Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

XICHANG, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday evening successfully sent twin BeiDou-3 navigation satellites into space on a single carrier rocket.

The Long March-3B carrier rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 10:07 p.m. It was the 285th mission of the Long March rocket series.

The twin satellites are the 37th and 38th editions of the BeiDou navigation system. After a series of tests and evaluations, they will work together with 12 BeiDou-3 satellites already in orbit.

BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa here Wednesday, calling on the two countries to firmly support each other on issues concerning their respective core interests.

Bajwa conveyed cordial greetings from Pakistani President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan to Xi. Xi expressed thanks and asked Bajwa to convey his sincere greetings and best wishes to them.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s anti-graft agency said it arrested former Prime Minister Najib Razak on Wednesday over the multimillion-dollar looting of a state investment fund and that he will face further charges in court.

The agency said Najib was detained at its office and will be taken to court on Thursday to face the charges.

Najib was earlier charged with multiple counts of criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering over the scandal at the 1MDB state fund. He has pleaded not guilty.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced a sweeping set of agreements after their second day of talks in Pyongyang on Wednesday that included a promise by Kim to permanently dismantle the North’s main nuclear complex if the United States takes corresponding measures, the acceptance of international inspectors to monitor the closing of a key missile test site and launch pad and a vow to work together to host the Summer Olympics in 2032.

SEOUL, September 19. /TASS/. The leaders of North and South Korea, Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in, agreed to reconnect severed rails and roads across the border, according to their joint statement signed on Wednesday.

"South and North have agreed that works to reconnect the railways and roads in the east and west should begin within a year," the document reads.

According to earlier reports, the project’s ultimate goal is to ensure access to Russia’s Trans-Siberian Rail for prompt deliveries of South Korean cargo to Europe.

PYONGYANG/SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday signed a document after their second face-to-face dialogue in Pyongyang.

There is no immediate report about the content of the document, signed at the Baekhwawon State Guest House.

Witnessed by the two leaders, defense chiefs of the two countries also signed an agreement on reducing military tensions on the peninsula.

Kim and Moon are expected to hold a joint press conference before the luncheon.

BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China announced on Tuesday it will impose additional tariffs on U.S. products worth 60 billion U.S. dollars starting from Sept. 24 in response to the newly announced U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.

The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council unveiled lists of 3,571 items of U.S. products to be subject to additional tariffs of 10 percent, and lists of another 1,636 items to be subject to additional tariffs of 5 percent.

The new tax rates will take effect at 12:01 p.m. Beijing time on Sept. 24, said the commission.

BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's environmental authority has named and shamed 158 companies that discharged major pollutants at seriously excessive levels in the first quarter of 2018.

Nearly half of the polluters were urban sewage treatment plants, and others included heat suppliers, coal chemical processing firms, and printing and dyeing companies, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

Over 60 percent of the polluters were based in the provincial regions of Xinjiang, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Zhejiang, Liaoning, and Hebei.

PYONGYANG/SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday for a much-anticipated meeting with Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the third inter-Korean summit this year.

BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Tuesday made remarks on the United States' decision to impose additional tariffs on 200 billion U.S. dollars worth of Chinese products.

The United States, disregarding international and domestic trending opposition, made an announcement to impose 10-percent additional tariffs on 200 billion U.S. dollars worth of Chinese products from Sept. 24, and take other escalating tariff measures.