Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

OKUMA, Japan (AP) — The operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it has begun releasing its first batch of treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean — a controversial step, but a milestone for Japan’s battle with the growing radioactive water stockpile.

In a live video from a control room at the plant Thursday, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings showed a staff member turn on a seawater pump, marking the beginning of the controversial project that is expected to last for decades.

BEIJING, August 22. /TASS/: The meeting of the leaders of the BRICS member countries in South Africa will become an important milestone in the history of the association and will strengthen solidarity among developing countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping said upon his arrival in South Africa, where the XV BRICS Summit is being held.

BEIJING, August 22. /TASS/:  The decision by the Japanese authorities to discharge water from the Fukushima-1 emergency nuclear power plant into the sea is a mistake, and China will be forced to take all necessary retaliatory measures, the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.

"China strongly insists that Japan should rectify this wrong decision and abandon its plan to discharge radioactive water into the sea," he told a regular briefing, "The Chinese side will take all necessary measures to protect marine ecology, safeguard food safety and public health."

BANGKOK, Aug 22 (NNN-TNA) – Former Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, today was transported to prison, soon after his return to the country, after years of exile, as Thailand’s Supreme Court issued an eight-year detention order for him.

The court’s criminal division for holders of political positions, announced a statement saying, Thaksin is convicted of eight-year imprisonment, related to his three convictions passed on the 74-year-old in absentia.

SEOUL, Aug 22 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has lashed out at top officials for their "irresponsible" response to flood damage, saying they had "spoiled" the national economy, state media reported on Tuesday.

Kim inspected a tideland on the west coast on Monday after seawater recently destroyed an embankment with inadequate drainage system, flooding more than 560 hectares of land, including over 270 hectares of rice paddies, news agency KCNA said.

BANGKOK, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Real estate mogul Srettha Thavisin won the backing of Thailand's parliament on Tuesday to become prime minister, paving the way to a new coalition government and an end to weeks of uncertainty and political stalemate.

Srettha, who was thrust into the spotlight just a few months ago by the populist Pheu Thai Party, secured the support of more than half of the legislature, on a day when the party's billionaire figurehead Thaksin Shinawatra made a historic homecoming after years of as a fugitive in self-imposed exile.

TOKYO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Japan said on Tuesday it will start releasing into the sea more than 1 million metric tonnes of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Aug. 24, going ahead with a plan heavily criticised by China.

The plan, approved two years ago by the Japanese government as crucial to decommissioning the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) (9501.T), has also faced criticism from local fishing groups fearing reputational damage.

TOKYO (AP) — North Korea told Japan on Tuesday it plans to launch a satellite in the coming days, possibly a second try to put a military spy satellite into orbit three months after its first effort failed, Japanese officials said.

In late May, a North Korean rocket carrying a spy satellite plunged into the sea soon after liftoff, posing a setback to leader Kim Jong Un’s push to establish a space-based surveillance system to better monitor the U.S. and South Korea. North Korea had vowed to make a second attempt after studying what went wrong with the first launch.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan will start releasing treated and diluted radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean as early as Thursday — a controversial but essential early step in the decades of work to shut down the facility 12 years after its meltdown disaster.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave the final go-ahead Tuesday at a meeting of Cabinet ministers involved in the plan and instructed the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, to be ready to start the coastal release Thursday if weather and sea conditions permit.

BANGKOK (AP) — Divisive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra returned to Thailand on Tuesday after years of self-imposed exile to face possible criminal penalties on the same day that a party affiliated with him plans to start forming a new government.

Thaksin has said his decision to return has nothing to do with an expected vote in Parliament later in the day on a candidate from the Pheu Thai party for prime minister. But many believe his arrival is connected to the party’s pursuit of power.