Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Monday it fired a test satellite in an important final-stage test for the development of its first spy satellite, a key military capability coveted by its leader Kim Jong Un along with other high-tech weapons systems.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency also released low-resolution, black-and-white photos showing a space view of the South Korean capital and Incheon, a city just west of Seoul, in an apparent attempt to show the North is pushing to acquire a surveillance tool to monitor its rival.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai navy ships and helicopters searched Monday for more than 30 sailors still missing more than 17 hours after their warship sank in rough seas in the Gulf of Thailand.

As of Monday afternoon, 75 sailors from the HTMS Sukhothai corvette had been rescued and 31 were still missing, the navy said. The high waves that caused the accident had lessened since Sunday night’s sinking, but were still high enough to endanger small boats, the navy said.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese health authorities on Monday announced two additional COVID-19 deaths, both in the capital Beijing, that were the first reported in weeks and come during an expected surge of illnesses after the nation eased its strict “zero-COVID” approach.

China had not reported a death from COVID-19 since Dec. 4, even though unofficial reports of a new wave of cases are widespread.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18 (NNN-Bernama) — In commemorating the celebration of 45 years of cooperation between the European Union (EU) and ASEAN, the EU and its member states has announced a mobilisation of €10 billion as part of the Global Gateway to accelerate infrastructure investments in ASEAN countries.

This package will focus on the green transition and sustainable connectivity in Southeast Asia, underpinned by two Team Europe Initiatives, namely the Sustainable Connectivity Initiative and the Green Team Europe Initiative.

GEORGE TOWN (Malaysia), Dec 18 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian authorities detained two boats with 11 foreign fishermen on board who did not possess any personal travel documents, during an inspection at Kendi Island off the southwest coast of Penang Island on Friday.

Penang Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Director Capt Abd Razak Mohamed said the Maritime patrol vessel which was conducting an operation, first detained a class C fishing boat belonging to a local, 71 nautical miles west of Kendi Island at 1.50 pm.

BEIJING, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Streets in major Chinese cities were eerily quiet on Sunday as people stayed home to protect themselves from a surge in COVID-19 cases that has hit urban centres from north to south.

China is in the first of an expected three waves of COVID cases this winter, according to the country's chief epidemiologist, Wu Zunyou. Further waves will come as people follow the tradition of returning en masse to their home areas for the Lunar New Year holiday next month, he said.

MANILA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 67 people have died from cholera, an acute diarrheal illness, in the Philippines since January this year as cases rose by 282 percent compared with last year, the Philippine government said Sunday.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) has tallied 5,860 cholera cases from January to Nov. 26 this year. The agency attributed the increase in cases to natural calamities that buffeted the Southeast Asian country.

TOKYO, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese public has raised pressure on the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida over the country's expansion in defense spending and tension-provoking security policies, a Kyodo News poll showed Sunday.

About 64.9 percent of Japanese people disapprove of Japan's recently announced plan to raise taxes to finance a substantial increase in defense spending, according to the opinion poll.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea test-fired a pair of ballistic missiles with a potential range of striking Japan on Sunday, in a possible protest of Tokyo’s adoption of a new security strategy to push for more offensive footing against North Korea and China.

The launches came two days after the North claimed to have performed a key test needed to build a more mobile, powerful intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the U.S. mainland.

TOKYO, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Japan on Friday unveiled its biggest military build-up since World War Two with a $320 billion plan that will buy missiles capable of striking China and ready it for sustained conflict, as regional tensions and Russia's Ukraine invasion stoke war fears.

The sweeping, five-year plan, once unthinkable in pacifist Japan, will make the country the world's third-biggest military spender after the United States and China, based on current budgets.