Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s volatile Mount Merapi volcano has unleashed a river of lava that flowed 1,400 meters (4,590 feet) down its slopes.

Merapi, on the island of Java, has entered an “effusive eruption phase,” Kasbani, head of the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center, said Wednesday.

Kasbani, who goes by a single name, said the volcanic material that spewed out late Tuesday was the volcano’s longest lava flow since it began erupting again in August.

29 Jan 2019; AFP: China on Tuesday decried the "political manipulations" behind the US case against Huawei as Washington indicted the tech giant's chief financial officer and levelled sweeping charges against the company.

"For some time, the US has used state power to discredit and crack down on specific Chinese companies in an attempt to strangle the enterprises' legitimate and legal operations," China's foreign ministry said in a statement attributed to spokesman Geng Shuang.

29 Jan 2019; AFP: French urban freeclimber Alain Robert was arrested on Tuesday, police said, after he scaled one of Manila's tallest towers in his latest high-risk ascent.

The 56-year old adventurer dubbed the "French spiderman" climbed the 47-storey GT Tower without safety equipment, leaving watchers on the ground staring in amazement.

29 Jan 2019; AFP: China on Tuesday accused the United States of "political motivations" behind sweeping charges against Chinese telecom giant Huawei in a case that has ratcheted up tensions between the two superpowers.

The Justice Department Monday unveiled 13 charges against Huawei Technologies, its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou -- the daughter of the company's founder -- and two affiliates related to violating US sanctions on Iran.

30 Jan 2019; AFP: A grenade attack on a mosque in the troubled southern Philippines killed two people early Wednesday, authorities said, just days after a deadly Catholic cathedral bombing and a vote backing Muslim self-rule.

The blast tore through the building as the victims were sleeping in the pre-dawn darkness on the insurgency-plagued island of Mindanao, which is home to the Philippines' Muslim minority.

29 Jan 2019; DW: Foreign journalists working in China experienced surveillance, government interference and being followed. Conditions were particularly bad in Xinjiang, where "re-education" camps for Muslim minorities have been set up.

Working conditions for foreign journalists in China worsened in 2018, a survey showed Tuesday, partly due to government interference with reporting on Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.

NAY PYI TAW, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's Union Parliament agreed on Tuesday over a motion calling for making amendment to the 2008 state constitution, parliament sources said.

The proposal, submitted by U Aung Kyi Nyunt, parliament representative to the House of Nationalities (Upper House) from Magway region constituency, called for establishing a joint committee with parliament members for implementation of the constitutional amendment as early as possible.

The proposal was agreed for discussion by a majority of votes.

CHICAGO, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's EV start-up Kaiyun Motors plans to export electric pickups to the U.S. market this year, local media reported on Monday.

Kaiyun Motors has the required approvals and plans to sell as many as 10,000 of its Pickman electric trucks in the United States this year, the Detroit News quoted the company's founder Wang Chao as saying.

ANKARA; 28 Jan 2019; AA: Turkey on Sunday welcomed adoption of Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which establishes an autonomous region for the Muslims living in southern Philippines.

“We welcome that the Bangsamoro Organic Law, establishing the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in southern Philippines, was adopted by people of the region according to the official results of the referendum,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

28 Jan 2019; DW: A court in Tianjin has sentenced prominent human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang to 4 1/2 years in prison for subversion of state power. The 42-year-old went missing in 2015 amid a crackdown on activists and lawyers.

Human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang has been handed a jail term of 4 1/2 years for state subversion by a court in northern China.