Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Dec 21 (APP): Gwadar Port is an extremely important platform to extend China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) westward to a more distant region and becomes an important platform for regional connectivity.

At the same time, the construction speed of Gwadar Port determines the development speed of Pakistan as a whole. Therefore, there is a need to further speed up the construction of Gwadar Port and make it “Shenzhen of Pakistan”.

DUSHANBE, December 21. /TASS/: President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and President of Russia Vladimir Putin held a meeting where they stressed the need to strengthen defense of the Tajik-Afghan border. The meeting was held in St. Petersburg on the sidelines of an extraordinary meeting of the heads of state of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), press service of the leader of Tajikistan said on Saturday.

21 December 2019; AFP: Jedi mind tricks don't work on China.

While "Star Wars" fans from around the world waited in line for days to catch "The Rise of Skywalker," the sci-fi series has struggled to woo film-goers in the increasingly important Chinese market.

Special previews of the long-awaited "Star Wars" film in Beijing this week drew just a handful of fans.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong riot police swept into several shopping malls on Saturday, chasing off and arresting some anti-government Hong Kong demonstrators who had gathered to press their demands in the peak shopping weekend before Christmas.

In a mall in Yuen Long, close to the China border, hundreds of black-clad protesters marked the five-month anniversary of an attack in a train station by an armed mob wearing white T-shirts which beat up bystanders and protesters with pipes and poles.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Iran, Malaysia, Turkey and Qatar are considering trading among themselves in gold and through a barter system as a hedge against any future economic sanctions on them, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Saturday.

At the end of an Islamic summit in Malaysia, Mahathir praised Iran and Qatar for withstanding economic embargoes and said it was important for the Muslim world to be self-reliant to face future threats.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea lashed back at the United States for taking issue with its human rights record on Saturday, saying Washington’s “malicious words” would only aggravate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, state news agency KCNA reported.

The KCNA statement, attributed to a foreign ministry spokesperson, warned that if the United States dared to take issue with the North’s system of government by citing human rights problems, it would “pay dearly”.

NUR-SULTAN, Dec 21 (NNN-RIA) – President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, said, he ordered procedures, to abolish the death penalty in the country.

Tokayev made the remarks, at the second meeting of the National Council of Public Trust, held in the capital, Nur-Sultan. The council, comprising prominent social activists, deputies of parliament, economists and political scientists, was established by the president, to better involve public opinions in policy-making. The first meeting was held in Sept.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The convening of the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 has resulted in tangible outcomes being outlined in a bid to bring progress and improve the state of the Muslim ummah, said Malaysia’s Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The summit facilitated 18 successful exchange of instruments in various fields including advanced hi-technology; media collaboration; centre of excellence; food security and youth leadership and exchange programmes.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia’s Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah said as Muslim nations pursue national development agendas, they should also strive to tackle the hardships faced by nationless Muslims the world over.

Underscoring that this should become a priority, he said Muslim countries must be more involved in the conversation on this matter.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he is open to the idea of a unified cryptocurrency for Muslim countries.

As a matter of fact, Dr Mahathir added, Malaysia had mooted the idea of a common currency for Islamic nations a long time ago, but the big powers had then stood in the way of that proposal.