Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- As tensions on the Ukrainian situation keep mounting, multiple countries have been engaged in shuttle diplomacy, trying to de-escalate the crisis.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Kiev on Monday for a working visit. After their talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters that the two parties discussed the peace process in and around Ukraine and the legal guarantees that would help to protect Ukraine.

Tokyo, Feb 14 (AP) The Bank of Japan made an offer for unlimited government bond purchases Monday, moving to curb a surge in long-term interest rates in the world's third-largest economy.

Japan's central bank set the interest rate for purchasing 10-year government bonds at 0.25 per cent.

The market rate had risen close to that level recently on speculation the BOJ might begin reeling back its ultra-loose monetary policy in line with other central banks like the US Federal Reserve.

Bangkok, Feb 15 (AP) Myanmar will not participate in this week's meetings in Cambodia of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, spurning an invitation to send a non-political representative instead of its chief diplomat, its government said Monday.

Cambodia, the current ASEAN chair, said earlier this month that members of the regional group had failed to reach a consensus on inviting Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin to its meetings on Thursday and Friday in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh.

Tokyo, Feb 15 (AP) Tokyo police on Monday stepped up the hunt for members of the Japanese Red Army wanted for their alleged role in attacks in the 1970s and 1980s, releasing a video with images of the aging militants that warned the case was not over yet.

The video follows on the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Asama Sanso hostage crisis at a mountain lodge in central Japan, where two police officers were killed in a shootout.

Japanese Red Army members are still on the run and they may live somewhere near you," the video warns, adding the case is not over yet.

BEIJING, Feb. 14 (APP): China on Monday dismissed Indian external affairs minister’s remarks about China-India border conflict and said that the responsibility for the border conflict rested with the Indian side.

“As to the China India relations, the merits of the matters are very clear and responsibility does not rest with China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during his regular briefing here in response to Indian External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar comments about China-India relations.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia’s economy is set for a gradual recovery from the COVID-19 downturn, with real gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 3.1 per cent in 2021 and projected to accelerate to about 5.75 per cent in 2022, according to the preliminary findings of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team.

The team, led by Lamin Leigh, reported that the growth would be supported by the authorities’ impressive vaccine rollout and swift implementation of economic policy support measures.

JAKARTA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Finance ministers and central bank governors from G20 members will gather from Feb. 17 to 18 for their first meeting this year under the Indonesian presidency in Jakarta, despite a steady increase in daily COVID-19 cases.

Perry Warjiyo, governor of Bank Indonesia, said on Monday that high-profile topics to be discussed in the first Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting would be about inflation, policy normalization and digitalization to help G20 members recover their economy from the pandemic situation.

PYONGYANG, Feb 13 (NNN-KCNA) – The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), started here yesterday, a new project of building 10,000 flats, it was reported today.

Kim Jong Un, the top leader of the DPRK, said at the groundbreaking ceremony that, the construction of 10,000 flats, in the Hwasong area, is not only the second project of carrying out the long-term housing construction goal for Pyongyang, but also the first-stage construction, to turn the area into a new modern town, the report said.

BEIJING, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday discussed the Ukraine crisis with U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron respectively over the phone as tensions continue to escalate between Russia and Ukraine.

During these conversations, Putin reiterated the absence of a substantive response from the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to Russian initiatives in addressing its security concerns, while agreeing to continue dialogue and contacts with the other two leaders.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Feb 12 (NNN-ANN) – Brunei reported 981 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the national tally to 20,454.

This also marks the second consecutive day with a record daily rise of new cases, after 628 cases were reported on Thursday in the country.

According to Brunei’s Ministry of Health, the newly recorded cases included 972 local infections and two import cases.