Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BANGKOK, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Thailand will require international travelers to show proof they are fully vaccinated for COVID before flying to Thailand, according to the country's aviation regulator, as it prepares for more tourists after China reopened its border on Sunday.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said in a statement on Saturday that starting early Monday, all foreign arrivals starting early on Monday must prove they are vaccinated or provide a letter certifying that they have recovered from COVID within six months.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia aims to boost bilateral trade with neighboring Indonesia including cross-border investments in a number of key sectors, a Malaysian official said on Sunday.

Among areas of interest are pharmaceuticals, aerospace, palm-oil processing, consumer goods, as well as defense and security, International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said in a statement.

BEIJING (AP) — After years of separation from his wife in mainland China, Hong Kong resident Cheung Seng-bun made sure to be among the first in line following the reopening Sunday of border crossing points.

The ability of residents of the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city to cross over is one of the most visible signs of China’s easing of border restrictions imposed almost three years ago, with travelers arriving from abroad no longer required to undergo expensive and time-consuming quarantines.

ULAN BATOR, Jan 7 (NNN-XINHUA) – Mongolia will exempt citizens of 34 countries from visa requirements, for up to 30 days, until the end of 2025, as part of its efforts to promote the pandemic-hit tourism sector, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, yesterday.

These countries include 32 European countries such as Austria, Belgium, Hungary, France and Denmark, as well as, Australia and New Zealand.

As a result, the number of visa-free travel countries to Mongolia has reached 61, according to the ministry.

SEOUL, Jan 7 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s tech firm, LG Electronics, saw its operating profit tumble in the fourth quarter of last year, the company said yesterday.

Preliminary operating profit came to 65.5 billion won (51.9 million U.S. dollars) during the Oct-Dec quarter, down 91.2 percent from a year earlier.

It missed market expectations of about 319 billion won (252.8 million dollars).

Preliminary revenue grew 5.2 percent over the year, to hit a record high of 21.86 trillion won (17.3 billion dollars) in the fourth quarter.

SHANGHAI, Jan 7 (Reuters) - China on Saturday marked the first day of "chun yun", the 40-day period of Lunar New Year travel known pre-pandemic as the world's largest annual migration of people, bracing for a huge increase in travellers and the spread of COVID-19 infections.

This Lunar New Year public holiday, which officially runs from Jan. 21, will be the first since 2020 without domestic travel restrictions.

JAKARTA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Marapi volcano in Indonesia's West Sumatra province erupted for about 45 seconds on Saturday, throwing ash up to 300 meters above its peak, according to the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.

"The eruption happened at 6:11 a.m. local time (23:11 GMT). The ejection of ash accompanied by sand has the potential to hit the surrounding area," the center said in a press release.

As high as 2,891 meters above sea level, this mountain has been active since Dec. 25, 2022.

BEIJING (AP) — China has suspended or closed the social media accounts of more than 1,000 critics of the government’s policies on the COVID-19 outbreak, as the country moves to further open up.

The popular Sina Weibo social media platform said it had addressed 12,854 violations including attacks on experts, scholars and medical workers and issued temporary or permanent bans on 1,120 accounts.

BEIJING, Jan. 6 (APP): China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD), collaborating with Tencent Charity Foundation (Tencent Foundation), distributed relief supplies to flood-affected people in Pakistan.

Up to now, 1,900 units of relief materials have been distributed, including 1,900 food packages, 1,700 cold-resistant tarpaulins, 1,700 quilts, and 1,700 blankets, benefiting more than 13,000 people from 1,900 flood-affected families in Ghizer, Hunza and other areas in Gilgit Baltistan, CEN reported on Friday.

TOKYO, Jan 6 (NNN-NHK) – A 212-kg bluefin tuna was sold for 36.04 million yen (about 271,500 U.S. dollars) in the first auction of the year, at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market, yesterday.

The most popular tuna at the new year auction, caught, off the northern Japan town of Oma, Aomori Prefecture, cost more than twice the top price at last year’s auction, 16.88 million yen for a 211-kg bluefin, but it came nowhere close to the record 333.6 million yen, fetched by a 278-kg bluefin tuna, in the 2019, first auction.