Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, Nov 28 (Reuters) - After decades of satellite surveillance by foreign governments and analysts, North Korea has sent its first spy satellite on a global orbit with a message to the world: we can watch you too.

On Tuesday North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un had reviewed spy satellite photos of the White House, Pentagon and U.S. aircraft carriers at the naval base of Norfolk.

North Korea last week successfully launched its first reconnaissance satellite, which it has said was designed to monitor U.S. and South Korean military movements.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has marched forward a decade since its unveiling and has continued growing in scope and scale, bringing better connectivity for common development and prosperity, experts have said at an international forum here.

In his opening remarks at the International Forum on New Inclusive Asia (IFNIA) 2023 on Monday, Ong Tee Keat, president of the Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia Pacific sang high praise for the solid achievements made by the BRI over the past decade.

BEIJING, Nov 27 (APP): Chinese Foreign Minister and a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Wang Yi will preside over a high-level UN Security Council meeting in New York on the Palestinian-Israeli issue on November 29, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said on Monday.

BUKIT KAYU HITAM (Kedah, Malaysia), Nov 27 (NNN-Bernama) — Thailand’s plan to build sea ports and a land bridge which will shorten the journey of ships without the need to go through the Straits of Melaka will also benefit Malaysia especially northern Peninsular Malaysia.  

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the government will ensure Malaysia benefits and is involved in the project.

He added that Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin assured the involvement of Malaysia in the project.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Malaysia will grant 30-day visa-free travel for Chinese citizens, starting Dec 1 this year, Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, announced yesterday.

This move is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and China next year, Anwar said in his remarks, at the annual congress of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, of which he is president.

SHANGHAI, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The spike in respiratory illnesses that China is currently suffering is not as high as before the COVID-19 pandemic, a World Health Organisation official said, reiterating that no new or unusual pathogens had been found in the recent cases.

Maria Van Kerkhove, acting director of the WHO's department of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said the increase appeared to be driven by a rise in the number of children contracting pathogens that they had avoided during two years of COVID restrictions.

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Six people were killed and 18 others got injured after their pickup truck overturned on the road down from the Kulen Mountain in northwest Cambodia's Siem Reap province on Monday, a local police chief said.

The truck was carrying a troupe, which rode the truck down the mountain after finishing a performance at the mountaintop pagoda, said Yip Yungchheang, police chief of Svay Leu district.

SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The aerospace agency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is trying to accelerate the fine-tuning of the reconnaissance satellite it placed into orbit last week, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Monday.

The fine-tuning of the reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1 "is being hastened to end one or two days earlier," KCNA said, citing the Pyongyang General Control Center of the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA).

DHAKA, Nov 26 (NNN-BSS) – The Bangladeshi government has decided to construct 120 more cyclone shelter centres in 13 coastal districts, to safeguard communities facing disaster risks.

The cyclone shelter centres will be built between Jan next year and Dec, 2027, under a project taken up by the Department of Disaster Management, with full funds from the government, the Financial Express reported, yesterday.

SHANGHAI, Nov 25 (Reuters) - China's military will begin "combat training activities" from Saturday on its side of the border with Myanmar, it said on social media, a day after a convoy of trucks carrying goods into the neighbouring Southeast Asian nation went up in flames.

The incident, which Myanmar state media called an insurgent attack, came amid insecurity concerns in China, whose envoy met top officials in Myanmar's capital for talks on border stability after recent signs of rare strain in their ties.