Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 (NNN-Bernama) — Just mention the names of people like badminton legend Datuk Lee Chong Wei, United Kingdom-based trainee surgeon Dr Nur Amalina Che Bakri and Asia’s Got Talent Season 3 runner-up Yaashwin Sarawanan (better known as the Human Calculator) and all Malaysians will swell with pride.

A glance at their social media accounts will reveal the outpouring of support and appreciation from the public, more so youths, for these Malaysians who brought glory to the nation.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - President Joko Widodo told Indonesians on Friday he would not compromise in the fight against graft, amid concerns over the officer picked to head the anti-corruption agency and proposed changes curbing its right to wiretap suspects without a warrant.

Having successfully prosecuted hundreds of politicians and officials since its formation in 2002, the Corruption Eradication Commission, known by its Indonesian initials, KPK, has become one of the country’s most respected agencies.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia on Friday blamed four Malaysian companies, including the world’s biggest producer of sustainable palm oil, for causing some of the forest fires within its borders, in an escalating row between neighbours over regional haze.

Malaysia has said Indonesian forest fires are responsible for the smoky haze that has caused air quality to drop to unhealthy levels in certain parts of the country. Indonesia has dismissed those claims, saying fires within Malaysia are causing the pollution.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing said on Friday he deeply regrets that recent comments he made regarding protests in the financial hub were misrepresented and reiterated that any actions that violate the rule of law cannot be tolerated.

Li’s statement came after China’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission published an article on social media accusing the tycoon of “harbouring criminality” after he called on the authorities to offer young people an olive branch amid anti-government protests that have roiled the city.

BANGKOK, Sept 12 (NNN-TNA) – Thailand’s Constitutional Court, dropped a petition filed against Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, over his alleged failure to conduct July’s oath-taking ceremony in full.

The Constitutional Court judges, reached a unanimous resolution to lift the charges against Prayut, for allegedly failing to read out the full message of the ceremonial oath, as stipulated in the constitution’s Section 161, before King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

12 September 2019; AFP: Beijing's notoriously bad air quality has improved in recent years and the Chinese capital is expected to drop out of a list of 200 most polluted cities in the world this year, a data provider said Thursday.

Beijing "is on track" to reduce PM2.5 -- tiny particles that are the deadliest air pollutants -- by nearly 20 percent this year compared to 2018, Swiss air purification technology company IQAir's research arm AirVisual said.

12 September 2019; AFP: The number of blazes in Indonesia's rainforests has jumped sharply, satellite data showed Thursday, spreading smog across Southeast Asia and adding to concerns about the impact of increasing wildfire outbreaks worldwide on global warming.

Illegal blazes to clear land for agricultural plantations have been raging on Sumatra and Borneo islands, with Indonesia deploying water-bombing helicopters and thousands of security forces to tackle them.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - This is a transcript of a talk given in late August by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to a group of businesspeople in the city. The transcript is taken from an audio recording of Lam’s remarks that was obtained by Reuters. Last week, Reuters published most of Lam’s remarks and is now able to publish them in full.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s Commerce Ministry said on Thursday that Chinese companies have started to inquire about prices for U.S. agricultural goods purchases, in a further sign of a thaw emerging in a bitter trade war between the two countries.

Speaking at a weekly news briefing in Beijing, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng also said working-level teams from both countries will meet soon to prepare for the next round of top-level talks.

Gao said that possible Chinese purchases of U.S. farm goods included pork and soybeans.

KUNMING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Two suspects were caught with more than 21 kg of drugs seized in southwest China's Yunnan Province, a major front in the country's battle against drug crime, local police said.

After receiving a tip-off regarding drug trafficking on Aug. 12, police in Yongping County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, initiated an investigation into the case.