Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — North Korean diplomats vacated their embassy in Malaysia and were expelled Sunday, after the two nations cut diplomatic relations in a spat over the extradition of a North Korean criminal suspect to the United States.

The North Korean flag and embassy signage were removed from the premise in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. Two buses ferried the diplomats and their families to the airport, where they were seen checking in for a flight to Shanghai.

BEIJING (AP) — In China, the problem doesn’t seem to be a shortage of vaccine. Rather, with the COVID-19 outbreak largely under control at home, not enough people want to get the shot.

Chinese health officials appealed to the public Sunday to get inoculated. They also said that with vaccination not a guarantee against infection they would still require anyone arriving in China to quarantine for 14 days, even if they have received a vaccine.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine troops killed an Abu Sayyaf rebel commander blamed for years of ransom kidnappings and on Sunday rescued the last of his four Indonesian captives, the military said.

Marines wounded Amajan Sahidjuan in a gunbattle Saturday night and he later died from loss of blood on Kalupag Island in the southernmost province of Tawi Tawi. Two other militants managed to flee and dragged along the last of four Indonesian hostages but troops finally rescued him on Sunday, regional military commander Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr. said.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government expressed concern after spotting more than 200 Chinese fishing vessels it believed were crewed by militias at a reef claimed by both countries in the South China Sea, but it did not immediately lodge a protest.

A government body overseeing the disputed region said late Saturday that about 220 Chinese vessels were seen moored at Whitsun Reef on March 7. It released pictures of the vessels lying side by side in one of the most hotly contested areas of the strategic waterway.

BANGKOK (AP) — Scores of people were injured and arrested in the Thai capital after police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets Saturday night to break up a rally by pro-democracy protesters calling for the release of detained activists, constitutional changes and reform of the nation’s monarchy.

The rally outside Bangkok’s Grand Palace was a continuation of student-led protests that began last year and have rattled Thailand’s traditional establishment, which is fiercely opposed to change, especially with regard to the monarchy.

TOKYO, March 20. /TASS/: A 7.2 magnitude earthquake has hit northeastern Japan, the national weather agency said, adding that a tsunami warning had been issued.

Strong tremors are being felt in the country’s capital of Tokyo. 

TOKYO, March 20. /TASS/: Overseas spectators won’t be allowed to attend the Tokyo Olympic Games due to the coronavirus pandemic, the event’s organizers announced after an online meeting on Saturday.

"The decision comes primarily from the need to ensure security amid the pandemic," Japan’s Olympics Minister Tamayo Marukawa told reporters. According to her, a decision on Japanese spectators will be made in April.

BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden “will be good for the relationship” between China and the United States, even though both sides might have “started a little on frosty side”, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen told a Beijing forum.

Speaking via video link to the China Development Forum, Cohen, who has known Biden since 1972, said U.S. engagement with China will be more professional, diplomatic and civil under Biden, as compared to the name-calling during Trump era.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has administered 70 million COVID-19 vaccinations as of March 20, state media CGTN reported on Saturday citing the national health commission.

China last reported four new COVID-19 cases on March 19, all of which were imported from abroad.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia "deeply regrets" the decision of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to sever their diplomatic ties, the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday in a statement.

The ministry said the DPRK's decision was "unfriendly and unconstructive," adding that "Malaysia reserves our every right to respond to the decision of the DPRK in order to protect our sovereignty and to safeguard our national interest."