Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

JAKARTA, Feb 4 (NNN-ANTARA) – As many as 303 doctors have died, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, according to the Indonesia Medical Association today.

Among the 303 doctors, 169 are general practitioners, 129 specialists, and five resident doctors.

The oldest doctors who died of COVID-19 were aged between 81 and 85, and the number stands at six. The youngest were aged between 28 and 30, and the number stands at 11.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares fell Thursday as caution set in over company earnings reports, recent choppy trading in technology stocks and prospects for more economic stimulus for a world battling a pandemic.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1.0% to 28,360.42, while South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.4% to 3,086.72. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.9% to 6,765.50. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9% to 29,048.31, while the Shanghai Composite was down 0.3% to 3,506.75.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The South Korean and U.S. presidents agreed on the need for a comprehensive strategy on North Korea as they push to work together to achieve denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, officials said.

During their first phone talks since President Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, South Korean President Moon Jae-in proposed the allies make joint efforts for lasting peace and denuclearization.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s new military government has blocked access to Facebook as resistance to Monday’s coup surged amid calls for civil disobedience to protest the ousting of the elected civilian government and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Facebook is especially popular in Myanmar and the ousted government had commonly made public announcements on the social media site.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday rejected the suggestion that it supported or gave tacit consent to Monday’s military coup in neighbouring Myanmar.

“Relevant theories are not true. As Myanmar’s friendly neighbouring country, we wish that all sides in Myanmar can appropriately resolve their differences, and uphold political and social stability,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in response to a question at a daily briefing.

BEIJING (Reuters) - The Winter Olympics, due to begin in one year, offer China a chance to show off its epidemic controls, dazzle with spectacle and seize a publicity win on the world stage - but human rights concerns and COVID-19 uncertainty cast a cloud over the games.

Organisers promise a “joyful rendezvous upon pure ice and snow” that will kick off on Feb. 4, 2022. Artificial powder will likely be needed to help cover the slopes carved out on the brown, arid mountains to Beijing’s northwest.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore has become the first country in Asia to approve Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine as it begins rolling out its immunisation programme to the wider population.

The city-state expects to receive the first shipment of the Moderna shots around March, adding to its stock of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine approved in December.

SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States should flexibly enforce sanctions aimed at curbing Pyongyang’s nuclear programmes to revive denuclearisation talks, South Korea’s point man on North Korea said on Wednesday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to work towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula at their first summit in 2018, but a second summit and subsequent working-level talks fell apart.

YANGON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will be remanded in detention until Feb. 15, a National League for Democracy (NLD) official confirmed on Wednesday.

The police sued President U Win Myint under the National Disaster Management Law while State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi under the Export and Import Law, Kyi Toe, information committee member of the party, said on his social media account.

The military and police have yet to make any official statement so far.

BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday expressed the hope that the U.S. government will invite World Health Organization (WHO) experts to carry out novel coronavirus source tracing research in the United States.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a press briefing after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview that China's arrangements for WHO experts were not transparent.