Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

MANILA, Feb 6 (NNN-PNA) – The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH), reported 7,689 new COVID-19 infections yesterday, pushing the number of confirmed cases in the country to 3,601,471.

The DOH said, only one more person died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the country’s death toll to 54,214.

The number of active cases dropped to 136,436, as the country’s positivity rate fell further to 23.3 percent.

The DOH said, the country’s number of COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions have steadily fallen since the fourth wave peaked in mid-Jan.

BEIJING (AP) — Not enough food. Inedible meals. No training equipment. Some Olympic athletes unlucky enough to test positive for the coronavirus at the Beijing Olympics feel their quarantine conditions are making a bad situation much worse.

“My stomach hurts, I’m very pale and I have huge black circles around my eyes. I want all this to end. I cry every day. I’m very tired,” Russian biathlon competitor Valeria Vasnetsova posted on Instagram from one of Beijing’s so-called quarantine hotels.

Her problem wasn’t with any symptoms of the virus. It was the food.

BEIJING, Feb 5 (APP): Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) has never been part of India and even the Indian constitution has never recognized IIOJK as part of India. Kashmiris through persist struggle will eventually obtain the right to self-determination of the future destiny of IIOJK.

For decades, the Pakistani people as well as the international community have been extending moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmiris for their right to self-determination in accordance with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

BEIJING, Feb 05 (APP): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Saturday took a dig at the leaders of two main opposition parties for their get together at Model Town, Lahore and said ‘gang of criminals’ once again got untied to prevent retrieval of the looted money from abroad.

“It has been observed that they (opposition leaders) always get untied whenever there is seriousness in their cases and efforts are accelerated to bring back their ill-gotten money stashed in foreign countries,” he said while talking to media.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah on Saturday congratulated China for hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics.

In his speech at the Malaysia-China Chamber Of Commmerce (MCCC) Chinese New Year celebration, here, delivered via a pre-recorded video, he said the sporting event began Friday night with an extraordinary and beautiful opening ceremony.

“I am sure this will be yet another successful event hosted by China,” he said. The text of his speech was made available to the media by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — During the last Winter Games, North Korea basked in the global limelight in South Korea, with hundreds of athletes, cheerleaders and officials pushing hard to woo their South Korean and U.S. rivals in a bid for diplomacy that has since stalled.

United Nations, Feb 5 (AP) China's UN ambassador said Friday the US should come up with more attractive and more practical policies and actions to reduce tensions with North Korea and avoid a return to a vicious circle of confrontation, condemnation and sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile program.

Zhang Jun said that the solution lies in direct dialogue and that if the Biden administration wants to see a breakthrough with Pyongyang they should show more sincerity and flexibility.

BEIJING, Feb 4 (APP): Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday reiterated Pakistan’s stance that the key driver in international politics should be cooperation, rather than confrontation as the world did not need another Cold War.

“In view of myriad global challenges, the world did not need another Cold War. Divisions could result in mounting sufferings and prevent common benefits. Pakistan was, therefore, of the belief that the key driver in international politics should be cooperation, rather than confrontation,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Malaysia kicked off its vaccination drive for children aged five to 11 years old today, in a bid to protect the age group from COVID-19.

The move came, as 147,282 were infected in the past six months, with 26 deaths recorded, Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin said, in his speech at the launch of the vaccination drive here.

He said, children are also at risk of developing complications of the multisystem inflammatory syndrome and getting Long COVID that can cause prolonged symptoms and interrupt recovery.

PHNOM PENH, Feb 3 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodia dispatched the 12th batch of 184 peacekeepers, including 29 women, to join a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, yesterday.

The military engineer corps will replace the 11th batch, whose one-year term has come to an end, Gen. Sem Sovanny, director-general of the National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces, said, during a sending-off ceremony at Phnom Penh international airport.