Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Thousands of people knelt in prayer in Indonesia’s Aceh province at ceremonies Thursday marking the 15th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, one of modern history’s worst natural disasters.

The massive Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami was triggered by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra island. The giant wall of water killed about 230,000 people in a dozen countries as far away as East Africa. Indonesia’s Aceh province, which was closest to the earthquake, was hit first and hardest.

TOKYO (AP) — Global markets edged higher on Thursday though trading was subdued after the Christmas holidays. Chinese markets surged after the government announced a relaxation of residency restrictions for small and medium cities that boosted property stocks.

The Shanghai Composite index jumped 0.9% to 3,007.35. Heavyweight property shares led a late rally after state media reported the government was ending limits on residency for smaller cities to help encourage urbanization.

TOKYO (AP) — Okinawa’s Gov. Denny Tamaki renewed demands Thursday that Japan’s central government halt construction of a U.S. Marine Corps. base being relocated to a less-crowded area of the southern Japanese island despite vehement local opposition.

Tamaki was responding to a defense ministry estimate that the project will require more than twice the time and costs earlier estimated because the seabed at the planned reclamation is “as soft as mayonnaise,” experts say, and needs reinforcing.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s imports of soybeans surged in November following the announcement of an interim trade deal with the United States.

Imports rose 53.7% over a year earlier to 5.4 million tons, according to customs data.

Imports of U.S. soybeans more than doubled from the previous month to 2.6 million tons, according to AWeb.com, a news website that serves the Chinese farming industry.

BEIJING, December 25. /TASS/: China and Russia are currently discussing a list of key projects and a roadmap for organizing the Year of Russian-Chinese Scientific, Technical and Innovation Cooperation, set to take place in 2020-2021, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang stated on Wednesday.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong anti-government protesters marched through Christmas-decorated shopping centers on Wednesday, chanting pro-democracy slogans and forcing one mall to close early, as police fired tear gas to disperse crowds gathering on nearby streets.

The protests have turned more confrontational over the festive season, though earlier in December they had been largely peaceful after pro-democracy candidates overwhelmingly won district council elections.

Despite the embarrassing results, Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing leaders have made no new concessions.

CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that there would be no true improvement in bilateral relations without stability in the East China Sea, Japan’s foreign ministry said.

The two leaders held a bilateral meeting in the Chinese city of Chengdu, on the sidelines of a three-way summit with South Korea.

Abe also urged Li to swiftly remove import restrictions on Japanese food products, the ministry said in a summary of the meeting.

TOKYO, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Nissan Motor Co. on Wednesday said it had accepted the resignation of its third highest-ranking executive who assumed his post in a new management team after a leadership rejig just weeks ago.

Vice Chief Operating Officer Jun Seki's resignation comes on the heels of a new management team being formed at the top of Nissan on Dec. 1 comprising Seki, Chief Executive Officer Makoto Uchida and Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta.

JIUQUAN, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- A commercial suborbital carrier rocket developed by a private Chinese company was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 4:50 p.m. Wednesday (Beijing Time).

The rocket, Tansuo-1, was developed by Space Trek. It completed the whole maneuver flight and fairing separation at high dynamic pressure during the flight.

The rocket can serve purposes of meteorological observation, microgravity testing as well as satellite payload experiments.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 (NNN-BERNAMA) — “By giving, we learn to appreciate what we have,” says 23-year-old Karyn Kan Sue Yin who has, since age five, been baking Christmas cookies to distribute to neighbours, close friends, and now, her workmates, too.

“Every year at Christmas time, we put up the Christmas tree, decorate it in a new theme, buy presents for loved ones and keep up the family tradition of making the cookies that we love.

“It is really fun sitting together as a family and decorating cookies. Tiring, but fun!” she said during an interview with Bernama.