Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

7 September 2019; AFP: Riot police fanned out across Hong Kong on Saturday and thwarted plans by pro-democracy protesters to target the airport, days after the city's leader made a surprise concession which was rejected by the movement as too little, too late.

Millions of pro-democracy supporters have taken to Hong Kong's streets for the past three months in the biggest challenge to China's rule since the city's handover from Britain in 1997.

WUHAN, China (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel renewed calls for a peaceful solution to unrest in Hong Kong on Saturday during her trip to China.

The Hong Kong protests have overshadowed a three-day visit Merkel had planned to use to press for greater access to Chinese markets for German businesses suffering a slowdown at home.

“I have advocated that conflicts be resolved without violence and that anything else would be a catastrophe from my point of view,” Merkel said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 (NNN-BERNAMA) – China has proposed a collaboration in areas of technology exchange as well as halal products and services with Malaysia during discussions about potential collaboration in the area of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and startups.

Minister of Entrepreneur Development (MED) Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof said the bilateral discussions were held during the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting (SMEMM) in Concepción, Chile.

BANGKOK, Sept 7 (NNN-TNA) – Thailand is hosting the 51st ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting and related meetings, with Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha delivering a welcoming speech, on Friday.

The prime minister spoke highly of ASEAN’s achievements since its establishment 52 years ago, including ASEAN Free Trade Area, which promotes free trade between ASEAN countries by lowering tariffs, ASEAN Economic Community that enhances economic cooperation and ASEAN’s proposal of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

BANGKOK, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) talks among the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their six trade partner countries are scheduled in the Thai capital on Saturday and Sunday.

The RCEP talks will be chaired by Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit who said on Friday that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and himself were pushing for conclusion to the RCEP talks within this year.

JAKARTA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian police confirmed that perpetrators of the Jan. 27 church bombing in southern Philippine city of Jolo were an Indonesian couple after DNA test.

The retrieved DNA, which was tested under the cooperation of Indonesia and the Philippine police, was convincingly identical with the DNA of their parents in Indonesia, the police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said on Friday.

"They were certainly Indonesians. Accuracy of DNA test is 90 percent," said Dedi.

BEIJING, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's lunar rover Yutu-2 has driven 284.66 meters on the far side of the moon to conduct scientific exploration on the virgin territory.

Both the lander and the rover of the Chang'e-4 probe switched to its dormant mode for the lunar night on Friday (Beijing time), according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Typhoon winds toppled trees, grounded planes and left thousands of South Korean homes without electricity on Saturday as a powerful storm system brushed up against the Korean Peninsula.

Strong winds and rain from Typhoon Lingling caused power outages in more than 31,000 homes on the southern resort island of Jeju and in southern mainland regions, South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety said. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said there were no immediate reports of typhoon-related injuries.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Friday measures announced this week to help restore order in the Chinese-ruled city were a first step as thousands gathered outside a subway station in renewed protest after months of sometimes violent unrest.

The crowds are expected to swell into the night, as the Asian financial hub braces for weekend demonstrations aiming to disrupt transport links to the airport after Lam’s withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill failed to appease some activists.

BEIJING (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the start of a visit to Beijing on Friday that the China-U.S. trade war was affecting the whole world and she hoped it would be resolved soon.

Germany’s firms have been caught in the crossfire of a U.S.-China trade conflict, its economy - Europe’s largest - contracted on weaker exports in the second quarter, and leading economists say it is facing a recession, especially after weak industrial data published this week.