Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has warned it could revive a state policy aimed at strengthening its nuclear arsenal if the United States does not lift economic sanctions against the country.

The statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Friday evening said North Korea could bring back its “pyongjin” policy of simultaneously advancing its nuclear force and economic development if the United States doesn’t change its stance. The North sopped short of threatening to abandon ongoing nuclear negotiations with Washington.

BANGKOK (AP) — The Pacific rim trade pact abandoned by President Donald Trump will take effect at the year’s end after Australia became the sixth nation to ratify it.

Australia announced Wednesday that it had completed procedures needed for the trade arrangement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, to progress. It will take effect Dec. 30.

The deal is aimed at streamlining trade and slashing tariffs to facilitate more business activities between member nations with a combined population of nearly 500 million people and GDP of $13.5 trillion.

SINGAPORE, October 31. /TASS/. Rescuers have established a presumable location of fuselage of the Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 that crashed in the Java Sea on October 29, Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said on Wednesday.

"This morning we received a report about the discovery of a bright spot, which is believed to be the plane’s fuselage," the Detik news portal quoted the official as saying. "Rescuers need time to confirm the coordinates that were received."

BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese procuratorates have approved the arrest of over 57,000 people suspected of gang crimes in some 17,000 cases in the first nine months this year, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, more than 200 people were arrested for sheltering criminal organizations by concealing their crimes or shielding them from punishment, the SPP said.

Of those arrested for gang crimes, over 32,000 have been prosecuted, according to the SPP.

BEIJING, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's Commerce Ministry late Tuesday expressed opposition to the U.S. imposition of unilateral sanctions against a Chinese firm, urging the country to immediately stop its wrong practice.

The statement was made after the U.S. Department of Commerce on Monday decided to restrict exports to China's Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Company by adding it to the "Entity List."

BEIJING, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- National reunification and rejuvenation are the common aspirations of the people, follow general trends and will not be stopped by any force, the Chinese mainland's Taiwan affairs chief stressed Tuesday.

Liu Jieyi, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks while meeting with delegates from Taiwan attending a non-governmental roundtable discussion in Beijing.

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese rocket on Monday lifted the United Arab Emirates’ first locally made satellite into orbit successfully from a space center in southern Japan.

The KhalifaSat Earth observation satellite was launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries from the Tanegashima Space Center.

The H-2A rocket also is carrying an Ibuki-2 greenhouse gas observation satellite for Japan.

Both the KhalifaSat and Ibuki-2 have since been released separately into targeted orbit, said MHI Launch Services.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s yuan sank to a 10-year low against the dollar on Monday, coming close to breaking the politically sensitive level of seven to the U.S. currency.

The yuan declined to 6.9644 per dollar at midday, passing its most recent low in 2016 before recovering slightly. It was the lowest level since May 2008.

The currency’s weakness is one of a series of elements fueling Washington’s trade complaints against Beijing. The U.S. Treasury Department declined this month to label China a currency manipulator but said it was closely watching Beijing.

Beijing, Oct 29 (PTI) Six more Chinese workers trapped in a coal mine in east China's Shandong Province have died, taking the death toll from the accident to 19, officials said on Monday.

The bodies of six workers trapped in the coal mine were found on Sunday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing the rescue operations.

The accident occurred at Longyun Coal Mining Co. Ltd. in Yuncheng County on October 20.

Jakarta, Oct 29 (AP) Indonesia's disaster agency says a Lion Air passenger jet crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta and was carrying 188 passengers and crew.

Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho posted photos on Twitter of debris including a crushed smartphone, books, bags and parts of the aircraft fuselage that had been collected by search and rescue vessels that have converged on the area.

He said the flight was carrying 181 passengers, including one child and two babies, and seven crew members.