Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 is currently more than 100 million km away from Earth and is functioning normally, according to the China National Space Administration on Tuesday.

As of 9 p.m. on Monday (Beijing Time), the Mars probe had flown in space for 144 days and traveled more than 360 million km. It was more than 100 million km away from Earth and about 12 million km away from Mars.

The Mars probe will likely be about 190 million km away from Earth when it reaches the vicinity of Mars.

BEIJING, Dec 13 (APP): A new batch of the Chinese students enrolled in the Urdu Department of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) in the current academic year started from September reflects that the Urdu language learning is becoming a new trend in China.

“This batch of 16 students, currently studying in Urdu Department of BFSU, came in September this year. We have a new batch in every fourth year,” Zhou Yuan, Head of Urdu Department, School of Asian and African Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) said on Sunday.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 (NNN-Bernama) — Japan and Malaysia are poised for a stronger economic relations in the future, said Ambassador of Japan to Malaysia, Hiroshi Oka.

He said Japan was the fourth largest trading partner of Malaysia last year and was the largest source of foreign direct investment to Malaysia, accounting for one-third of total investments.

“So there is solid basis for business relations between Japan and Malaysia.

BAKU, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Azerbaijan and Armenia on Sunday reported casualties in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh while accusing each other of violating an established ceasefire.

The blame came a month after the two sides called a truce in their lastest round of armed-conflict since September.

SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said on Monday that 14 more U.S. soldiers and two civilians have tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in South Korea between Nov. 28 and Dec. 11.

The USFK said in a statement that the 16 USFK-affiliated individuals included three service members and one dependent who arrived at Osan Air Base on U.S. government-chartered flights from the United States on Nov. 30, Dec. 7 and Dec. 9. The Osan Air Base is located in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of Seoul.

BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The number of China-Europe freight trains hit 1,238 in November, up 64 percent year on year, data from the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. showed.

The freight trains have played a crucial role in helping stabilize the international logistics supply chain, transporting 115,000 20-foot equivalent units of cargo last month, up 73 percent from a year earlier, according to the company.

Increasing demand for the freight trains came amid China's economic recovery and limited international air and sea transport during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has stressed adhering to systematic thinking in building a holistic national security architecture.

Xi made the remarks Friday while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on national security.

BAKU, December 13. /TASS/. Azerbaijan’s State Security Service carried out an anti-terrorism operation in the outskirts of the Hadrut village in Nagorno-Karabakh, it said in a joint statement with the republic’s Defense Ministry on Sunday.

BANGKOK, December 11. /TASS/. AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharmaceutical company, will produce 200 million doses of its anti-coronavirus vaccine in Thailand next year with the help of Siam Bioscience, director of Thailand’s National Vaccine Institute Dr. Nakorn Premsri, said in an interview with TASS.

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese space capsule bringing back the first moon rocks in more than four decades started its three-day return to Earth on Sunday.

The Chang’e 5 lunar probe, which had been orbiting the moon for about a week, fired up four engines for about 22 minutes to move out of the moon’s orbit, the China National Space Administration said in a social media post.