Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BANGKOK, May 22 (Reuters) - A former transport minister in the Thai government ousted by a 2014 military coup won Bangkok's first governor election for nine years on Sunday in what some observers say is a sign of the waning popularity of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Independent candidate Chadchart Sittipunt, 55, won the election by a record 1.3 million votes while his nearest rivals both captured about 250,000 votes, according to the unofficial result announced by the Election Commission.

SEOUL, May 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korean civic and student activists have held rallies against U.S. President Joe Biden throughout his three-day trip in the Asian country to clamor for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

A group of students from the Korean University Progressive Union on Sunday held an anti-Biden rally near the U.S. military base in Seoul's central district of Yongsan, where Biden reportedly planned to meet staff members from the U.S. embassy in Seoul.

TOKYO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Japan on Sunday, as about 750 protesters took to the streets here against the planned U.S.-Japan summit and the summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad).

A series of meetings are scheduled during Biden's three-day visit to Japan, following his trip to South Korea, including the summit of the Quad group involving Japan, Australia and India, during which the United States is expected to hustle the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — President Joe Biden tended to both business and security interests Sunday as he wrapped up a three-day trip to South Korea, first showcasing Hyundai’s pledge to invest at least $10 billion in the United States and later mingling with troops at a nearby military base.

Biden’s visit to Osan Air Base, where thousands of U.S. and South Korean service members monitor the rapidly evolving North Korean nuclear threat, was his final stop before he arrived in Tokyo later Sunday.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — President Joe Biden is tending to both business and security interests Sunday as he wraps up a three-day visit to South Korea, showcasing Hyundai’s pledge to build a $5.5 billion electric vehicle and battery factory in Georgia and visiting U.S. and South Korean troops monitoring the rapidly evolving North Korean nuclear threat.

PHNOM PENH, May 21 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodia will start offering a fifth dose of COVID-19 vaccines to priority groups from June 9, Prime Minister, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, said.

The priority groups include leaders of the government, the senate, the parliament, frontline health workers, government officials, civil servants, armed forces, the elderly, staff of embassies, national and international organisations, journalists, and celebrities.

He said, the interval between the fourth and the fifth doses is at least three months.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia is one of the important and traditional partners of Turkmenistan in trade, economic and investment spheres, said Turkmenistan’s ambassador to Malaysia Muhammetnyyaz Mashalov.

Mashalov said that an example of the effective use of existing mutual opportunities in this regard was the long-term partnership with Malaysian company Petronas Carigali, which invests heavily in the fuel and energy sector in his country.

BANGKOK (AP) — Delegates from the United States and four other nations staged a walkout Saturday when a representative from Russia began his opening remarks at a meeting of trade ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group in the Thai capital, officials said.

A Japanese official said Japan’s Trade Minister Koichi Hagiuda and his counterparts from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Canada walked out of the meeting in Bangkok to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Saturday it found nearly 220,000 more people with feverish symptoms, even as leader Kim Jong Un claimed progress in slowing a largely undiagnosed spread of COVID-19 across his unvaccinated populace and hinted at easing virus restrictions to nurse a decaying economy.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — President Biden on Saturday signed legislation to support Ukraine with another $40 billion in U.S. assistance as the Russian invasion approaches its fourth month.

The legislation, which was passed by Congress with bipartisan support, deepens the U.S. commitment to Ukraine at a time of uncertainty about the war’s future. Ukraine has successfully defended Kyiv, and Russia has refocused its offensive on the country’s east, but American officials warn of the potential for a prolonged conflict.