Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Jan 10 (Reuters) - China is willing to increase "law enforcement and security" cooperation with neighbouring Kazakhstan and help oppose interference by "external forces", China's foreign minister said on Monday, after violent protests in the Central Asian country.

Wang Yi, who is also a state councillor, made the comments in a call to Kazakhstan's foreign minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

NUR-SULTAN, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed victory on Monday in defending Kazakhstan from what he described as a foreign-backed terrorist uprising, and promised leaders of other ex-Soviet states that a Moscow-led alliance would protect them too.

Kazakhstan's biggest city Almaty returned to near-normal on Monday after nearly a week of unrest, by far the worst violence in the 30-year independent history of what had been the most stable former Soviet state in Central Asia.

BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- As a permanent comprehensive strategic partner of Kazakhstan, China is willing to firmly support Kazakhstan in maintaining stability and stopping violence at this critical moment concerning Kazakhstan's future, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday.

Wang made the remarks during a phone conversation with Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Monday after Wall Street fell on worries the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as soon as March.

Shanghai and Hong Kong advanced. Seoul and Sydney declined. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.

Investors were rattled last week after notes from the latest Fed meeting showed officials thought the U.S. job market is healthy enough that it might no longer need ultra-low interest rates and other stimulus.

BEIJING (AP) — The numbers are small, but the major port of Tianjin may be facing China’s first local outbreak of omicron of any size, less than a month before the Winter Olympics open in nearby Beijing.

BANGKOK (AP) — A court in Myanmar sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four more years in prison on Monday after finding her guilty of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions, a legal official said.

Suu Kyi was convicted last month on two other charges and given a four-year prison sentence, which was then halved by the head of the military-installed government.

BEIJING, Jan 9 (APP): The Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a reminder on Sunday that people in Beijing should not un-necessarily visit Tianjin and those in Tianjin should not visit the capital unless necessary. It is also suggested that commuters between the two cities work from home.

NUR-SULTAN, January 9./TASS/: The Kazakh Ministry of Health has denied information circulated in social media about the seizure of a military biological lab near Almaty by unidentified people.

"This is not true. The facility is being protected," the ministry’s press service said.

Social media reports maintained that specialists in chemical protection suits were working near the lab, so, a leak of dangerous pathogens could have occurred.

NUR-SULTAN, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree declaring Jan. 10 a national day of mourning for the victims of recent unrest in the country.

"In connection with the death of people as a result of terrorist acts committed in the Republic of Kazakhstan, it is declared that January 10, 2022, will be that nationwide mourning day," according to the decree released on Saturday.

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — The president of Turkmenistan is calling for an end to one of the country’s most notable but infernal sights — the blazing natural gas crater widely referred to as the “Gates of Hell.”

The desert crater located about 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of the capital, Ashgabat, has burned for decades and is a popular sight for the small number of tourists who come to Turkmenistan, a country which is difficult to enter.