Tokyo  - Asian stocks bounced up Thursday as investors were cheered by news from Japan, where the government prepared to unveil a 154-billion-dollar economic stimulus package and its machinery orders unexpectedly rose.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average surged 3.74 per cent to 8,916.06, a day after falling 2.69 per cent on concerns over upcoming corporate earnings reports. Thursday's gains erased the Nikkei's losses for the year.

Japan's broader Topix index of all first-section issues also rose 3.26 per cent to 841.81.

Manila  - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday urged Asian countries to invest in building disaster-resistant hospitals and health facilities, which are critical lifelines during calamities and other emergencies.

WHO said governments must ensure that hospitals and other health facilities can withstand earthquakes and other calamities amid increasing natural and man-made disasters.

It also stressed the need to ensure that health workers are trained to treat injuries and care for those affected by emergencies.

Manila  - Economic growth in developing Asia was expected to slow to its lowest rate in more than a decade due to the global economic crisis, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Tuesday.

The Asian Development Outlook, the annual report of the Manila-based ADB, forecasts economic growth in Asia to slide to 3.4 per cent, down from 6.3 per cent last year and 9.5 per cent in 2007.

The report said that if the global economy experiences a mild recovery next year, the economic growth for the region could expand 6 per cent in 2010.

Bangkok - Six months ago, when the financial crisis started in US and European markets, there was still hope that South-East and East Asia would prove immune to the latest hiccup in capitalism.

The region suffered its own financial crisis in 1997-98 when weak financial systems, overborrowing and ballooning current account deficits led to plummeting currencies, widespread bankruptcies, mountains of private and public debt, and a massive financial cleanup sponsored by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and pushed by the West.

Manila - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday urged governments in Asia and the Pacific to boost their national health systems, which are vital in the fight against tuberculosis (TB), especially drug-resistant cases.

The Manila-based WHO Western Pacific Office said that effective TB control has been hampered by weaknesses in national health systems, such as chronic staff shortages and inadequate financial resources.

New York  - The first nuclear weapon free-zone in the northern hemisphere will enter into force Saturday, which calls on the five Central Asian states to forswear nuclear weapons and abandon all nuclear activities.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the event, saying it is of particular significance because it encompasses a region where nuclear weapons previously existed.