NATO and the bond between Europe and the United States.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A visit by a Chinese official at the invitation of the Taiwanese capital’s newly elected China-friendly mayor has drawn protests on the self-ruled island.

The head of Shanghai city’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Li Xiaodong, arrived Saturday morning for a three-day visit that marks a rare point of contact between the sides.

China deems Taiwan a part of its territory to be conquered by force if necessary and has been courting pro-Chinese media and politicians on the island to further its unification agenda.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine president said Saturday the Chinese coast guard’s use of military-grade laser that briefly blinded some of the crew aboard a Philippine patrol vessel in the disputed South China Sea was not enough for him to invoke a mutual defense treaty with the United States, but warned that such aggression should stop.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Saturday fired a long-range missile from its capital into the sea off Japan, according to its neighbors, a day after it threatened to take strong measures against South Korea and the U.S. over their joint military exercises.

According to the South Korean and Japanese militaries, the missile was fired on a high angle, apparently to avoid reaching the neighbors’ territories, and traveled about 900 kilometers (560 miles) at a maximum altitude of 5,700 kilometers (3,500 miles) during an hourlong flight.

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares slipped in Asia on Friday after benchmarks on Wall Street had their biggest drop in four weeks as investors registered disappointment over an inflation reading that came in hotter than expected.

Oil prices and U.S. futures also declined after the S&P 500 fell 1.4% Thursday following news that inflation at the wholesale level slowed by less than economists had forecast. It echoed a report on prices at the consumer level from earlier this week that suggested inflation isn’t cooling as quickly and as smoothly as hoped.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s defense minister on Friday insisted the country’s soldiers didn’t commit any massacres during the Vietnam War and indicated the government will appeal a ruling that ordered compensation for a Vietnamese woman who lost several relatives to a shooting rampage blamed on South Korean marines in 1968.