Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TOKYO, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese astronaut on Thursday apologized for data fabrication and alternation in a research project that he oversaw over a decade ago.

"I keenly feel the responsibility for undermining trust. I sincerely apologize," Satoshi Furukawa, the 58-year-old astronaut, told a press conference.

Furukawa was responsible for an experiment conducted between 2016 and 2017 which aimed to examine how stress accumulates in the human body when ordinary people stay in a confined space for two weeks.

BEIJING, Jan 11 (APP):Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral M Amjad Khan Niazi has said that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy was on its way to becoming one of the finest and leading navies after showing remarkable progress over the last two decades, including operating three aircraft carriers.

The Pakistan Navy was looking forward to strengthen its historic relationship with the PLA Navy and cooperate closely to promote peace and stability in the Indian Ocean region while preserving good order at sea, he added.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (NNN-Bernama) — News exchange between Malaysia and Cuba will help further ignite and strengthen people-to-people contact, and create a better understanding on the two countries, said Cuba’s Ambassador to Malaysia Florentino Batista Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said hence the revival of the news exchange cooperation between Cuba’s Latin American News Agency (Prensa Latina) and the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) is vital and timely.

BANGKOK, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Thai officials found assets belonging to adult children of Myanmar's junta leader during a raid on the Bangkok apartment of a Myanmar tycoon charged with drug trafficking and money laundering, according to an official record and two people with knowledge of the case.

Title deeds and bankbooks belonging to Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter and son were found at the home of Tun Min Latt, 53, when he was arrested in the Thai capital last September along with three Thai nationals on charges of conspiracy to traffic narcotics and money laundering. 

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- A 26-year-old man was detained by the police for allegedly smuggling 747 cartons of cigarettes in Brunei, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to the local daily Borneo Bulletin, Royal Brunei Police Force inspected two suspicious vehicles without a driver in a routine patrol at Kampong Kuala Lurah, one of the areas close to the country's border with Malaysia.

HONG KONG, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- All countries need to work together to address pressing global challenges and attain the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here on Wednesday.

Ban made the remarks at the 2023 Asian Financial Forum inaugurated at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday.

BANGKOK, Jan 10 (NNN-TNA) – Thai Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, yesterday officially joined the Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party (United Thai Nation Party) to run for the general election.

At the party’s general assembly, held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, Prayut was nominated as the party’s candidate for prime minister.

“While in office, I know the problems that are holding Thailand back. If I have another chance, I will put greater effort solving those problems,” Prayut said at the event.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 (Bernama) — Malaysia’s labour market is on a steady path to recovery with the unemployment rate in the country showing a downward trend with only 600,900 (persons) in November 2022, compared to 602,000 in October 2022, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Chief Statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin in a statement Tuesday said the unemployment rate remained at 3.6 per cent, claiming the positive outlook was because of the development of current economic activities in the country. 

JAKARTA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Over 100 houses and other buildings were destroyed after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's eastern province of Maluku earlier Tuesday, an official and weather agency said.

Most of the damages occurred in the district of Kepulauan Tanimbar, the hardest-hit area, where 92 houses, an office building and a school building were damaged by the tremors, according to Abdul Muhari, spokesman of the national disaster management agency.

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The prime minister of Armenia said Tuesday that his country has refused to host military drills planned by a Russia-dominated security pact, an announcement that reflected the Armenian government’s growing tensions with Moscow.

Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly criticized Russian peacekeepers for failure to secure free transit along a corridor linking Armenia and the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh that Azerbaijani activists have blocked since last month.