Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TOKYO, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- An advisory panel for the finance minister on Monday proposed that the Japanese government end free-of-charge coronavirus vaccinations, highlighting concerns over a further increase of its financial strain.

Japan's Ministry of Finance convened a subcommittee meeting on Monday and asked a panel of experts to start discussing possible charges for the COVID-19 shots, like the ones for seasonal influenza and other infectious diseases.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine authorities filed murder complaints on Monday against the top prisons official and an aide, accusing them of masterminding the killing of a radio commentator in an elaborate crime they said showed that the country’s prisons system had been turned into a “criminal organization.”

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines lifted a ban on the deployment of workers, including maids and construction workers, to Saudi Arabia on Monday after steps were taken to reduce frequent abuses, officials said.

Labor officials stopped sending workers to the oil-rich kingdom a year ago due to the abuses, including the non-payment of wages to thousands of Filipino construction workers, and the coronavirus threat.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s military said Monday its recent barrage of missile tests were practices to “mercilessly” strike key South Korean and U.S. targets such as air bases and operation command systems with a variety of missiles that likely included nuclear-capable weapons.

MANILA, Nov 6 (NNN-PNA) – A blast on a bus in the southern Philippines, injured at least five people shortly before noon today, a senior military official said.

Major General Roy Galido, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said, the bomb, believed to be an improvised explosive device, went off around 11:30 a.m. local time (0330 GMT), while travelling south-west from Kidapawan City to Tacurong City, on Mindanao island.

YOKOSUKA, Japan, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Japan hosted its first international fleet review for seven years on Sunday with ships from 12 other nations in a show of unity as North Korea fires record numbers of missiles and China increases its pressure on Taiwan.

The naval parade in Sagami Bay near Tokyo involved 38 vessels, 18 from friendly countries such as the United States, South Korea, Britain, Australia, Singapore, India and Thailand. Thirty-three aircraft flew overhead, including submarine-hunting patrol planes and helicopters.

SEOUL, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Thirty people were injured in South Korea's capital Seoul Sunday night after a passenger train detailed, according to Yonhap news agency.

The train, which was traveling from the Yongsan district in Seoul to the city of Iksan in North Jeolla province, derailed near the Yeongdeungpo station in Seoul at about 8:55 p.m. local time (1155 GMT).

Among 275 passengers on board the train, 30 people were reportedly injured.

The Korea Railroad Corporation, the country's national railroad operator, was investigating the cause of the derailment.

BEIJING, Nov 5 (APP): Huawei and Tianjin Port have jointly collaborated on a driverless, zero-carbon “vehicle-cloud synergy” horizontal transportation solution and built an intelligent horizontal transport system at Tianjin Port.

The project has achieved Level 4 autonomous driving, enabling 76 Intelligent Guided Vehicles (IGVs) in a fleet to collaborate efficiently. Huawei used cloud-based centralized dispatching to increase port-wide efficiency.

PHNOM PENH, Nov 5 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodia is expected to export more milled rice to China in coming years, thanks to the entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal, and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) earlier this year, Song Saran, president of the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), said.

A report released by CRF today, showed that, China remained a major buyer of Cambodia’s milled rice in the first 10 months of 2022.

PHNOM PENH, Nov 5 (NNN-AKP) – Tourism ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV), adopted a three-year action programme on tourism cooperation, Cambodian Tourism Minister, Thong Khon, said yesterday.

The adoption was made during the sixth CLMV Tourism Ministers Meeting, which was convened on Thursday in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province, Khon said.

“We adopted action programme on CLMV Tourism Cooperation 2023-2025, which further focuses on promoting the realisation of ‘Four Countries, One Destination’,” he said.