Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

JIUQUAN, /China/, October 15. /TASS/: China’s Shenzhou-13 manned spacecraft with three astronauts successfully reached the designated orbit in the small hours on Saturday, China’s manned spaceflight program administration said.

The spaceship will soon be docked to the national space station.

A Changzheng (Long March) 2F carrier rocket was launched from the Jiuquan launch center in the country's north at 00:23 a.m. Saturday local time (7:25 p.m. Moscow time).

Oct 15 (Reuters) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed on Friday to sideline Myanmar's military ruler from a leaders' summit this month, sources said, a rare tough stand by a bloc known for its policy of engagement and non-interference.

Foreign ministers made the decision at a special meeting called to address the failure of Myanmar's military to follow a peace process it agreed to with ASEAN five months ago, aimed at tackling a bloody crisis triggered by its Feb. 1 coup.

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Friday highly appreciated Cambodia's commitment to strengthen urban heritage preservation.

"Urban heritage, including its tangible and intangible components, constitutes a key resource in enhancing the liveability and resilience of urban areas, and fosters economic development and social cohesion in a changing environment," UNESCO said in a press release.

GUIYANG, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The rapid development of digital technologies is prompting a shift in China's traditional transportation industry.

Achieving a fuel consumption of 27.75 liters per 100 km, Jiang Zhili, a 39-year-old truck driver from central China's Henan Province, was the runner-up in an online fuel-saving contest involving truck drivers.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Southeast Asia’s top diplomats will discuss in an emergency meeting Friday whether to allow Myanmar’s military leader to attend an annual summit after a crisis envoy was barred from meeting ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

BISHKEK, October 13. /TASS/: Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has signed a decree appointing his namesake Akylbek Japarov as Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Head of the Presidential Administration and approved the composition of the new Cabinet of Ministers.

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Oct 13 (NNN-Bernama) — The Sudanese Charge d’ Affaires in Kuala Lumpur was summoned by the Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) on Wednesday morning to convey Malaysia’s concern over the issue pertaining to the Petronas Sudan Complex in Khartoum.

Several media outlets had reported the Sudanese transitional government is seeking to confiscate assets belonging to Malaysia’s national oil company, including the complex.

PHNOM PENH, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday accused Cambodia of lacking transparency about Chinese construction activities at its biggest naval base, and urged the government to disclose to its people the full scope of Beijing's military involvement.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Wednesday made public what it said were satellite images showing construction in August and September of three new buildings and the start of a new road.

TAIPEI/BEIJING, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan's defence ministry warned China of strong countermeasures on Wednesday if its forces got too close to the island,as Beijing defended its incursions into Taiwan's air defence zone as "just" moves to protect peace and stability.

Military tensions with China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, are at their worst in more than 40 years, Taiwan's defence minister said last week, adding China will be capable of mounting a "full scale" invasion by 2025.

BISHKEK, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The new Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, headed by Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Head of the President's Administration Akylbek Zhaparov, took the oath of office on Wednesday.

The oath-taking ceremony was held at the country's parliament with the attendance of President Sadyr Zhaparov.

The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan approved the new structure and members of the Cabinet and President Zhaparov later signed a decree on the appointment of members of the Cabinet of Ministers.