Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

JAKARTA, Jun 24 (NNN-ANTARA) – A small plane with six people on board crashed in Indonesia’s eastern Highland Papua province yesterday, an official said.

The Grand Caravan plane, operated by PT Samuwa Aviasi Mandiri (SAM AIR), went down in a deep forest after leaving Elelim airport in Yalimo district, said Yusuf Latief, spokesman of the national search and rescue office.

“The search by a helicopter found the wreckage of the plane,” the spokesman said.

HONG KONG, June 24 (Reuters) - Eleven people were injured on Cathay Pacific's (0293.HK) flight CX880 at Hong Kong's international airport early on Saturday after the carrier aborted takeoff due to a technical issue, Cathay said in a statement.

The flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles was carrying 17 crew and 293 passengers. It performed "an aborted takeoff in accordance with standard procedures after a technical issue was detected by the crew."

BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- China urges the United States to stop using fentanyl-related issues as a pretext to sanction, indict or offer awards to hunt Chinese companies or nationals, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said Saturday.

On June 23 local time, the U.S. Department of Justice announced indictments charging China-based companies and their employees with crimes related to fentanyl production, distribution and sales resulting from precursor chemicals.

TOKYO, June 24 (Xinhua) -- The defense buildup on Okinawa highlighted in Japan's new security and defense strategies has caused anxiety among local people, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki said Friday.

Tamaki made the remarks in a peace declaration issued at a memorial service for the victims of the Battle of Okinawa in World War II, saying that military buildup would remind the residents of the bloody ground battle 78 years ago.

He urged the Japanese government to ease regional tensions through dialogue and reduce the size of U.S. military bases in Okinawa.

SEOUL, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of South Koreans rallied in central Seoul Saturday to urge the Japanese government to build more storage facilities on land for nuclear-contaminated water instead of discharging it into the sea.

The civic activists gathered near the Seoul City Hall to clamor against Japan's planned discharge of radioactive wastewater, holding signs that read "Protect Pacific Ocean!" and "Storage on Land."

They also urged the South Korean government and people to prevent Japan's irresponsible plan of discharging nuke-contaminated water into the sea.

BEIJING, Jun 23 (APP): China’s envoy to the United Nations (UN) has called for an end to double standards on counter-terrorism.

“Terrorism remains a significant challenge that threatens international peace and security. In the face of the complex and grave counter-terrorism situation, there is an urgent need to strengthen international counter-terrorism cooperation,” Zhang Jun, China’s Permanent Representative to United Nations said, according to CGTN on Friday.

BAKU, June 23. /TASS/: Any peace agreement reached by Baku and Yerevan should take into account post-war realities, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Friday.

"This peace treaty must be signed on the basis of the norms and principles of international law. And this peace treaty should take into account post-war realities," the Azertac news agency quoted him as saying.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia has demonstrated strong commitments in granting women a voice and equal opportunity to contribute to the nation, especially in the spheres of diplomacy and national governance.

Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said with the national policy based on Malaysia Madani concept today, more space and opportunities are ensured to support such significant roles played by women.

HANOI, June 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan will stop at Central Vietnam's port city of Danang on Sunday in a rare visit for a U.S. warship to the southeast Asian nation, as tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea remain high.

The ship will arrive on Sunday afternoon and stay at Danang until June 30, local media reported the spokesperson for Vietnam's foreign affairs ministry as saying. The spokesperson did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), June 22 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia is 20th in the World’s Strong Starters Ranking list, based on the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2023 published by Startup Genome.

The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (MOSTI) said in a statement Thursday that the achievement was thanks to efforts to develop an ecosystem for startups based on the Malaysia Startup Ecosystem Roadmap 2021-2030 (SUPER), led by startup coordinating agency, Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd, and the result of lively funding activities associated to startups.