Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TOKYO, Oct 3 (NNN-NHK) – The newly elected leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Fumio Kishida, will take office as Japanese prime minister tomorrow and launch his new government, aiming to promote economic recovery, while keeping COVID-19 infections under control.

With the LDP-led ruling coalition controlling both chambers, the 64-year-old Kishida is almost guaranteed to be elected prime minister, at an extraordinary parliamentary session tomorrow.

MANILA, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's daughter will run for president in the 2022 election and her father's long-time aide, who has filed his vice presidential candidacy, will be her running mate, ABS-CBN news reported late on Saturday.

Sara Duterte-Carpio is currently mayor of Davao, the Philippines' third-largest city, and on Saturday filed her candidacy to run again for mayor. She has previously said she would not run for national office next year.

BEIJING, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's service trade went up 9.4 percent year on year to top 3.27 trillion yuan (about 504.21 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of the year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Sunday.

Of the total, service exports reached approximately 1.55 trillion yuan, up 25.3 percent year on year, and service imports stood at 1.72 trillion yuan, down 1.8 percent year on year.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has warned the U.N. Security Council against criticizing the isolated country’s missile program, in a statement Sunday that included unspecified threats against the international body.

During an emergency closed-door meeting of the top U.N. body Friday, France circulated a proposed statement that expresses concern over North Korea’s missile launches and calls on it to fully implement council resolutions that ban its ballistic missile firings.

Seoul, Oct 3 (AP-PTI) North Korea has warned the UN Security Council against criticising the isolated country's missile programme, in a statement Sunday that included unspecified threats against the international body.

During an emergency closed-door meeting of the top UN body Friday, France circulated a proposed statement that expresses concern over North Korea's missile launches and calls on it to fully implement council resolutions that ban its ballistic missile firings.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China flew more than 30 military planes toward Taiwan on Saturday, the second large display of force in as many days.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said 39 aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone in two sorties, one during the day and one at night. That followed a similar pattern on Friday, when 38 planes flew into the area south of the self-governing island.

TAIPEI, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Taiwan sharply criticised China on Saturday after Beijing marked the founding of the People's Republic of China with the largest ever incursion by the Chinese air force into the island's air defence zone.

Taiwan, a democratically governed island that is claimed by China, has complained for more than a year of repeated missions near it by China's air force, often in the southwestern part of its air defence zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.

Beijing, Oct 2 (AP-PTI) A former Chinese justice minister has become a target of President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign.

Fu Zhenghua, who was also a former vice minister of public security, is under investigation for severe violations of party discipline and law, the ruling Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Saturday. It did not provide any details in a one-sentence statement posted online.

TAIPEI, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Taiwan's air force scrambled again on Friday to warn away 25 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defence zone, the defence ministry in Taipei said, the same day as China marked its national day, the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Chinese-claimed Taiwan has complained for a year or more of repeated missions by China's air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.

TOKYO, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (4502.T) said on Friday that "human error" caused metal contaminants to get into Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine doses, leading to a recall.

Takeda, which imports and distributes the vaccine in Japan, and Moderna said in a new report that a Spanish manufacturer discovered contaminants in some vials in July, but supplies from the same production were allowed to be shipped to Japan.