Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING (AP) — Satellite images show China has built mock-ups of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and destroyer in its northwestern desert, possibly for practice for a future naval clash as tensions rise between the nations.

China has massively upgraded its military in recent years, and its capability and intentions are increasingly concerning to the United States as tensions rise over the South China Sea, Taiwan and military supremacy in the Indo-Pacific.

BEIJING, Nov 7 (APP): Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque paid a visit to Pakistan National Pavilion in Yiwu city of Zhejiang province as part of the economic diplomacy and outreach efforts of the Embassy and Consulates General in China.

The pavilion was established in November 2019 at Yiwu China Import Commodity Center Plaza, with an objective to showcase Pakistani traditional and exportable products and culture and to promote bilateral trade.

HANOI, Nov 7 (NNN-VNA) – Authorities of the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, inaugurated the China-built Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line project yesterday, making it the first metro line in the country to start commercial operation.

The project was handed over to Hanoi by its investor, the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport, on the same day. All passengers on the metro line can enjoy free rides during the first 15 days of the commercial run.

BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's Shenzhou-13 taikonauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping, donning China-developed Feitian spacesuits, are conducting extravehicular activities (EVAs), the China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday evening.

Ye Guangfu stayed inside to support his crewmates to complete the operations.

The EVAs are underway and expected to last for six hours, according to the agency.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has conducted artillery firing exercises to bolster its defense capability, state media reported Sunday, its latest weapons test as Pyongyang continues to pressure Washington and Seoul to abandon what it calls their hostile policy toward it.

An artillery firing competition among mechanized units was held on Saturday, with senior government and military officials present, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s exports remained strong in October, a positive sign for an economy trying to weather power shortages and COVID-19 outbreaks.

The country’s customs agency said Sunday that exports totaled $300.2 billion, up 27.1% from a year ago. That was down from a 28.1% increase in September but still healthy. Imports came in at $215.7 billion, a 20.6% rise.

TASHKENT, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan's re-elected President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was sworn in at a joint meeting of both chambers of the parliament here on Saturday, and unveiled a new development strategy prioritizing seven directions to continue his reform agenda.

The development of a free civil society, and large-scale reforms aimed at ensuring human dignity and its legitimate interests will be raised to a new level, Mirziyoyev said after taking office for a second term.

JAKARTA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off North Sulawesi province in the eastern part of Indonesia on Saturday, but no preliminary report on damages or casualty was issued, an agency and a disaster official said.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency did not issue any tsunami warning as the quake did not potentially trigger giant waves.

The quake rocked at 9:37 p.m. Jakarta time (1437 GMT) with the epicenter at 71 km southeast of Bolaang Mongondow district and at the depth of 20 km under the seabed, the agency reported.

SEOUL, Nov 5 (Reuters) - South Korea's main opposition party on Friday chose a former top prosecutor as its presidential candidate, hoping to ride voter anger over rising home prices and corruption scandals involving President Moon Jae-in's party to victory in a 2022 election.

Yoon Seok-youl, who served as prosecutor-general until March after being appointed by Moon in 2019, was picked at a party convention to represent the People Power Party in the March 9, 2022 presidential election.

HONG KONG, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Last month, several thousand Hong Kong university students, some of them under the watch of a CCTV camera, were the first to take compulsory courses on the territory’s national security law.

The content of the courses, some of which Reuters has seen exclusively, sets out the dangers of breaking the law, in one case demonstrating how a message in a chat group could be interpreted as a serious breach, punishable by up to life in prison.