Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines; 21 Jan 2019; AA: A referendum set to shape the future of Muslims in the southern Philippines has started on Monday.

The Bangsamoro Muslims, long deprived of freedom under the U.S. and the modern Philippine state, reached the final phase in an autonomy agreement signed with the government in Manila in July 2018.

On Monday, nearly 3 million people are voting on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) under tight security measures in Cotabato City, the regional center of Muslim Mindanao.

BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's per capita disposable income stood at 28,228 yuan (4,165 U.S. dollars) in 2018, up 6.5 percent year on year in real terms, official data showed Monday.

Separately, urban and rural per capita disposable income reached 39,251 yuan and 14,617 yuan in 2018, up 5.6 percent and 6.6 percent in real terms after deducting price factors, respectively, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's Spring Festival travel rush started Monday, unleashing the country's largest seasonal migration of people as families reunite for China's most important traditional holiday.

The travel rush began 15 days ahead of the Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 5 this year.

In the following 40 days, from Jan. 21 to March 1, nearly 3 billion trips are to be made via China's transport system, as people rush for family gatherings or travel around the country.

20 Jan 2019; AFP: "World's oldest man" Masazo Nonaka, who was born just two years after the Wright brothers launched humanity's first powered flight, died on Sunday aged 113, Japanese media said.

Nonaka was born in July 1905, according to Guinness World Records -- just months before Albert Einstein published his special theory of relativity.

Guinness officially recognised Nonaka as the oldest living man after the death of Spaniard Francisco Nunez Olivera last year.

COTABATO CITY, the Philippines, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Muslim Filipinos will cast their vote on Monday to ratify the landmark Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), a law that will pave the way for wider self-rule to the Muslim minority in the Philippines and is hoped to end the decades-old conflict in southern Philippines.

The Commission on Elections of the Philippines said a total of 2.8 million voters registered for the plebiscite.

BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's transport authorities are busy getting ready for the Spring Festival travel rush starting Monday, with 3 billion trips expected to be made.

From Jan. 21 to March 1, total trips are expected to rise 0.6 percent compared with the travel rush last year, with an 8.3-percent increase in railway trips and 12-percent hike in air trips.

TOKYO (AP) — Representatives from a Pacific Rim trade bloc geared up to roll out and expand the market-opening initiative as they met Saturday in Tokyo, reaffirming their commitment to open and free trade and inviting new membership.

The Pacific Rim free trade agreement, rejected by President Donald Trump after he took office in 2017, took effect at the end of last year after Australia became the sixth nation to ratify it. So far, seven of the 11 member countries have done so, and the others are expected to follow through soon.

BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday expressed strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to a U.S. missile defense report's hyping up "China threat."

The report, Missile Defense Review, unveiled Thursday at the Pentagon, was the first update to the U.S. missile defense policy since its 2010 version.

PUTRAYAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said Friday that an apology by Goldman Sachs for its role in the alleged multibillion-dollar ransacking of state investment fund 1MDB was insufficient and that it must pay $7.5 billion as compensation.

Goldman CEO David Solomon apologized Wednesday to the Malaysian people for former banker Tim Leissner’s role in arranging bond sales for 1MDB. They provided a means for associates of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to allegedly steal billions over several years from the fund.

18 Jan 2019; AFP: Electric-vehicle maker Tesla will recall over 14,000 Model S cars in China as part of the global automotive sector's effort to replace potentially dangerous airbags made by Takata, China's market regulator announced on Friday.

The US giant will recall imported Model S cars made between February 2014 and December 2016, the State Administration of Market Regulation said, joining other carmakers in an effort affecting tens of millions of cars worldwide.