Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

30 Mar 2019; DW: Polls closed last Sunday evening in Thailand's parliamentary elections, but nearly a week on, the results remain inconclusive. Questions about accuracy at the ballot boxes persist and jockeying between parties has resulted in a hung parliament of sorts. On Saturday, the country's election commission sought to allay concerns over accuracy and transparency, saying that computer software was partly to blame for inconsistent and delayed vote totals.

TASHKENT, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan is drafting a government decree that will order brick, cement and lime factories, as well as enterprises with boiler equipment to use alternative fuels instead of natural gas.

New measures are required due to high energy intensity of the domestic economy and need for diversifying energy use, said the decree, which was published on the government website for public discussion.

These enterprises would be recommended to use alternative types of fuel, including coal, coal briquettes and pallets, biogas and others.

SHANGHAI, March 30 (Xinhua) -- A 5G network in Shanghai's Hongkou District, backed by Chinese telecom giant China Mobile, started trial runs on Saturday.

Wu Qing, Shanghai's vice mayor, made the network's first video call using a Huawei Mate X, a foldable 5G smartphone, at the launch ceremony.

A total of 228 5G base stations have been deployed in Hongkou, making it the first district in Shanghai fully covered by a 5G network and a gigabit broadband network.

29 Mar 2019; AFP: US and Chinese negotiators wrapped up "constructive" trade talks in Beijing on Friday ahead of another round next week, a top American official said as the economic superpowers aim to settle a bruising tariffs battle.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held negotiations with China's Vice Premier Liu He at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse after a working dinner Thursday.

CHANGSHA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers have managed to replicate a 49-gram item of silk clothing dating back more than 2,000 years, according to the museum that has it in collection.

Unearthed in a tomb in Western Han Dynasty (202 B.C.- 8 A.D.) in central China's Hunan Province, two ancient garments weighing less than 50 grams each are considered the world's lightest silk clothing.

29 Mar 2019; AFP: Top negotiators from China and the United States began a fresh round of trade talks in Beijing on Friday to settle a bruising dispute that has threatened to blight the global economy.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were greeted by Vice Premier Liu He at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse as they seek to resolve the months-long trade war between the world's top two economies.

29 Mar 2019; AFP: Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, a prominent critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, was rearrested on Friday in what press freedom advocates called retaliation for her news site's dogged coverage of the government.

Ressa and her website Rappler have been hit with a string of criminal charges in recent months that have sent shockwaves through the Philippines' media scene, prompting allegations she and her team are being targeted for their work.

PHNOM PENH, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Friday that the negotiations on hiring a Turkey's power ship to tackle the ongoing electricity shortage have reached an agreement.

"Due to electricity shortage this year, we need to bring a power ship, which is installed with about 200-megawatt power plant, to Phnom Penh," he said in a speech during a government-private sector forum here.

SHENZHEN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tech firm Huawei reported robust revenue and profit growth in 2018 "despite a challenging environment," the company announced Friday.

The company raked in 721.2 billion yuan (about 105.2 billion U.S. dollars) in global sales revenue, up 19.5 percent year on year, while its net profit increased 25.1 percent to reach 59.3 billion yuan, according to Huawei's 2018 annual report.

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing Thursday, vowing to promote cooperation in various fields.

Calling Kazakhstan a good neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of China, Wang said that under the leadership of the first President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan has made well-recognized achievements in national building and is playing an increasingly important role in international and regional affairs.