Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Malaysia has appointed former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin as chairman of a council that will focus on economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the government chief secretary said on Saturday.

The cabinet had on Wednesday agreed to the minister-level appointment for Muhyiddin based on confidence in him to lead a recovery strategy to "achieve the best economic impact and restore the lives of people affected by the pandemic", the chief secretary said in a statement.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The Brunei diplomat appointed by a Southeast Asian regional bloc as its special envoy to Myanmar said on Saturday he is still negotiating with the military on the terms of a visit and has sought access to ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to end violence in Myanmar and open a dialogue between the military rulers and their opponents following the overthrow of Suu Kyi in February.

TOKYO, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The Japanese government plans to extend a state of emergency in and around Tokyo until the last week of September in a further bid to contain the coronavirus epidemic, the Mainichi newspaper reported on Saturday.

Japan last month expanded emergency curbs to cover about 80% of its population until Sept. 12, but the number of severe cases and the strain on the medical system have not eased sufficiently in Tokyo and surrounding areas to allow the restrictions to be lifted.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Saturday received an additional 2.5 million doses of China's Sinovac vaccine against COVID-19 as the Southeast Asian country continued to fight the pandemic.

A plane carrying the new batch of Chinese vaccine arrived at the Phnom Penh International Airport shortly before 10 a.m. local time, said Ministry of Health (MoH) Secretary of State Yok Sambath.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha won votes of confidence in Parliament on Saturday, helping to steady his government after it had come under intense criticism for bungling its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Prayuth still faces pressure from street protests that have been demanding he step down. Pro-democracy activists opposing his policies have been seeking his resignation since last year and stepped up their efforts in recent weeks.

BEIJING, Sep 3 (APP): A Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday that the new Afghan government was yet to be established, and China was closely monitoring the situation.

“The Chinese embassy in Afghanistan is an important channel for China-Afghanistan exchanges and is currently operating normally,” he said during his regular briefing held here.

BEIJING, Sep 3 (APP): Pakistan will revive its tourism through cooperation with China, Pakistan Ambassador to China Moin ul Haq said here on Friday.

“Pakistan has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on tourism with Chinese tourism associations and forged partnership with travel agencies”, he said at the 2021 World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit and World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development held here.

SINGAPORE, Sept 3 (NNN-CNA) — A total of 735 people from Germany and 20 from Brunei Darussalam have received Vaccinated Travel Passes to come to Singapore on the first day of application, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on Thursday (Sep 2).  

As of Wednesday at 11.59pm, 301 of the passes issued for Germany were to short-term visitors and 434 to long-term pass holders.

For Brunei, 18 were issued to short-term visitors and two to long-term pass holders, said CAAS in the media statement. 

The passes are for travel between Sept 8 and Oct 7.

JAKARTA, Sept 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least four Indonesian soldiers were killed and two others wounded in an ambush by guerrillas in the breakaway region of Papua, authorities said.

More than 30 rebels ambushed a military outpost in Maybrat, attacking the soldiers with machetes before escaping into the jungle.

“It was still dark when the attack happened and the perpetrators escaped right away,” West Papua military chief I Nyoman Cantiasa said in a video statement on Friday.

SHANGHAI, Sept 3 (Reuters) - China's environment ministry said on Friday talks with visiting U.S. climate envoy John Kerry this week were "candid, in-depth and pragmatic" and the two sides would continue "dialogue and consultation".

The world's two biggest sources of carbon emissions would work together to help achieve success at this year's climate talks in Glasgow in November, where nearly 200 countries will review global efforts to tackle rising temperatures, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said.