Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

Felix Dorfin has been sentenced to death in a surprise verdict after prosecutors asked for a 20-year jail term. Indonesia has some of the world's strictest drug laws — including death by firing squad.

A court in Indonesia on Monday sentenced Frenchman Felix Dorfin for drug trafficking. Prosecutors had requested 20 years' imprisonment.

"After finding Felix Dorfin legally and convincingly guilty of importing narcotics ... [he] is sentenced to the death penalty," presiding judge Isnurul Syamsul Arif told the court on Lombok Island.

20 May 2019; DW: Three prison guards and 29 inmates have been killed after a riot broke out at a high-security prison in Tajikistan. It is the second deadly prison disturbance in the country in the space of six months.

Convicted Islamic State (IS) militants detained in a high-security prison in the Tajik city of Vahdat killed three guards and five fellow prisoners, the country's justice ministry said on Monday. 

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed in Asia on Monday, with India and Australia leading gains for the region following elections that looked set to keep incumbents in office.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index edged up 0.3% to 21,343.09 after the government reported Monday that the economy grew at a better-than-expected 2.1% annual pace in January-March.

PYONGYANG, May 19. /TASS/: Russian Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic Alexander Kozlov will visit North Korea on June 6-8, a source in Pyongyang said in a conversation with TASS.

The co-chairmen of the Russia-North Korea intergovernmental commission on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation will meet in Pyongyang, the source said. "The commission’s co-chairmen will meet to implement the agreements reached during the summit in Vladivostok," he noted.

SHANGHAI, May 18 (Xinhua): China's world No. 1 ranked shot putter Gong Lijiao conceded her first defeat in more than 14 months as she finished second at the 2019 IAAF Diamond League Shanghai meet here on Saturday.

The 30-year-old, a two-time winner of the Diamond Prize, opened the competition with a 18.99 meters first round effort to take the leading position. But Chase Ealey of the United States achieved 19.58m in the second round to stun the jubilant local crowds.

LANZHOU, May 18 (Xinhua): "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids," as an Elton John hit goes.

However, a Mars simulation base in the middle of China's Gobi desert might be the perfect place to introduce young, budding astronauts to what life would be like on the red planet.

Surrounded by barren hills and red soil in northwest China's Gansu Province, "Mars Base One" allows visitors to explore a variety of space facilities and the rocky, martian-like landscape.

TOKYO, May 19 (Xinhua): The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on Sunday raised its alert level for Mt. Hakone as seismic activity has been increasing in the popular hot-spring resort area near Tokyo.

On the JMA's alert scale that peaks at five, the agency raised its warning for the first time since 2015 from 1 to 2, advising people not to approach the volcano's crater.

The agency said it made the decision because the number of volcanic earthquakes increased to 45 on Saturday, compared with zero on the previous day.

MANILA, May 18 (Xinhua): At least 29 passengers were injured when an oncoming train of the Light Rail Transit hit a parked train in one of its stations in Metro Manila of the Philippines late Saturday night, local media reported.

The collision happened between two stations of Light Rail Transit Line 2 in the western Metro Manila. A passenger told local media that they heard a loud thud causing the passengers to fall over themselves.

Seoul, May 18; AFP/GANASHAKTI: North Korea has demanded the United Nations take "urgent measures" to help return a cargo ship taken by the United States, calling the seizure a "heinous" act.

Washington announced last week it had taken possession of the North Korean-registered bulk carrier M/V Wise Honest -- a year after it was detained in Indonesia -- citing sanctions-violating activities.

DUSHANBE, May 17. /TASS/: An international high-level anti-terrorism conference in Dushanbe has yielded a declaration on counteracting terrorism geared to do away with mechanisms of financing terrorism.