Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING (AP) — The Latest on the 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule in China (all times local):

11:25 a.m.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has praised his country’s decades-long friendship with Beijing in a message sent to Chinese President Xi Jinping to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Communist rule in China.

Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday that Kim in the message said North Korea would “always stand by” China on the path of “defending and glorifying socialism.”

BANGKOK, Sept 30 (NNN-TNA) – The Thai Pollution Control Department (PCD), reported today (Monday), an unhealthy level of air pollution, covering 15 main areas in Bangkok, with particulate matter smaller than PM2.5.

The PCD said, levels of 42-66 micro-grams per cubic metre were found in the air, exceeding the safety threshold of 50 micro-grams per cubic metre of air, to the unhealthy level between 53-66 micro-gram per cubic metre.

BANGKOK, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Thai Pollution Control Department (PCD) reported on Monday an unhealthy level of air pollution covering 15 main areas in Bangkok, with particulate matter smaller than PM2.5.

The PCD said that levels of 42-66 micrograms per cubic meter were found in the air, exceeding the safety threshold of 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air to the unhealthy level between 53-66 microgram per cubic meters.

YANGON, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Some 27 displaced persons have returned to Myanmar from Bangladesh, arriving at a reception camp in Maungtaw, Rakhine state, according to the immigration authorities Monday.

The displaced people, who returned on their own wishes, made up of 14 families including some children. They were received at the Nga Khu Ya reception center last week.

FUZHOU, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Mitag, the 18th typhoon of the year, had forced over 20,000 residents of eastern China's Fujian Province to be evacuated as of 8 a.m. Monday, local authorities said.

According to the National Meteorological Center, Mitag is forecast to sweep the northeast part of Taiwan on Monday night and move north to sweep or land in the coastal areas of Zhejiang Province on Tuesday.

The flood control headquarters of Fujian has initiated an emergency response, ordering 23,067 seaside residents to evacuate.

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly lower in Asia after talk of limits on U.S. stock listings by Chinese companies undermined optimism over progress in trade negotiations.

Chinese manufacturing data was slightly better than analysts’ estimates, but Friday’s downbeat mood on Wall Street carried over into Monday’s trading.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s factory activity improved in September ahead of talks with Washington aimed at ending a tariff war.

Surveys released Monday by an industry group and a business magazine both showed improvement, though gains were small.

The China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing said its purchasing managers’ index rose to 49.8 from August’s 49.5 on a 100-point scale on which numbers below 50 show activity contracting. The magazine Caixin said its index rose to 51.4 from 50.4.

BANGKOK (AP) — Their story gripped the world: determined divers racing against time and water to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped for more than two weeks in a flooded cave deep inside a northern Thai mountain.

The ordeal in late June and early July 2018 had barely ended when filmmakers began their own race to get the nail-biting drama onto cinema screens. The first of those projects will premiere this weekend, when director Tom Waller’s “The Cave” shows at the Busan Film Festival in South Korea.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — It’s just a single word, but it’s hard to miss in North Korea. It’s splashed across countless propaganda signs, seeded through dozens of state media reports, at the beating heart of emotional pop songs and on the lips of the earnest guides who show off the grand monuments built in its honor.

HONG KONG (AP) — Watching from a side road, Edmund Lau was struck with admiration and wonder as young protesters dressed head-to-toe in black whirled into action to deal with another volley of tear gas from Hong Kong riot police, kicking away the smoking canisters and rushing to aid the stricken who wept uncontrollably.

“Fabulous,” the 45-year-old nurse said of the now well-oiled tactics deployed by the massed demonstrators, many of whom were 20 years his junior. “Very brave.”