Taipei / DPA Taiwan is confident that it will be accepted into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade bloc, a minister-designate who will be in charge of trade talks for the incoming government said yesterday. Shih Jun-ji, who has been named as a minister without portfolio of the incoming Cabinet, said the TPP membership will not be the only task …

Tokyo / DPA Japan will launch a project under which the public and private sectors will join hands in selling dietary supplements and seasonings at low prices to developing countries in Africa and other areas, in a bid to improve nutrition in those countries, Japanese government sources said. The project is also expected to help Japanese food manufacturers start operations …

Seoul / AFP North Korea said on Saturday it had successfully tested an engine designed for an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that would “guarantee” an eventual nuclear strike on the US mainland. It was the latest in a series of claims by Pyongyang of significant breakthroughs in both its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. Outside experts have treated a …