Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s leader said Tuesday she’s immediately setting up a “communication platform” to narrow differences in the city after months of anti-government protests.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam also said the city’s police watchdog will carry out a fact-finding study of the protests and related incidents as it looks into 174 complaints about police behavior.

The movement held a massive but peaceful rally on Sunday after earlier protests had been marked by violence. The government has conditioned dialogue on the leaderless protest movement remaining peaceful.

HONG KONG (AP) — On a recent sweltering Saturday, a day now reserved for protest in Hong Kong, a demonstrator named Wayne stepped past a row of plastic barricades, lifted a pair of binoculars and squinted.

Four hundred meters away, a line of riot police stood with full-length shields, batons and tear-gas launchers.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday after Wall Street rallied on the U.S. decision to give Chinese telecom giant Huawei another 90 days to buy equipment from American suppliers.

That decision appeared to inspire a buying mood among investors eager for any signs of progress in the trade war between the U.S. and China.

BEIJING, Aug 19 (APP): Senior executive from leading Chinese enterprises from power sector – China Gezhouba Group Overseas Invesstment Company Limited and China State Grid – held separate meetings with Pakistan Ambassador to China, Ms. Naghmana A. Hashmi.

Welcoming the visitors, Ambassador Hashmi underscored that Pakistan-China cooperation in the power sector had developed rapidly, especially following the advent of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative.

BEIJING, Aug 19 (APP): About 33 teams from universities of China, Pakistan, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Cote d’Ivoire competed at the first International Competition for Autonomous Running Intelligent Robots held here at the Beijing Science Center.

The representatives from universities in 20 different countries and regions also took part in the event hosted by the Beijing Association for Science and Technology and organized by the Beijing Institute of Electronics and the Institute of Microelectronics of Tsinghua University.

19 August 2019; AFP: Riots broke out and a local parliament building was torched in Indonesia's restive Papua region on Monday, as thousands protested against the weekend detention of dozens of Papuan students.

Demonstrators took to the streets of Manokwari, the capital of West Papua province, bringing the city of some 130,000 to a standstill as its civic building was nearly reduced to ashes.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s exports fell for the eighth straight month in July as worries continued about President Donald Trump’s trade policies denting Asian economic growth.

Ministry of Finance data released Monday showed exports and imports fell in July, compared to the same month a year ago. Exports fell 1.6%, while imports slid 1.2%, resulting in a trade deficit of 249.6 billion yen ($2.35 billion).

Global markets have been in turmoil because of Trump’s trade war with China. A slowdown in China is certain to hurt other regional economies, including Japan’s.

BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, on Monday warned Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority to stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and its connivance towards the criminals.

Ma made the remarks in response to a question on the DPP's claim on recent moves by Tsai Ing-wen and relevant departments attempting to give assistance to certain Hong Kong residents' visits to Taiwan in the name of "humanitarian aid."

He told the DPP authority to stop undermining the rule of law in Hong Kong.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were higher Monday, as investors continue to rejigger their read on President Donald Trump’s trade war and growing worries about slowing economies around the world.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% in early trading to 20,532.95. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.8% to 6,454.40, while South Korea’s Kospi was 0.4% higher at 1,934.78. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.9% to 25,734.22. The Shanghai Composite added 0.3% to 2,823.82.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A runaway train. Crashing billiard balls. A compound fracture.

Journalists and academics in Seoul have been running out of colorful descriptions for an intensifying dispute between South Korea and Japan over history and trade that has sent always shaky relations plummeting further.