Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, June 29 (APP):The world’s first 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine was successfully installed in southeast China’s Fujian Province on Wednesday.

The turbine, about 35 kilometers away from the shoreline, boasts the world’s largest per-unit capacity. At full wind speed, the wind turbine can generate 34.2 kWh of power after rotating a full turn.

SHANGHAI, Jun 29 (APP): Huawei Thursday announced at the 5G Advanced Forum during Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai that it will launch a complete set of commercial 5.5G network equipment in 2024. Huawei’s Director and President of ICT Products and Solutions Yang Chaobin who made the announcement said the company intends for this launch to mark the beginning of the 5.5G era for the information communication technology industry.

TOKYO, Jun 29 (NNN-NHK) – Toyota Motor Corp., today said, its global production of cars in May, increased to a record high for the month, amid improving availability of semiconductors.

According to the Aichi-based automaker, its global output of cars increased 33.4 percent from a year earlier to 847,000 units, helped by solid production in North America and Europe, with output in Japan jumping 72.2 percent to 248,287 units.

ARKADAG, Turkmenistan, June 29 (Reuters) - Turkmenistan opened a new, futuristic "smart" city on Thursday dedicated to its former president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

The city is named Arkadag, or protector, an unofficial title by which Turkmen media have long referred to Berdymukhamedov, who on Thursday marked his 66th birthday by travelling to the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

A source close to the government told Reuters the new city for 73,000 residents cost $3.3 billion to build and there were plans to spend as much again in the next few years.

SEOUL, June 29 (Reuters) - South Korean shoppers are snapping up sea salt and other items as worry grows about their safety with Japan due to dump more than 1 million metric tons of treated radioactive water from a wrecked nuclear power plant into the sea.

The water was mainly used to cool damaged reactors at the Fukushima power plant north of Tokyo, after it was hit by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

The release of the water from huge storage tanks into the Pacific is expected soon though no date has been set.

SEOUL, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a ceremony Wednesday to mark the completion of an interior remodeling project for the China-DPRK Friendship Tower in Pyongyang.

Choe Ryong-hae, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of DPRK attended the ceremony, among other officials from the country's ruling party, government and armed forces as well as citizens of the capital city.

MANILA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The presence of U.S. military forces and equipment in the Philippines would put the country in danger, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said.

"We are in a bind. If the Americans are here to stay and bring arms ... it would be too pretty naive or stupid for Filipinos to think that the Americans would only bring conventional warheads," Duterte said in a recent interview with a local media SMNI, aired late Wednesday night.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan and South Korea agreed Thursday to revive a currency swap agreement for times of crisis, in the latest sign of warming ties as the countries work to smooth over historical antagonisms.

Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki announced the agreement after meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Choo Kyungho. It was the first time the two countries have held annual financial talks in seven years, though Suzuki and Choo also met in South Korea in May.

BEIJING, June 28(APP): China’s Hunan Chemical Vocational Technology College (HCVTC) and Infinity School of Engineering, Pakistan have signed an agreement for co-establishment “Chuyi Workshop” to create a platform for exchange of knowledge and expertise in the field of modern chemical engineering.

President of Hunan Chemical Vocational Technology College, Ms. Long Peng and President of Infinity School of Engineering, Pakistan, Abdul Razzaq Gauhar signed the agreement and also inaugurated the workshop in a ceremony held online.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Several Malaysian state assemblies were dissolved on Wednesday ahead of key local elections that will determine six new state governments.

The states of Terengganu, Penang and Kedah dissolved their state assemblies on Wednesday, while Kelantan and Selangor were dissolved on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The remaining state assembly of Negeri Sembilan will be dissolved on Saturday, according to state news agency Bernama.