Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

Beijing, Jan 23; PTI: China's Rocket Force, the strategic and tactical missile operator of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), has conducted a simulated intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) strike mission from an underground bunker against an imaginary enemy, official media here reported.

China Central Television (CCTV), which carried the news, however, did not disclose the details about the location and time of the exercise.

23 Jan 2019; AA: In a major relief to North Korea, the UN Security Council has allowed humanitarian agencies to work in the country, media reports said Wednesday.

The Security Council has granted exemptions from sanctions to UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Eugene Bell Foundation, Christian Friends of Korea, and the Canadian NGO First Steps Health Society to work in the country facing sanctions for its nuclear program since 2006.

TOKYO, January 23. /TASS/. Signing a peace treaty between Japan and Russia is not an easy problem that can be solved just after several rounds of talks, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday.

"This is not such an easy problem, which can be solved immediately after several rounds of negotiations," Suga stressed, signaling that concluding a peace treaty with Russia will take certain time.

BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday urged Canada to immediately release Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou and the United States to withdraw its arrest warrant for her.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks at a regular news briefing after the United States informed the Canadian government that it planned to proceed with a formal request to extradite Meng.

BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank Wednesday injected 257.5 billion yuan (37.8 billion U.S. dollars) of funds into the market via the targeted medium-term lending facility (TMLF) to maintain liquidity.

The funds have a maximum maturity of three years and an annual interest rate of 3.15 percent, 15 basis points lower than the existing medium-term lending facility (MLF), the People's Bank of China said on its website.

The TMLF tool was introduced in December 2018 to encourage loans to small and private businesses.

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. /TASS/. An earthquake of 6.1 magnitude has rocked Indonesia on Tuesday, US Geological Survey reported.

The earthquake's epicenter lay 220 km to the north-west of the town of Dompu (around 49,000 residents) on the Sumbawa island, at the depth of 31.3 km.

No injuries or damages have been reported. No tsunami alert was issued.

BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Prices of farm produce in China rose slightly in the week ending Jan. 20, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The price index for farm produce edged up 1 percent from the previous week, while the index for production materials remained flat.

The average wholesale price of 30 types of vegetables went up 5.1 percent, compared with a 0.5 percent rise a week earlier.

The wholesale price of eggs rose 1.6 percent from the previous week. The price of beef went up 0.8 percent and lamb went up 0.1 percent.

FRANKFURT, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- China will become a high-income country by 2025 and the world's largest economy by 2030, Justine Yifu Lin, former senior vice president and chief economist at the World Bank, said here on Monday.

At "The Economics of China's New Era," an event hosted by the Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe, Lin said that "even after 40 years of extraordinary growth, China still has a huge potential for dynamic economic growth."

22 Jan 2019; AFP: Plans to free a radical cleric linked to the deadly Bali bombings are under review, Indonesia has said, after the surprise decision drew sharp criticism.

Abu Bakar Bashir was once synonymous with militant Islam in Indonesia and was tied to the terror network behind the 2002 attacks that killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists.

BEIJING, January 21. /TASS/. Beijing is calling on all sides to avoid steps that could deteriorate the situation in Syria, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters on Monday commenting on an Israeli airstrike on Syria.

"China has always stated that it’s important to respect and defend Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. At present, political settlement of the Syrian crisis is at a key stage," the diplomat noted.