Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

JAKARTA, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- A government helicopter crashed with its propeller and tail broken at Budiarto airport in Tangerang town near capital Jakarta on Monday, Indonesia's Ministry of Transportation said.

The Bell 429 PK-CAW helicopter overturned at the tip of the airport's runway at 10:25 a.m. local time during a routine training without any casualties.

"The flight crew consisting of a pilot, a copilot, and a technician are safe and currently undergoing medical checks up," the ministry's spokesperson Adita Irawati confirmed to Xinhua.

BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Sunday reported 22 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in Fujian Province, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Monday.

Also reported were 27 new imported cases, including 17 in Yunnan, five in Shanghai, three in Guangdong and one each in Sichuan and Shaanxi.

No new suspected cases or new deaths related to COVID-19 were reported on Sunday, the commission said.

MACAO, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The election of the seventh Legislative Assembly of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) wrapped up early Monday morning with the preliminary results showing 14 candidates won the directly-elected seats, about half of whom were new faces, and 12 won the indirectly-elected seats.

Voting started from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. local time on Sunday. Despite heat and sudden downpours, over 100,000 voters went to the ballot.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Barely a month in office, Malaysia’s new leader has won opposition support to shore up his fragile government in exchange for a slew of reforms as Parliament reopened Monday.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob will sign an unprecedented cooperation pact later Monday with the main opposition bloc led by Anwar Ibrahim that will prevent any bid to undermine his rule ahead of general elections due in two years.

The pact will give Ismail the backing of 88 lawmakers in Anwar’s bloc, in addition to 114 that support him in the 222-member house.

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s detained former leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was unable to attend a scheduled court hearing Monday because she felt ill, her lawyers said.

Suu Kyi is being tried in the capital Naypyitaw on charges of sedition — defined as spreading information that could cause public alarm or unrest — as well as two counts of flouting COVID-19 pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign, illegally importing walkie-talkies that were for her bodyguards’ use and the unlicensed use of the radios.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says it successfully test fired newly developed long-range cruise missiles over the weekend, its first known testing activity in months, underscoring how it continues to expand its military capabilities amid a stalemate in nuclear negotiations with the United States.

The Korean Central News Agency said Monday the cruise missiles, which had been under development for two years, demonstrated an ability to hit targets 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) away during flight tests on Saturday and Sunday.

NANNING, Sep 12 (APP): Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque said on Sunday that Pakistani goods have a strong competitive force at the 18th China-ASEAN Expo especially the textile sector, which remains one of Pakistan's flagship products.

TOKYO, September 12. /TASS/: Russia’s An-26 plane allegedly twice violated Japan’s airspace near the Hokkaido Island in the north of the country on Sunday, the Japanese Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It is noted that Japanese jets were scrambled to intercept the Russian plane.

According to Kyodo news agency, the Japanese Foreign Ministry called on the Russian side to prevent similar incidents in the future through diplomatic channels and issued a note a protest over what happened. At the same time, it is claimed that the Russian plane was a civil one.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Sept 12 (NNN-ANN) – The annual ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) and Associated Meetings, will hold its 39th session via virtual platform from tomorrow to Sept 16.

Brunei Darussalam as the 2021 ASEAN Chair will host the virtual session, which will be presided by Minister of Energy, Dr Haji Mat Suny bin Haji Mohd Hussein, as the 39th AMEM Chair and Cambodian Minister of Mines and Energy, Suy Sem, as Vice-Chair.

The meeting is expected to see the virtual attendance of ASEAN member states (AMS), Dialogue Partners and International Organisations.

MANILA, Sept 12 (NNN-PNA) – The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH), reported 21,411 new COVID-19 infections today, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 2,227,367.

The DOH also reported 168 more coronavirus-related deaths, raising the death toll in the country to 35,145.

The Philippines, which has around 110 million population, tested over 18 million people since the COVID-19 outbreak in Jan, 2020. Yesterday, the DOH reported the country’s highest ever daily tally, with 26,303 cases.