Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

KOTA TINGGI (Johor, Malaysia), Aug 14 (Bernama) — A man from Singapore was reported missing after he was believed to have lost his way when climbing Mount Panti Barat in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor on Saturday. 

Kota Tinggi police chief Supt Hussin Zamora said police were alerted of the incident by the Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) at about 7.10 pm last night.

He said a report was made by the victim, Neo Thiam Ming, 40, through the Malaysia Emergency Response Services (MERS 999) and it was relayed to JBPM, saying he had lost his way.

Aug 14 (Reuters) - Eleven Chinese military aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait's median line or entered Taiwan’s air defence zone on Sunday, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said, as Beijing continues military activities close to the Chinese-claimed island.

JAKARTA, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed and four others were injured on Sunday after a truck carrying wheat lost its brake on the way from Sukabumi regency to Cianjur regency in West Java.

The truck first hit two cars parked on the roadside, and then three motorbikes from the opposite direction and some pedestrians before crashing into a house fence and overturning, Cianjur Police Chief Doni Hermawan said.

Those who died were motorcyclists and pedestrians, Hermawan added.

All the dead and injured have been taken to the nearest medical centers.

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — A strong explosion at a fireworks storage area tore through a popular market in Armenia’s capital on Sunday, killing at least one person, injuring 36 others and setting off a large fire.

More than three hours after the early afternoon blast at the Surmalu market, firemen labored to put out the blaze that sent a towering column of smoke over the center of Yerevan. Rescue workers and volunteers in civilian clothes searched for victims who might be trapped under slabs of concrete and twisted metal.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A delegation of American lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, just 12 days after a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that prompted China to launch days of threatening military drills around the self-governing island that Beijing says must come under its control.

The five-member delegation, led by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, will meet President Tsai Ing-wen and other officials, as well as members of the private sector, to discuss shared interests including reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and investments in semiconductors.

HANOI, Aug 13 (NNN-VNA) – Vietnam will host the 2022 Mekong Tourism Forum, from Oct 9 to Oct 14, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, under the country’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said yesterday.

Themed “Rebuild Tourism, Rebound with Resilience,” the forum will take place in the central Quang Nam province, and will be the first of its kind and “the first in-person meeting of the six Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) destinations,” since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

MANILA, Aug 13 (NNN-PNA) – An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8, rattled Maguindanao province, in the southern Philippines this afternoon, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

The institute said, the quake, which occurred at 2:25 p.m. local time (0625 GMT), hit at a depth of 62 km, about 11 km north-west of South Upi town.

The tremor was also felt in nearby cities of Cotabato, General Santos, Davao, and Kidapawan, on Mindanao island. The institute said, the tectonic quake will trigger aftershocks but not cause any damage.

TAIPEI, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan's foreign ministry on Saturday expressed "sincere gratitude" towards the United States for taking "concrete actions" to maintain security and peace in the Taiwan Strait and the region.

U.S. Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said on Friday that China "overreacted" to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, which set off days of war games by Beijing around the island, which China views as its own territory. 

BANGKOK (AP) — The Chinese air force is sending fighter jets and bombers to Thailand for a joint exercise with the Thai military on Sunday.

The training will include air support, strikes on ground targets and small- and large-scale troop deployment, the Chinese Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

China’s expanding military activities in the Asia-Pacific region have alarmed the United States and its allies and form part of a growing strategic and economic competition that has inflamed tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Aug 12 (Reuters) - Chinese officials are planning a possible trip by Xi Jinping to Southeast Asia in November for what could be the leader's first foreign trip since the COVID-19 pandemic and include a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Biden's team has long sought and has not yet confirmed an in-person meeting between the two leaders to lower tensions as the two countries spar over Taiwan, trade and a host of other issues.