Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TOKYO, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- A civil group in Japan's Okinawa, having collected the signatures of some 93,000 people, demanded on Wednesday a local referendum to be held on the central government's controversial plan to relocate a U.S. military base within the island prefecture.

Deputy Okinawa Governor Kiichiro Jahana, who took charge following the death of Governor Takeshi Onaga last month, said that he would convene a prefectural assembly meeting later this month on the referendum proposal.

MADRID, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell confirmed on Tuesday that Spain will double its aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the wake of the decision taken by the U.S. government to end its contributions to the organization which was created in 1949.

Borrell made his announcement after meeting Riyad al-Maliki, Palestinian foreign minister, who is currently visiting Spain.

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. farmers want to stop trade disputes ignited by Washington with its major trade partners even though they are able to receive a 12-billion-U.S.-dollar trade compensation package from Tuesday.

According to a report of Agweek, a magazine of agriculture industry, U.S. soybeans, wheat, corn, sorghum, cotton, pork and dairy producers welcomed the payment which aims to help them get through the current bad market conditions , but they thought it was not enough.

BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- A declaration and an action plan were adopted Tuesday at the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The Beijing Declaration -- Toward an Even Stronger China-Africa Community with a Shared Future and the FOCAC Beijing Action Plan (2019-2021) were adopted at the two-phase roundtable meeting, chaired respectively by Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, the co-chair of the forum.

KUNMING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Super hybrid rice output in test fields in southwestern Yunnan Province has set a new world record, local authorities said Monday.

The latest output of three plots at a super hybrid rice demonstration base located in Datun Township in the city of Gejiu reached an average of 1,152.3 kg per mu (about 0.07 hectares).

The demonstration base started to plant hybrid rice in 2009.

3 Sep 2018; DW: Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were convicted of collecting state secrets by a court in Yangon. They had been investigating a massacre of 10 Rohingya in Rakhine. The UN condemned the ruling, demanding the reporters' release.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were convicted of collecting state secrets by a court in Yangon. They had been investigating a massacre of 10 Rohingya in Rakhine. The UN condemned the ruling, demanding the reporters' release.

BEIJING; 3 Sep; (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday pledged $60 billion in financing for projects in Africa in the form of assistance, investment and loans, as China furthers efforts to link the continent’s economic prospects to its own.

Speaking to a gathering of African leaders in Beijing, Xi said the figure includes $15 billion in grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans, $20 billion in credit lines, $10 billion for “development financing” and $5 billion to buy imports from Africa.

BEIJING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa held talks on Sunday ahead of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), agreeing to elevate the comprehensive strategic partnership of the two countries to a new level.

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN

BEIJING (AP) — China said Thursday that U.S. lawmakers were wasting taxpayer money by urging President Donald Trump’s administration to impose sanctions on Chinese officials allegedly tied to the mass internment of ethnic minority Muslims in camps in the far west.

By YURI KAGEYAMA

TOKYO; 31 Aug 2018; (AP) — Global shares mostly fell Friday following a report that the Trump administration could put tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods as early as next week.

KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 fell 0.5 percent in early trading to 5,451.68. Germany’s DAX lost 0.7 percent to 12,404.10. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.3 percent to 7,496.35. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.1 percent at 25,993. S&P 500 futures were also 0.1 percent lower at 2,898.70.