Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 25 (NNN-NHK) – Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, said Tuesday that, he is determined to meet DPRK leader, Kim Jong Un “face to face, without attaching any conditions.”

Japan attaches great importance to the de-nuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

Other outstanding issues include the abduction of Japanese citizens, and Japan’s colonisation of the peninsula, in the past.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Malaysia’s leading index has signalled a brighter economic outlook in Nov, 2019, until Jan, 2020, according to official data released today (Wednesday).

Malaysian Statistics Department, said, the leading index that signals the direction of economic movements surged 1.4 percent to 119.3 points in July, from 117.6 points in the previous month, showing the economy will enter the expansion phase.

JIUQUAN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- China sent a new satellite into planned orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi Desert on Wednesday.

The Yunhai-1 02 satellite, launched on a Long March-2D carrier rocket at 8:54 a.m. (Beijing Time), will be mainly used for detecting the atmospheric and marine environment and space environment, as well as disaster control and other scientific experiments.

BANGKOK (AP) — Stocks skidded in Asia on Wednesday after Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives said they were considered launching an impeachment probe of President Donald Trump.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.4% to 22,020.15 while the Shanghai Composite gave up 0.9% to 2,960.98. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 1.4% to 25,925.66 and the S&P ASX 200 in Sydney slid 0.5% to 6,713.20. Shares also fell in India, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

TOKYO (AP) — The head of NASA said Wednesday that space security is necessary so that the United States, Japan and others can safely explore the moon and Mars.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine also said during his Tokyo visit that he wants to take the U.S. space partnership with Japan to a new level by stepping up cooperation by going to the moon and eventually to Mars together.

But he said that will be possible only if space is kept a safe place.

“NASA fully supports the idea of space security,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The 5G trials launched in Putrajaya and Cyberjaya last April are to be expanded nationwide, with the 5G demonstration projects around the country set to begin next month, Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said today.

“It is hoped that Malaysia’s early commitment to 5G, to rapidly deploy 5G test beds and nationwide demonstration projects, will position the country  as one  of the leaders of 5G adoption in the world,” he said.

JAKARTA, Sept 24 (NNN-ANTARA) – The death toll from violent protest in Indonesia’s eastern Papua province, a day earlier, rose to 24 today (Tuesday), with 72 others injured, military spokesman in the province, Colonel Eko Daryanto, said.

Hundreds of furious protesters on Monday, torched homes and other buildings in Wamena and Waena of the province, during the rally, sparked by rumours that a high school teacher insulted students with racist words, but the police confirmed the stories were hoax.

HAVANA, Sept 24 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — The damage caused by the US blockade against Cuba in the transport sector exceeded 170 million dollars from April 2018 to March 2019.

According to the most recent report on the impact of the US blockade on Cuba, the figure represents an increase of more than 69 million dollars over the previous period.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers in a private briefing Tuesday that nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea will likely resume within two to three weeks, according to one of the lawmakers who attended the session.

The National Intelligence Service gave its assessment on prospect of the stalled nuclear diplomacy, hours after President Donald Trump said another meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “could happen soon.”

BEIJING, September 23. /TASS/: Beijing will boost strategic cooperation with Moscow in all fields, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in an article on the upcoming 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

According to him, China-Russia cooperation has reached unprecedented reached unprecedented highs.

The Chinese top diplomat also emphasized that Beijing intended to develop ties with neighboring countries, particularly building mutual trust.