Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING (AP) — China said Wednesday it would stop reporting asymptomatic COVID-19 cases since they’ve become “impossible” to track with mass testing no longer required, another step in the country’s uncertain exit from some of the world’s strictest antivirus policies.

China last week announced its most significant easing yet of antivirus measures and has begun to see what appears to be a rapid increase in new infections, raising concerns that its health system could become overwhelmed as those in other countries did during early COVID waves.

BEIJING, December 13. /TASS/: China and India have withdrawn troops from a border area where clashes took place recently, PLA (Chinese People’s Liberation Army) Western Theater Command Spokesperson Long Shaohua said on Tuesday.

"As of now, China and India have withdrawn their troops," he said in a statement posted on the WeChat social network.

MANILA, Dec 13 (NNN-PNA) – The Philippines’ total external trade in goods, rose by 12.3 percent in Oct, to 18.70 billion U.S. dollars, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), said today.

Of the total external trade in Oct this year, the agency said, 58.8 percent were imported goods, while the rest were exported goods. The balance of trade in goods amounted to minus 3.31 billion dollars, indicating a trade deficit with an annual increase of 13.5 percent.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Malaysia, the world’s second-largest palm oil producer, saw its palm oil stocks slip 4.98 percent from the previous month, to 2.29 million tonnes in Nov, official data showed, today.

According to the data, from the industry regulator, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysia’s crude palm oil production in Nov fell 7.33 percent month on month, to 1.68 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, palm oil exports rose 0.92 percent month on month, to 1.52 million tonnes.

YANGON, Dec 13 (NNN-MNA) – Myanmar’s authorities seized 0.95 million stimulant tablets worth over 1.4 billion kyats (0.66 million U.S. dollars), in the central region of Mandalay, the state-run media, citing police sources, reported today.

Acting on a tip-off, anti-narcotic police intercepted a Toyota Hiace vehicle, near Kywe Dat Son village in Thazi township of Mandalay region, at around 10:30 a.m. local time on Dec 9, and confiscated the drugs.

Investigation showed that the stimulant tablets were to be transported to Yangon region, from southern Shan state, it said.

TOKYO, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Japan's Meiji Holdings Co (2269.T) said on Tuesday its drug subsidiary had started a Phase III trial of an mRNA-based vaccine for COVID-19.

Meiji Seika Pharma had started the late-stage trial among 780 subjects in Japan, with the test period running from November to April 2024, Meiji said in a statement.

The trial will test the effectiveness of the vaccine, developed by U.S.-based Arcturus Therapeutics Inc, in comparison with the mRNA shot developed by Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE).

HONG KONG, Dec 13 (Reuters) - China is working on a more than 1 trillion yuan ($143 billion) support package for its semiconductor industry, three sources said, in a major step towards self sufficiency in chips and to counter U.S. moves aimed at slowing its technological advances.

Beijing plans to roll out what will be one of its biggest fiscal incentive packages over five years, mainly as subsidies and tax credits to bolster semiconductor production and research activities at home, said the sources.

YANGON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 12,000 wintering migratory birds of 29 species flocked to the Indawgyi Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Myanmar, during October and November this year, local authorities said.

"The population of wintering birds here this year is still low, compared to over 17,000 birds in the same period last year," U Maung Win, administrator of the Indawgyi Wildlife Sanctuary, told Xinhua on Tuesday.

BANGKOK, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's industrial confidence soared for the sixth straight month in November, boosted by recovering domestic demand and foreign tourist arrivals, data showed on Tuesday.

The Thai Industry Sentiment Index (TISI) edged up to 93.5 in November from 93.1 the previous month, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

The Southeast Asian country reported last week over 10 million international visitors, a number that was predicted by the FTI to more than double next year.

JATILUWIH, Indonesia (AP) — Far from Bali’s beaches and hotels, farmer I Ketut Jata stands on a mountainside, staring at terraced land that is too dry to grow the rice his family has long relied on for food and income.

“It is no longer possible to work in the fields as a farmer,” he says.