Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

01 Feb 2019; AFP: There were 161 jobs for every 100 jobseekers on average last year in Japan, the highest ratio since 1973, highlighting the labour shortage in the world's third-largest economy and its ageing society.

According to labour ministry data released on Friday, the ratio was even higher in December, at 163 jobs available for every 100 people looking for work.

TOKYO, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Friday that the nation is contending with a flu epidemic with a record-high number of patients being diagnosed last week.

According to the ministry, an average of 57.09 patients were diagnosed with influenza last week at each medical facility conducting tests for the virus, with the figures gathered for the seven days through Sunday being the highest number since data gathering on the virus began in 1999.

SHANGHAI, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- A special court to handle bankruptcy cases was set up in Shanghai on Friday, according to local authorities.

The newly established Shanghai court will handle company bankruptcies, compulsory liquidation cases and cross-border bankruptcy cases.

Shenzhen set up a bankruptcy court, the first of its kind in the country, on Jan. 14. Beijing set up the country's second on Wednesday.

BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday said China was ready to tap more cooperative potentials and enhance all-round cooperation with Qatar to benefit the two peoples.

The remark came as Li met with visiting Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Hailing Qatar as China's important cooperation partner in the Middle East and the Gulf, Li said relations between the two countries had enjoyed healthy and stable development, with cooperation in trade, investment and other fields growing rapidly.

BEIJING (AP) — China urged Washington on Thursday to accept its industrial development after U.S. intelligence officials said Beijing steals or copies foreign technology, as the two sides prepared for another day of talks aimed at ending a tariff war over Beijing’s technology ambitions.

It is “totally unreasonable to make random accusations,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang.

30 Jan 2019; AFP: Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba said Wednesday that net profit increased 37 percent in the latest quarter as growth in cloud computing and other business lines helped offset a slowing expansion in core online retail.

The company's net profit grew to 33.0 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) in the October-December third quarter, compared to 24.1 billion yuan over the same period in 2017.

31 Jan 2019; DW: Malaysia crowned Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah of central Pahang state as the country's 16th king on Thursday, following the surprise resignation of Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan on January 6.

The Royal Palace has not said why the previous king abdicated the throne, but online reports and images of Sultan Muhammad's alleged marriage to a former Russian beauty queen appeared in December. The reports have remained unconfirmed by the Palace.

BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- China's Chang'e-4 probe, having made the first-ever soft landing on moon's far side, found that the temperature of the lunar surface dropped to as low as minus 190 degrees centigrade, colder than expected.

This is the first time Chinese scientists have received first-hand data about the temperatures on the surface of the far side of the moon during the lunar night.

BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The rover and the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe have been awakened by sunlight after a long "sleep" during the first extremely cold night on the moon, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on Thursday.

The lander woke up at 8:39 p.m. Wednesday, and the rover, Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2), awoke at about 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, surviving their first lunar night after making the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, said CNSA.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States kicked off here on Wednesday morning a new round of high-level talks to address their differences on outstanding economic and trade issues.

The talks, scheduled for two days, mark a significant step in the implementation of the important consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump during a working dinner in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Dec. 1.