Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's lunar rover Yutu-2 has driven 271 meters on the far side of the moon to conduct scientific exploration on the virgin territory.

Both the lander and the rover of the Chang'e-4 probe switched to its dormant mode for the lunar night on Wednesday (Beijing time), according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

China's Chang'e-4 probe, launched on Dec. 8, 2018, made the first-ever soft landing on the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on Jan. 3.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese imports of American goods plunged in July as a tariff war with Washington intensified.

Imports of U.S. goods fell 19% from a year earlier to $10.9 billion, customs data showed Thursday, though that was an improvement over June’s 31.4% fall. Exports to the United States declined 6.5% to $38.8 billion.

Beijing has retaliated for U.S. tariff hikes in a dispute over trade and technology by imposing its own punitive duties and suspending purchases of American soybeans and other goods.

6 Aug 2019; AA: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday emphasized the significance of Asia, as an emerging power center. 

Addressing Turkish ambassadors at a dinner hosted by Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK) and Turkey Exporters Assembly (TIM) in capital Ankara, he said economic power was shifting from the West to the East.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s government spokesman says his country’s downgrading of South Korea’s trade status is not intended as retaliation for disputes over court rulings ordering Japanese companies to pay compensation for their treatment of Korean laborers during World War II.

A decision by the Cabinet last Friday to drop South Korea from a list of countries granted preferred trade status became official Wednesday when it was published in Japan’s official gazette “kampo.” The measure will take effect on Aug. 28.

London, Aug 6 (PTI) The UK government on Tuesday said that it was monitoring the situation in Kashmir closely and called for calm as the country's parliamentarians echoed some of the wider divisions over the India's decision to revoke Article 370 and bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian government on Monday revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and proposed that the state be bifurcated into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Wednesday leader Kim Jong Un supervised a live-fire demonstration of newly developed, short-range ballistic missiles intended to send a warning to the United States and South Korea over their joint military exercises.

The official Korean Central News Agency said two missiles launched from a western airfield flew across the country and over the area surrounding the capital, Pyongyang, before accurately hitting an island target off its eastern coast.

TOKYO, August 6. /TASS/: Missiles launched by North Korea on tuesday have not reached Japan's territorial waters or its exclusive economic zone, the country's defense ministry said.

"Missiles have nor reached our country's territorial waters or exclusive economic zone," the defense ministry said.

BEIJING, August 6. /TASS/: The US accused Russia of non-compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in order to get a free hand in developing weapons, Director General of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Arms Control Fu Cong said at a special briefing on Tuesday.

"When they leave the Treaty, announce plans to conduct tests before the end of the month and talk about deploying missiles, others get the impression that the US was well prepared for the withdrawal," he added.

06 August 2019; AFP: North Korea on Tuesday said US-South Korean war games are a "flagrant violation" of efforts to reach peace on the Korean peninsula and reflect a lack of "political will" to improve relations.

The comments by an unnamed North Korean foreign ministry spokesman, carried by state news agency KCNA, came as Pyongyang fired two "unidentified projectiles" off its eastern coast, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- China deeply regrets the U.S. Treasury's decision to label China "a currency manipulator," the People's Bank of China said Tuesday.

Such a label on China does not meet the quantitative criteria for the so-called "currency manipulator" set by the U.S. Treasury, the central bank said in a statement.

The U.S. labeling is an arbitrary unilateral and protectionist practice, which seriously damages international rules and will significantly impact the global economy and financial markets, it said.