Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's Mars rover Zhurong has spent 100 days exploring the red planet's surface since it first set its wheels on Martian soil on May 22, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Monday.

The rover is part of China's Tianwen-1 mission that also consists of an orbiter and a lander. The mission was launched on July 23, 2020.

As of Monday, Zhurong has traveled 1,064 meters on the surface of Mars, while the orbiter has been in orbit for 403 days. The two are in good condition and functioning properly, according to the CNSA.

BEIJING, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- China strongly opposes the deportation of three Chinese students from the United States and has lodged solemn representations with the country, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said here on Monday.

According to media reports, three Chinese students with legal visas were returned to China on Aug. 15 after being interrogated by U.S. officials on arrival at Houston Airport.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China is strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposed to the U.S. move. China has lodged solemn representations with the United States.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea appears to have restarted the operation of its main nuclear reactor used to produce weapons fuels, the U.N. atomic agency said, as the North openly threatens to enlarge its nuclear arsenal amid long-dormant nuclear diplomacy with the United States.

The annual report by the International Atomic Energy Agency refers to a 5-megawatt reactor at the North’s main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang. The reactor produces plutonium, one of the two key ingredients used to build nuclear weapons along with highly enriched uranium.

BEIJING, Aug 29 (APP): A “VR Pakistan National Pavilion” was launched at the ongoing 2021 Online (China) Eurasia Commodity and Trade Expo (EACT EXPO 2021) to showcase Made-in-Pakistan products to the globe especially China during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to its operator UNI International Business Consultancy Co. Ltd., the VR pavilion is a permanent online pavilion which includes three theme areas, namely, the 70th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan, for cooperation between China And Pakistan, and for Pakistani specialty.

BEIJING, Aug 29 (APP): Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) special flights have airlifted fresh batch of 12 million doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccines from Beijing Capital International Airport to Islamabad.

“PIA special flights PK-6852, PK-6853, PK-6854 and PK-6856 transported 12 million doses of Sinovac vaccine procured from China for vaccination of people under government’s ongoing prevention and control drive against Covid-19 pandemic,” Qadir Bux Sangi, PIA Country Manager for China told APP here on Sunday.

TOKYO, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Japan must launch a new economic stimulus package worth "several tens of trillion yen" as soon as possible, Fumio Kishida, who is running to be prime minister in a forthcoming election, was quoted as saying by the Nikkei newspaper on Sunday.

Kishida, a former foreign minister, said on Thursday he would challenge Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga for the leadership of the ruling party, as the premier struggles with crumbling approval rates ahead of the election. 

MANILA, Aug 29 (Reuters) - A row between rival factions in the Philippines's ruling party escalated on Sunday when a group led by boxing star Emmanuel Pacquiao tried to remove President Rodrigo Duterte from his role as party chairman by electing their own.

Refusing to recognise the decision, Duterte's supporters said he was still chairman and branded the other faction as "pretenders and attention seekers".

TOKYO, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Okinawa prefectural government said it suspended inoculation at a mass COVID-19 vaccination site Sunday after another lot of Moderna Inc. vaccine was discovered with contaminants.

The decision came after previous contaminated Moderna shots were halted from use.

Before black and pink substances were found in a vial and three syringes during pre-inoculation inspections, over 1,500 people were waiting to receive shots at the vaccination site in Naha Saturday afternoon.

SINGAPORE, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chief scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO) Soumya Swaminathan has called for an evidence-based global scientific effort to understand COVID-19 origins, a Singaporean media outlet reported.

"I think politics has absolutely no place in this because the science behind this is going to be important for all of us, regardless of which country we live in," said Swaminathan in an interview with CAN, an English-language news channel based in Singapore on Aug. 23.

BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The remains of more Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War will be returned to China from the Republic of Korea (ROK) in September, said China's Ministry of Veterans Affairs on Sunday.

It will be the eighth batch of martyrs' remains returned since 2014, following a handover agreement signed by the two countries.