Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Grappling with pandemic difficulties and U.S.-led sanctions over his nuclear ambitions, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could be reviving his 2017 playbook of nuclear and missile brinkmanship to wrest concessions from Washington and his neighbors.

North Korea’s short-range missile launches on Monday were its fourth round of missile tests this month and signaled a refusal to be ignored by the Biden administration, which has focused more on confronting bigger adversaries such as China and Russia.

BEIJING, Jan 17 (APP): Chinese scholar Prof Cheng Xizhong on Monday said if the Hindutva-Modi government did not stop its cruel suppression of Muslims, Kashmiris, ethnic minorities in the northeast and non-Hindu groups throughout the country, the current nationwide commotion in India would evolve into an all-out civil war and eventually the country would move towards national division and disintegration.

New Delhi/Davos, Jan 17 (PTI) Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday said joint efforts are the only way to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and called for fair distribution of vaccines and expedited inoculation drive globally.

In a special address on 'state of the world' on the first day of the week-long online Davos Agenda summit of the World Economic Forum, he said that humanity will certainly move on but the world needs to jointly defeat the pandemic.

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen met here on Monday with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi on regional issues, a senior official said.

The discussions included the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Myanmar's political situation, said Kao Kim Hourn, a minister attached to the Cambodian prime minister.

SINGAPORE, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) grew for the 13th consecutive month in December 2021, but the year-on-year growth narrowed from 24.2 percent last November to 18.4 percent, Enterprise Singapore, a government agency, announced on Monday.

The electronic NODX increased by 13.6 percent year on year in the last month of 2021, extending the 29.2 percent increase in November. Meanwhile, the non-electronic NODX growth narrowed from 22.6 percent to 19.9 percent.

BEIJING (AP) — China has restored railway freight traffic with North Korea that had been suspended over pandemic concerns, its foreign ministry said Monday.

Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the connection across the Yalu River between China’s Dandong and Sinuiju in North Korea had been restored after “friendly consultation between the two sides.”

Zhao said normal trade would be maintained while pandemic controls stay in place, but gave no other details.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday said fighting the pandemic was a “top priority” in his speech opening this year’s parliamentary session, as the Tokyo region was hit by surging infections.

Kishida also named stepping up defense measures against rising regional threats as a priority, hours after North Korea test-fired two possible ballistic missiles — its fourth this year.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s economy expanded by 8.1% in 2021 but Beijing faces pressure to shore up activity after an abrupt slump in the second half as the ruling Communist Party forced its vast real estate industry to cut surging debt.

Growth in the world’s second-largest economy sank to 4% over a year earlier in the final three months of 2021, government data showed Monday. That was down from the previous quarter’s 4.9% and an eye-popping 18.3% in the first three months of 2021.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea Monday in its fourth weapons launch this month, South Korea’s military said, with the apparent goal of demonstrating its military might amid paused diplomacy with the United States and pandemic border closures.

Beijing, Jan 16 (AP) Beijing has reported its first local omicron infection, according to state media, weeks before the Winter Olympic Games are due to start.

The infected person lives and works in the city's northwestern district of Haidian and had no travel history outside of Beijing for the past two weeks. The individual experienced symptoms on Thursday and was tested on Friday for COVID-19, officials said in a news conference Saturday during which they confirmed the infection.