Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TASHKENT, Nov 24 (NNN-XINHUA) – Uzbek state oil and gas company, Uzbekneftegaz, and Russia’s state development corporation, VEB.RF, signed a memorandum on 650 million U.S. dollars credit line, to boost hydrocarbon production in Uzbekistan, Uzbekneftegaz said Monday.

The memorandum was signed last week, following talks in Moscow, the Uzbek energy firm said, adding that, this is a second credit line provided by VEB.RF.

TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike remains firm about being able to safely hold the Olympics next year despite growing concerns about Japan’s recent resurgence of COVID-19 infections.

Japan has experienced an uptick of the infections this month with a nationwide daily total exceeding 2,000 as the government tries to balance preventive measures and business activity without further hurting the pandemic-hit economy.

“As the host city, I’m determined to achieve the games whatever it takes,” Koike told a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s president inaugurated the production of domestically made submarines Tuesday in the southern city of Kaohsiung, in a step forward for the island’s defense strategy at a time of elevated tensions with China.

WENCHANG, China (AP) — China launched an ambitious mission on Tuesday to bring back rocks and debris from the moon’s surface for the first time in more than 40 years — an undertaking that could boost human understanding of the moon and of the solar system more generally.

Chang’e 5 — named for the Chinese moon goddess — is the country’s boldest lunar mission yet. If successful, it would be a major advance for China’s space program, and some experts say it could pave the way for bringing samples back from Mars or even a crewed lunar mission.

BEIJING, Nov 23 (APP): Pakistan’s participation as special partner at upcoming China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) will contribute to Belt and Road Initiative and expand the community.

During a media briefing on features and achievements of the CAEXPO, Wang Lei, Secretary General of CAEXPO Secretariat Monday said that they would unite all parties to help build a road to cooperation and invited Pakistan as the special partner to expand Belt and Road community.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 (Bernama) — Kanger International Bhd (Kanger), a Malaysia-based investment holding company said it has received support from Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia (MOSTI) to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for private sector use in Malaysia.

In a statement Monday, the company said the National Institutes of Biotechnology Malaysia (NIBM) — an agency under MOSTI — has no objections for the company to liaise with the China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation (Sinopharm) on the purchase of the vaccines.

MANILA (Reuters) - U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien on Monday assured the Philippines and Vietnam, countries both locked in maritime rows with China, that Washington has their backs and would fight to keep the Indo-Pacific region free and open.

“Our message is we’re going to be here, we’ve got your back, and we’re not leaving,” said O’Brien, on a visit to the Philippines after concluding a trip to Vietnam on Sunday.

HONG KONG (AP) — Prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong and two other activists were taken into custody Monday after they pleaded guilty to charges related to a demonstration outside police headquarters during anti-government protests last year.

Wong, together with fellow activists Ivan Lam and Agnes Chow, pleaded guilty to charges related to organizing, taking part in and inciting protesters to join an unauthorized protest outside police headquarters last June. The trio were members of the now-disbanded Demosisto political party.

WENCHANG, China (AP) — Chinese technicians were making final preparations Monday for a mission to bring back material from the moon’s surface in what would be a major advance for the country’s space program.

Chang’e 5 is China’s most ambitious lunar mission yet and marks the first time in four decades that any country has sought to bring rocks and debris from the moon to Earth. That could boost human understanding of the moon, its age and resources, and of the solar system more generally.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities are testing millions of people, imposing lockdowns and shutting down schools after multiple locally transmitted coronavirus cases were discovered in three cities across the country last week.

As temperatures drop, large-scale measures are being enacted in the cities of Tianjin, Shanghai and Manzhouli, despite the low number of new cases compared to the United States and other countries that are seeing new waves of infections.