Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai protesters demonstrated on Saturday to demand more action to help seafood sellers hit by a COVID-19 outbreak as the government urged people to eat more shellfish.

Thailand’s worst outbreak of the new coronavirus was reported just over a week ago, with more than 1,500 infections now linked to a shrimp market outside Bangkok. Most of those infected have been migrant workers from Myanmar.

Seafood sellers say business has fallen in a country whose economy had already been badly hit by a collapse in tourism.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan aims to eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles in about 15 years, the government said Friday in a plan to achieve Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s ambitious pledge to go carbon free by 2050 and generate nearly $2 trillion growth in green business and investment.

The “green growth strategy” urges utilities to bolster renewables and hydrogen while calling for auto industries to go carbon free by the mid-2030s.

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Armenia’s prime minister said Friday he was ready to discuss the possibility of holding an early parliamentary election, but rejected opposition demands to step down over his handling of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea had seemed to be winning the fight against the coronavirus: Quickly ramping up its testing, contact-tracing and quarantine efforts paid off when it weathered an early outbreak without the economic pain of a lockdown. But a deadly resurgence has reached new heights during Christmas week, prompting soul-searching on how the nation sleepwalked into a crisis.

The 1,241 infections on Christmas Day were the largest daily increase. Another 1,132 cases were reported Saturday, bringing South Korea’s caseload to 55,902.

BEIJING, Dec.25 (APP): Both China and Pakistan are big stakeholders of automobile production and consumption and it would be a positive decision for Pakistan to promote production of new energy vehicles.

Visiting professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Cheng Xizhong said, “With the continuous advancement of the construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Special Economic Zones (SEZs), China and Pakistan can carry out close cooperation,”.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan aims to eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles in the next 15 years, the government said on Friday in a plan to reach net zero carbon emissions and generate nearly $2 trillion a year in green growth by 2050.

The “green growth strategy,” targeting the hydrogen and auto industries, is meant as an action plan to achieve Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s October pledge to eliminate carbon emissions on a net basis by mid-century.

TOKYO (Reuters) - A top Japanese defence official on Friday urged U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to “be strong” in supporting Taiwan in the face of an aggressive China, calling the island’s safety a “red line.”

“We are concerned China will expand its aggressive stance into areas other than Hong Kong. I think one of the next targets, or what everyone is worried about, is Taiwan,” State Minister of Defense Yasuhide Nakayama told Reuters.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s finance ministry said on Friday it will extend tariff exemptions for imports of 6 products from the United States including white oil and food-grade petroleum wax, for another year.

The extension, effective on Dec. 26, will last through Dec. 25, 2021, the ministry said.

China announced tariff exemptions on the 6 chemical and oil products from the U.S. in December last year, shortly after the two countries announced a Phase 1 trade deal.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga urged the nation on Friday to spend a quiet New Year period without the usual social gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which has been breaking infection records almost on a daily basis.

Suga also announced a package of $2.6 billion for hospitals treating COVID-19 patients which have come under strain due to the rapid rise in cases across the northern island of Hokkaido as well as large cities like Tokyo and Osaka.

Beijing, Dec 25 (AP-PTI) Authorities in China's northeastern port city of Dalian are testing millions of residents after seven new coronavirus cases were reported there in the last 24 hours.

The cluster that has emerged in recent days has grown to 12 cases. In five neighbourhood divisions, authorities have shut schools and public spaces and are restricting anyone but essential workers from leaving their residential compounds.