Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

NONTHABURI, Thailand (AP) — Southeast Asia should use the sway of its shared market of 650 million people and speak with “one voice” to ensure it is treated fairly in an age of protectionism, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Saturday as leaders gathered for a regional summit.

The image of unity the Association of Southeast Asian Nations strives to project has been clouded by wrangling over a long-delayed agreement on a free trade bloc. ASEAN’s 10 members are also divided over handling of territorial disputes with China.

BEIJING, Nov 1 (APP): China on Friday reiterated its stance over “bifurcation” of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK) into two union territories and said it deplored and firmly opposed to the Indian move.

The Indian government officially announced the establishment of the so-called “Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir” and “Union Territory of Ladakh”, placing part of Chinese territory under Indian administration.

“China deplores and firmly opposes this,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Geng Shuang said during his regular briefing held here.

HONG KONG (AP) — Steps from Hong Kong’s main tourist strip, Ashfaqur Rahman’s tailor shop usually is a mainstay for tourists dropping in to peruse neatly stacked rolls of fabric and get measured for custom-made suits.

Not anymore.

Business has dried up since anti-government protests began in early June in the Asian financial center.

On Thursday, the government said Hong Kong’s economy shrank 3.2% in July-September from the previous quarter, pushing the city into a technical recession.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea confirmed Friday it conducted its third test-firing of a new “super-large” multiple rocket launcher that it says expands its ability to destroy enemy targets in surprise attacks.

The latest launches extended a monthslong streak of weapons displays by the North, which continues to use a standstill in nuclear negotiations to advance its military capabilities while pressuring Washington for concessions.

BEIJING, Oct 31 (APP): Project Director of the Investment Committee of the Prime Minister’s Office of Pakistan Abdul Sami has said that the Pakistani government believed that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a gateway to Pakistan’s progress and prosperity, and it offered many opportunities for development.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Five Malaysian men were again charged in the Sessions Court here today for their alleged links to the defunct LTTE ( Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) militant group.

They were a chief executive officer of a corporation, S. Chandru, 38, technician S. Arivainthan, 27, storekeeper S.Thanagaraj, 26, security guard M.Pumugan, 29, and a national secondary school teacher in Telok Panglima Garang, Selangor, Sundram Renggan @ Rengasamy, 52.

31 October 2019; AFP: A powerful earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Thursday, killing at least five people and sparking searches of seriously damaged buildings that had already been rattled by two previous deadly tremors in recent weeks.

The 6.5 magnitude quake hit the island of Mindanao, the US Geological Survey said, causing locals to run to safety in the same area where a strong tremor killed eight people on Tuesday.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired two projectiles, which Japanese authorities said appeared to be ballistic missiles, into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan on Thursday, according to the Japanese coast guard and South Korea’s military.

The first of two “unidentified projectiles” was fired on Thursday at 4:35 p.m. local time (0735 GMT) from South Phyongan Province, in the center of the country, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a series of statements. A second projectile was detected at 4:38 p.m. (0738 GMT).

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will ensure Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability and protect national security in the face of unrest there, the ruling Communist Party said on Thursday after a meeting of its senior leadership,

The former British colony, which reverted to Beijing’s rule in 1997, has been convulsed by often-violent protests over the past five months, prompting China’s central government to issue strict warnings that it will not allow the turmoil to continue.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong police tightened security ahead of possible clashes between masked pro-democracy protesters and Halloween fancy-dress clubbers as the Chinese-ruled city confirmed it was in economic recession after months of unrest and trade tensions.

The demonstrators, many of whom still wear banned face masks, are planning to march from Victoria Park in the Causeway Bay shopping district to the hilly, narrow streets of the Lan Kwai Fong bar district above Central, the scene of a deadly New Year’s stampede nearly 27 years ago.