Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING (AP) — Rescuers evacuated tourists on Tuesday from a remote skiing area in northwestern China where dozens of avalanches triggered by heavy snow have trapped more than 1,000 people for a week, state media said.

The avalanches have blocked roads, stranding both tourists and residents in a village in Altay prefecture in the Xinjiang region, close to China’s border with Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Those injured were being airlifted out on a military helicopter while supplies such as food and fuel were being flown in.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would no longer pursue reconciliation with South Korea and called for rewriting the North’s constitution to eliminate the idea of shared statehood between the war-divided countries, state media said Tuesday.

SEOUL, Jan 15 (Reuters) - North Korea said on Monday it had tested a new solid-fuel hypersonic missile with intermediate range, amid an intensifying race for the next generation of long-range rockets that are difficult to detect and intercept.

The United States, China, Russia and other countries have also been developing hypersonic weapons in recent years.

HONG KONG (AP) — European markets opened lower while Asian markets were mostly higher on Monday as the week got off to a mixed start.

U.S. markets will be closed for Martin Luther King Day, a holiday.

France’s CAC 40 lost 0.1% to 7,454.74. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.1% to 16,688.90, and Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.2% to 7,619.80.

The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.1%, and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was virtually unchanged.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The Pacific Island nation of Nauru said Monday that it is switching diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China, a move that reduces the dwindling number of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to 12 around the world.

A statement from the government of Nauru said it was severing ties with Taiwan and seeking a resumption of relations with China.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 (NNN-Bernama) — The 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Turkiye and Malaysia this year holds more significance than merely a numerical milestone.

Turkish Ambassador to Malaysia Emir Salim Yuksel, emphasised that it stands as a solid reaffirmation of both countries’ dedication to expanding cooperation in various areas.

MANILA, Jan 14 (NNN-PNA) – Approved investment projects in 2023, amounted to 1.26 trillion pesos (roughly 22.5 billion U.S. dollars), 73 percent higher than in 2022, Philippine Department of Finance (DOF) said, today.

Citing an updated report of Board of Investments (BOI), the DOF said in a press release that, the approved investments comprised 311 projects, mainly on renewable energy, telecommunication infrastructure, and the export of copper, gold, and other metals. These projects would produce over 49,000 jobs, if fully operational.

BEIJING, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The Chinese embassy in Japan said on Sunday that it "resolutely opposed" Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa's statement congratulating Taiwan's new president-elect Lai Ching-te.

In a statement published on the Japanese foreign ministry's website on Saturday, after the results of the Taiwan presidential election were announced, Kamikawa congratulated Lai on his victory, calling the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing "an extremely crucial partner and an important friend."

AGAM, Indonesia, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Marapi volcano erupted on Sunday, with ash rising 1,300 metres (4,300 feet) from the peak six weeks month after a fatal eruption, according to the country's geological agency.

The volcano in West Sumatra province erupted at least twice by 0337 GMT on Sunday, the agency said, urging the evacuation of people within 4.5 km (2.8 miles) of the centre of the eruption, with the possibility of lava flows in rivers and valleys.

SEOUL, Jan 14 (Reuters) - North Korea fired an apparent intermediate-range missile into the sea on Sunday, South Korea and Japan said, as tensions run high after Pyongyang's recent launches of an intercontinental ballistic missile and its first military spy satellite.

North Korea has stepped up pressure on Seoul in recent weeks, declaring it the "principal enemy", saying the North will never reunite with the South and vowing to enhance its ability to deliver a nuclear strike on the U.S. and America's allies in the Pacific.