Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TAIYUAN, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The city of Yangquan in north China's Shanxi Province on Friday issued a license to Baidu for the commercial operation of unmanned autonomous driving services -- the first license of its kind issued in China.

"That means a safety supervisor is no longer required in the driver's seat in Baidu's autonomous vehicles operating in designated areas of the city," said Nie Yuren, general manager of Baidu Intelligent Driving Business Group Solutions. The license also allows for fare collection, Nie said.

WENCHANG, Hainan, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- China launched a Long March-8 rocket to place 22 satellites in space on Sunday, setting a domestic record for the most spacecraft launched by a single rocket.

The rocket blasted off at 11:06 a.m. (Beijing Time) at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern Hainan Province before sending the satellites into preset orbit.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched a ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, its neighbors said, in a resumption of weapons tests that came as the United States and its allies are focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

JAKARTA, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Seven people were killed and 85 others wounded as a 6.1-magnitude quake destroyed over 10,000 buildings, houses and infrastructure facilities in Indonesia's western province of West Sumatra on Friday, a senior official said.

Earlier the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued a report saying the quake measured 6.2-magnitude before revising it to 6.1, the agency's head Dwikorita Karnawati said.

PHNOM PENH, Feb 24 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia has always regarded Myanmar as a neighbouring country and a valued member of ASEAN, and would like to see the country bounce back and return to a normal situation in accordance with the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus (5PC), said Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Ismail Sabri said Malaysia also wished to see Myanmar progress for the good of its people so that the country would be in a state of peace, harmony and prosperity.

TAIPEI, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Taiwan's air force scrambled again on Thursday to warn away nine Chinese aircraft that entered its air defence zone, Taiwan's defence ministry said, on the same day that Russia invaded Ukraine, a crisis being watched closely in Taipei.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained of regular such missions by the Chinese air force over the last two years, though the aircraft do not get close to Taiwan itself.

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and his visiting Malaysian counterpart Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Thursday vowed to further strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era for mutual benefits.

The commitment was made during their around two-hour talks at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia.

BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday held a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Lavrov briefed Wang on the evolution of the situation in Ukraine and Russia's position, saying that the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have broken their commitments, continuously expanded eastward, refused to implement the new Minsk agreement and violated the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2202.

BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- China opposes any act of inciting war and has taken a responsible attitude from the very beginning to persuade all parties not to escalate tensions and incite war, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to queries on the Ukraine issue, noting that the United States has sent at least 1.5 billion dollars' worth of over 1,000 tonnes of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.

BEIJING, Feb 23 (APP): Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying Wednesday opposed imposing unilateral sanctions on Russia and called for resolving the Ukraine situation through dialogue and consultation.

“Sanctions have never been an effective way to solve problems, and China has always opposed unilateral sanctions,” she said during her regular briefing when asked if China would join Western countries in sanctioning Russia over Ukraine.