Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Working-level talks between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States seemed about to resume soon, a senior official of the South Korean presidential Blue House said on Thursday.

Kim Hyun-chong, a deputy director of the National Security Office (NSO) of the Blue House, made the remark after a meeting with Stephen Biegun, U.S. special representative for DPRK affairs who arrived here from Japan Tuesday evening for a three-day visit, according to local media reports.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong riot police faced off briefly with protesters occupying a suburban train station Wednesday evening following a commemoration of a violent attack there by masked assailants against supporters of the anti-government movement.

Near the end of the event, the police began what they called a “dispersal operation, using minimum force” after some protesters blocked roads and flashed laser pointers at officers.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets are mixed Thursday following Wall Street’s rebound as investors looked ahead to a speech by the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman for clues about possible interest rate cuts.

Investor reaction was muted following Wednesday’s release of notes from the latest Fed meeting showing conflicting opinions about rates.

Benchmarks in Shanghai and Hong Kong fell, while Tokyo and Sydney climbed.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A major bank warned on Wednesday that weeks of protests in Hong Kong could hit the economies of the Chinese-ruled city and mainland China itself as demonstrators headed for a sit-in at the subway site of a mid-summer mob attack.

Hong Kong-based Bank of East Asia Ltd (BEA) posted a 75% slump in first-half net profit after it wrote down loans in China because of a downturn in commercial property markets outside China’s top cities.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese national working at Britain’s Hong Kong consulate has been detained in China’s border city of Shenzhen for violating the law, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday, likely worsening already strained ties between Beijing and London.

Britain has said it is “extremely concerned” by reports that the staff member at the consulate in its former colony had been detained.

HULU LANGAT, Malaysia, Aug 20 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The Ministry of Rural Development (KPLB) has announced that it will install 10,000 units of Light Emitting Diode (LED) village street lights (LJK) in villages in Peninsular Malaysia starting this year with completion expected next year.

Its Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun said the installation of the LED-type lighting units would use the ministry’s Incentive Based Regulation (IBR) for 2019/2020 allocation that would benefit villagers in need of replacement of existing street lights.

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Aug 21 (NNN-ANTARA) – Indonesia deployed more troops to the restive West Papua region, as demonstrations spread to several communities in the region, with reports of a prison break, injuries and more attacks that belie earlier assurances by the government that the unrest had been contained.

BEIJING (AP) — Asia stock markets followed Wall Street lower Wednesday as investors looked ahead to a speech by the Federal Reserve chairman for signs of possible plans for more U.S. interest rate cuts.

Benchmarks in Tokyo, Shanghai and Australia declined while South Korea advanced.

U.S. stocks fell Tuesday after another slide in bond yields and a mixed batch of corporate earnings. Financial sector stocks led the declines.

20 August 2019; AFP: Huawei on Tuesday dismissed Washington's three-month delay to a ban on US firms selling to the Chinese tech giant and said the decision would not change the fact it had been "treated unjustly".

The US Commerce Department effectively suspended for a second time tough rules stopping the sale of components and services to the telecoms titan and a prohibition on buying equipment from it.

SEOUL (Reuters) - Japan has approved shipments of a high-tech material to South Korea for the second time since imposing export curbs last month, two sources said, ahead of talks by government officials this week to resolve a dispute stemming from their wartime past.

Relations between the two U.S. allies worsened late last year when a South Korean court ordered Japanese companies to compensate some of their former laborers forced by the firms to work during World War Two.