Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

MANILA, Oct 4 (NNN-PNA) – Manila City Mayor, Francisco Domagoso, today filed his certificate of candidacy, to run for the next president of the Philippines, in the May, 2022 elections.

Domagoso, 46, popularly known by his celebrity nickname Isko Moreno, filed with his running-mate Willie Ong, their certificates of candidacy at the Commission on Elections.

The mayor of the Philippine capital will run under the political party, Aksyon Demokratiko, of which he is the president.

Domagoso appealed to the Filipinos to support his quest to serve them.

SEOUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The two Koreas on Monday restored their hotlines that the North severed months ago, with Pyongyang urging Seoul to step up efforts to improve relations after criticising what it called double standards over weapons development.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his willingness last week to reactivate the hotlines, which North Korea cut off in early August in protest against joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises, just days after reopening them for the first time in a year.

TAIPEI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - China blamed the United States on Monday for increased tensions over Taiwan, as the island fingered Beijing as the "chief culprit" after reporting the largest ever incursion by China's air force into its air defence zone at 56 aircraft.

Chinese-claimed Taiwan has complained for a year or more of repeated missions by China's air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.

TASHKENT, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A gas explosion in the capital Tashkent has caused damage to several apartment units, with no casualties reported.

The explosion occurred on Sunday night in a residential building in Tashkent's Chilanzar district. Seventeen residents of the building are now temporarily residing in a hotel, the Uzbek Ministry of Emergencies said.

Uzbek's regional gas supply network said in a statement that the explosion occurred due to an unauthorized use of natural gas in one of the apartments which was not connected to the main gas supply system.

HONG KONG, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 jolted 80 km ESE of Amahai, Indonesia at 14:28:46 GMT on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 31.83 km, was initially determined to be at 3.6847 degrees south latitude and 129.5576 degrees east longitude.

TOKYO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Japan's new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday he plans to call a general election on Oct. 31.

Kishida made the announcement at a press conference on Monday evening after he was elected as the 100th prime minister in the Japanese political history in the afternoon.

As the term of the members of the House of Representatives is set to expire on Oct. 21, Kishida said he will dissolve the lower chamber of the parliament on Oct. 14.

HARBIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Pan Lili, a community worker in China's Suihua City, Heilongjiang Province, is working through her National Day holiday from Oct. 1 to 7.

Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has recently seen another COVID-19 outbreak. On Sept. 21, the provincial capital Harbin reported its first recent case of COVID-19, which was subsequently identified as the Delta variant.

By Saturday, there were 83 local cases in Heilongjiang Province, the provincial health commission said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s foreign minister warned Monday that Myanmar may be excluded from a summit of Southeast Asian leaders this month if it refuses to cooperate with the bloc’s special envoy in resolving the military-ruled country’s deepening crisis.

BEIJING, Sept 3 (APP): Kabul International Airport was now fully operational for international flights after technical problems were resolved, China Media Group said on Sunday, citing the Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority (ACAA).

Domestic flights in Afghanistan have already taken off and landed at Kabul airport, and it was now ready for international flights to resume normally, said the ACAA.

Letters had been sent to neighboring countries and the international community asking them to resume flights at Kabul airport, ACAA spokesperson Mohammad Naeem Salehi confirmed.

BEIJING, Sept 3 (APP): After a cooperation to deal with the pandemic, Pakistan and China should also accelerate the building of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The 10th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting of CPEC has been held, and a new IT working group has been established, which will bolster CPEC.

The success of CPEC will effectively enhance Pakistan’s comprehensive national strength and international status, according to an article published by Global Times.