KUALA LUMPUR -- Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to the deployment of an ASEAN observer team as efforts to de-escalate their conflict continue, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday.
Malaysia's engagement would continue across multiple channels, including communications between leaders, foreign ministers and the respective chiefs of armed forces, and a meeting between ASEAN foreign ministers scheduled for Dec. 22 in Kuala Lumpur, Anwar said, according to a Bernama report. (Malaysia-Thai-Cambodian Conflict)
- - - -
MANILA -- Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos has "firmly dismissed misleading claims" portraying the Philippines as a training hotspot for violent extremist groups, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said on Wednesday.
"The President strongly rejects the sweeping statement and the misleading characterization of the Philippines as the ISIS training hotspot," Castro said in a press briefing. (Philippines-Australia-Beach Shooting)
- - - -
SEOUL -- A ruling on Kim Keon-hee, wife of impeached former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, will be delivered on Jan. 28 next year, Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday.
The Seoul Central District Court will hand down its ruling on Kim on corruption charges, said the report. (SKorea-Former First Lady)
- - - -
TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi came under fire in parliament on Tuesday as her evasive answers regarding Taiwan has triggered strong criticism from opposition parties and fueled disorder at the Diet meeting.
On Tuesday, lawmakers engaged in a heated debate over Takaichi's earlier erroneous remarks on Taiwan. Constitutional Democratic Party lawmaker Hajime Hirota pressed Takaichi to clarify whether Taiwan would fall under the category of "other countries with close ties to Japan" in the definition of a "survival-threatening situation." (Japan-PM-Taiwan)
- - - -
TOKYO -- Japan issued an emergency stop of the launch of an H3 rocket which carries the country's satellite "Michibiki No. 5" on Wednesday.
The Michibiki navigation satellite was scheduled to launch at 11:11 a.m. local time on Wednesday, but the launch was canceled due to an anomaly in the systems, according to an announcement at the launch site. (Japan-Rocket) ■
