Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

19 December 2019; AFP: The masterminds of the Philippines' worst political massacre were found guilty Thursday of murder a decade after they led the killings of 58 people, rare convictions of powerful figures in a country notorious for its culture of impunity.

However with dozens of other accused gunmen acquitted, and 80 suspects never having been caught, relatives of the victims as well as rights groups gave a mixed response to the verdicts.

SERI KEMBANGAN, Dec 19 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia has called for more collaboration with China to enhance the transportation sector, especially in port and shipping development. 

Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said more investment from the republic’s companies will not only enhance the maritime network between the two countries, but also trade, business and tourism linkages.

“It’s a major order for us to compete with our neighbouring countries but we must be able to compete.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and the United States are in touch over the signing of their Phase 1 trade deal, China’s commerce ministry said, which will see lower U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and higher Chinese purchases of U.S. farm, energy and manufactured goods.

The Phase 1 deal was announced last week after more than two years of on-and-off trade talks, although neither side has released many specific details of the agreement.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The Kuala Lumpur Summit (KL Summit) 2019 is set to take place in this Malaysian capital this morning, with issues affecting the Muslim community being up for discussion among its participants who will also seek to address them. 

The event at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) will be presided over by Prime Minister and KL Summit chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah is scheduled to deliver a royal address at the opening of the conference.

TOKYO, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 struck off the coast of Japan's Aomori Prefecture on Thursday, the weather agency here said.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor, which occurred at 3:21 p.m. local time, was centered off the coast of Aomori Prefecture, Japan's northernmost part of Honshu Island, with its epicenter at a latitude of 40.5 degrees north and a longitude of 142.2 degrees east, and at depth of 50 km. Enditem

BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday released another list of U.S. products that will be exempted from the first round of additional tariffs on U.S. products.

This is the second set of U.S. goods to be excluded from China's first round of tariff countermeasures against the U.S. Section 301 measures, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said in a statement.

The exemption list will be valid from Dec. 26, 2019 to Dec. 25, 2020, said the statement.

Tariffs that have already been levied will not be refunded, it said.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets sank Thursday after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump and Japan’s central bank kept ultra-low interest rates unchanged.

Following a listless day on Wall Street, investors looked ahead to other interest rate decisions by central banks in Indonesia, Taiwan and Sweden.

Benchmarks in Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Southeast Asia retreated.

The House vote sends Trump’s case to the Senate for trial. Republicans who control that house say they plan to acquit him.

KUALA LUMPUR. Malaysia (AP) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday urged Muslim nations to deepen financial and trade cooperation to fight what he described as U.S. economic hegemony, using an Islamic conference in Malaysia as a platform to decry American sanctions against his country.

Rouhani repeated his assertion that the U.S. has used economic sanctions as the “main tools of domineering hegemony and bullying” of other nations.

18 Dec 2019; MEMO: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad told Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz that the Islamic Summit in Kuala Lumpur would not be a substitute for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Tuesday.

In a video call with Salman, Mohamad said that Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan told him that he would not be able to attend the summit.

BEIJNG, Dec.18 (APP): Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe met with the visiting Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Chief of the Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force, in Beijing.

Wei said that China and Pakistan are unique all-weather strategic cooperative partners. Military-to-military relations between China and Pakistan are an important pillar of bilateral relations, Chinese media reported on Wednesday.