Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korean police said Friday that it referred 23 government officials to the prosecution on professional negligence and other charges after wrapping up a 74-day investigation into the deadly crowd crush that occurred in late October at the Itaewon district of Seoul during Halloween celebrations.

The special police investigation team concluded that relevant authorities failed to take preventive measures against possible incidents that could have been predicted ahead of the scheduled event.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police are seeking criminal charges including involuntary manslaughter and negligence against 23 officials, about half of them law enforcement officers, for a lack of safety measures they said were responsible for a crowd surge that killed nearly 160 people.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese prosecutors formally charged the suspect in the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with murder, sending him to stand trial, a court said Friday.

Tetsuya Yamagami was arrested immediately after allegedly shooting Abe with a homemade gun as the former leader was making a campaign speech in July outside a train station in Nara in western Japan. He then underwent a nearly six-month mental evaluation, which prosecutors said showed he is fit to stand trial.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s trade surplus swelled to a record $877.6 billion last year as exports rose despite weakening U.S. and European demand and anti-virus controls that temporarily shut down Shanghai and other industrial centers.

Exports increased 7% from a year earlier to $3.95 trillion, decelerating from 2021′s explosive 29.9% gain, customs data showed Friday. Imports edged up 1.1% to 2.7 trillion, cooling from the previous year’s 30.1% rise as economic growth slowed and consumer spending weakened.

JAKARTA, Jan 12 (NNN-ANTARA) – Five people died and three others were seriously injured, after a car crash, in Indonesia’s East Java today, at around 3:00 p.m. local time.

“Four people died at the location, one other died in hospital,” said Ngawi district’s Police officer, First Inspector Achmad Fahmi Adiatma.

The eight-passenger car was travelling at high speed, when it collided with a tree and a truck parked on the Ngawi ring road.

Three of the injured are in critical condition.

Investigation into the cause of the accident is still underway.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Malaysia said on Thursday it could stop exporting palm oil to the European Union in response to a new EU law aimed at protecting forests by strictly regulating sale of the product.

Commodities Minister Fadillah Yusof said Malaysia and Indonesia would discuss the law, which bans sale of palm oil and other commodities linked to deforestation unless importers can show that production of their specific goods has not damaged forests.

BEIJING, Jan 12 (Reuters) - China strongly condemns the Kabul attack and hopes the Afghan government can protect citizens from all countries, including Chinese nationals, the Chinese foreign ministry said at a regular daily briefing on Thursday.

According to Reuters, a suicide bomber killed at least five people outside the Afghan foreign ministry on Wednesday, police said, and a nearby hospital said over 40 people were wounded.

BEIJING, Jan 12 (Reuters) - People in China worried on Thursday about spreading COVID-19 to aged relatives as they planned returns to their home towns for holidays that the World Health Organization warns could inflame a raging outbreak.

The Lunar New Year holiday, which officially starts on Jan. 21, comes after China last month abandoned a strict anti-virus regime of mass lockdowns that prompted widespread frustration and boiled over into historic protests.

SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korean finance minister on Thursday warned of economic difficulties this year due to the so-called three-high phenomenon, including high inflation, high interest rates and high debts.

"This year will likely be very challenging for the entire world as well as for (South) Korea as the effect of monetary tightening in major economies spreads in full swing amid the prolongation of high inflation, high interest rates and high debts," Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho told a press conference with foreign media in Seoul.

BANGKOK, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The first battery-powered locomotive manufactured by China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) Dalian Co. Ltd was launched here on Wednesday to aid Thailand's efforts to improve its railway service while cutting carbon emissions.

Testing of the locomotive was conducted successfully by the State Railway of Thailand at the Bang Sue Grand Station in Bangkok.