Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who himself first seized power in a coup, said on Wednesday he had received a letter from Myanmar’s new junta leader asking for help to support democracy.

Prayuth, who overthrew an elected prime minister in 2014 and stayed in office after a 2019 election his rivals said was badly flawed, told reporters in Bangkok that he had always supported democracy in the neighbouring country.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - The Sriwijaya Air plane that crashed last month killing 62 people had an imbalance in engine thrust that eventually led the plane into a sharp roll and then a final dive into the sea, a preliminary report by investigators said on Wednesday.

When the 26-year-old Boeing Co 737-500 plane reached 8,150 feet (2,484 m) after take-off, the left engine throttle lever moved back while the right lever stayed in its original position, Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) said in its report.

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese spacecraft appears poised to enter orbit around Mars, one day after an orbiter from the United Arab Emirates did so and about a week ahead of an American attempt to put down another spacecraft on the surface of the red planet.

Chinese authorities, always cautious about possible failure, have not announced a planned arrival time. The official Xinhua News Agency reported last week that the spacecraft was expected to slow down around Wednesday before entering orbit and preparing for a Mars landing.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Crowds demonstrating against the military takeover in Myanmar again defied a ban on protests Wednesday, even after security forces ratcheted up the use of force against them and raided the headquarters of the political party of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Fresh protests were reported in Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s two biggest cities, as well as the capital Naypyitaw and elsewhere.

BEIJING, Feb 9 (APP): As this year marks the 70th anniversary of establishment of China-Pakistan diplomatic relations, China will continue to offer support and assistance for Pakistan’s anti-epidemic efforts, economic recovery and social development in accordance with its needs, Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein is on a working visit to Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah Zayed Al Nahyan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement Monday, said Hishammuddin is scheduled to hold a meeting Monday night with his UAE counterpart on bilateral cooperation as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern of both countries.

(Reuters) - Using one hand to photograph this moment in Myanmar’s history, Myat gave a three-finger “Hunger Games” salute of defiance to authoritarian rule as she stood with tens of thousands of other protesters gathered around the Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon.

Passers-by and storekeepers returned the salute as Myat and her fellow demonstrators sang protest songs, while police watched on.

That was on Monday, the third day of protests by people opposed to a military coup against a civilian government that won a landslide election in November.

TOKYO, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine collided with a commercial vessel on Monday in the Pacific Ocean off the western main island of Shikoku, slightly injuring three crew members on the submarine, government officials said.

In the incident, the 84-meter-long Soryu scraped the hull of the vessel when it was surfacing, the Defense Ministry said.

Top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said at a press conference that the clash occurred at around 10:58 a.m. local time (0158 GMT) off Cape Ashizuri in Shikoku's Kochi Prefecture.

TOKYO (AP) — The postponed Tokyo Olympics have yet another problem besides the pandemic. This time it’s Yoshiro Mori, the president of the local organizing committee.

Mori made derogatory comments about women almost a week ago in a meeting of the Japanese Olympic Committee. He essentially said they talk too much, driven by a “strong sense of rivalry.”

WUHAN, China (AP) — The coronavirus is unlikely to have leaked from a Chinese lab and is more likely to have jumped to humans from an animal, a World Health Organization team has concluded, an expert said Tuesday as the group wrapped up a visit to explore the origins of the virus.