CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Thailand's Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai announced on Friday that his ASEAN counterparts have reaffirmed cooperation between the ASEAN member states to combat transnational crimes.

In a press statement released on Friday, the Thai foreign minister, who chaired an ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Chiang Mai, said his ASEAN counterparts have recognized the need to have a comprehensive approach to address transnational crimes which have accompanied enhanced regional connectivity. (Thailand-ASEAN-Combating Transnational Crimes)

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TOKYO -- The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday approved a draft budget for fiscal 2019 that was amended to incorporate missing costs resulting from the release of faulty jobs data from the labor ministry.

The general-account budget, already approved by the cabinet in December, had to be revised to incorporate an additional 650 million yen (6 million U.S. dollars) to the already record-high 101.46 trillion yen (926 billion U.S. dollars) allocation. (Japan-Draft Budget)

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KABUL -- At least 36 combatants from warring sides have been killed in the conflict-torn Afghanistan over the past 24 hours as both the government forces and the Taliban militants have intensified offensives against each other, officials said Friday.

The government forces launched cleanup operations in Baladuri, Chashma-e-Shir and Khawja Alwan areas outside Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of northern Baghlan province Thursday evening, and so far six insurgents have been killed and five others injured, army spokesman in the northern region Mohammad Hanif Rezai said. (Afghanistan-Security)

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SEOUL -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) would hold a meeting between respective chiefs of the inter-Korean liaison offices in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong Friday, South Korean unification ministry said.

Lee Eugene, the unification ministry's deputy spokesperson, told a press briefing that Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung, the South Korean liaison office head, was scheduled to have a meeting with Hwang Chung Song, deputy chief of the liaison office on the DPRK side. (South Korea-DPRK-Meeting) Enditem

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