Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A pair of dogs gifted by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018 are now mired in a South Korean political row, with the country’s former president blaming his conservative successor for a lack of financial support as he gave the animals up.

Moon Jae-in, a liberal who left office in May, received the two white “Pungsan” hunting dogs – a breed known to be indigenous to North Korea – from Kim following their peace summit in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in September 2018.

07 Nov 2022; MEMO: The Philippines will lift a ban on deploying domestic workers to Saudi Arabia and resume it in November, after Riyadh agreed to boost protective measures for Filipino migrants, officials said, local media reports.

According to the report, deployment resumed on 7 November, a decision that comes after talks between the Philippines' migrant workers department and Saudi's Human Resource Ministry.

BEIJING, Nov 7 (APP): “In the future, hair loss prevention and hair growth is the top priority, scalp care is also one of the future trends. If Pakistani hair loss prevention products can enter into the Chinese market, they will have great potential.” Liu Yingqi, general manager of JD Worldwide, said.

BEIJING, November 7. /TASS/: Beijing calls on London to stop official contacts with the Taipei administration, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a briefing on Monday, commenting on a visit to Taiwan by UK Minister of State Greg Hands.

"We call on the UK to respect the sovereignty of China, strictly observe the 'one China' principle and stop all official contacts with Taiwan," Zhao Lijian said. He also added that London should not send false signals to Taiwanese separatists who advocate the island's independence.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia needs a stable political ecosystem to face the coming economic challenges, say economic analysts.

Chief Economist at the Future Labour Market Studies (EU-ERA), Associate Professor Dr Mohd Yusof Saari said Malaysia’s experience has shown that political stability is crucial to efficient economic governance.

“In a few months, we will enter the year 2023 and this means that we are close to facing the global economic crisis phase, therefore, political stability is needed to face the situation.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 (NNN-Bernama) — Azerbaijan supports the power of diplomacy and peaceful settlement of its issues with Armenia, said Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Malaysia Irfan Davudov.

In this context, he said in March 2022, Azerbaijan declared a proposal on the basic principles for the establishment of relations between Baku and Yerevan.

Davudov explained that the first principle of this proposal calls on both sides to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of internationally recognised borders and political independence of each other.

ULAN BATOR, Nov 7 (NNN-XINHUA) – Mongolia planted a total of 10.2 million trees across the country since the launch of its national tree-planting campaign “Billion Trees” last year.

Among the total planted trees, 1.3 million have been planted in and near the national capital, Ulan Bator, which is home to over half of the country’s population, local media reported today, citing the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.

SEOUL, Nov 7 (Reuters) - South Korea's former President Moon Jae-in said on Monday he plans to give up a pair of dogs sent by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a gift following their 2018 summit, citing a lack of support from his successor.

Moon has raised the white Pungsan dogs named "Gomi" and "Songgang" since their arrival in the South and took them to his personal residence after his term ended in May.

BEIJING, Nov 7 (Reuters) - China's foreign ministry said on Monday that Britain must stop any form of official exchanges with Taiwan, following plans by a British minister to visit the self-governed island, which China claims, for trade talks.

Taiwan's authorities need to stop colluding with foreign forces, said Zhao Lijian, a spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry, at a regular media briefing.

LOP BURI, Thailand, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Tickets have been selling out fast in Thailand for rides on a special "floating train", where passengers have been enjoying the illusion of aquatic rail travel due to a post-monsoon rise in water levels.

The route starts in the capital Bangkok and passes through the Pasak Jolasid dam in Lop Buri province six hours away on an elevated track just above the water level, which officials say has been unusually high this year.

The train runs only at weekends between November and February and tickets have been sold out until New Year.