Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

22 July 2019; AFP: Anger soared in Hong Kong on Monday over a vicious assault on pro-democracy protesters by suspected triad gangsters that left dozens wounded, a dramatic escalation of the political turmoil plaguing the Chinese city.

The financial hub's roiling unrest took a dark turn late Sunday when gangs of men -- most wearing white T-shirts and carrying bats, sticks and metal poles -- set upon anti-government demonstrators as they returned from another huge march earlier that day.

22 July 2019; AFP: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un voted in nationwide local elections on Sunday that registered the near 100 percent turnout claimed for every ballot held in the nuclear-armed state.

Given the absence of any competition among candidates, elections in the North are essentially a political ritual which, observers say, allows the authorities to claim a popular mandate while reinforcing loyalty to Kim's regime.

Shanghai, Jul 22 (AFP/PTI) Shares on Shanghai's new Nasdaq-style technology board soared Monday, with one firm rocketing more than 500 per cent, as investors rushed to grab a piece of China's latest market liberalisation in a frenzied debut

All 25 components on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Sci-Tech Innovation Board, or STAR Market, were driven sharply higher in a hearty initial endorsement of China's plan to use the board to help fund fast-growing tech firms and discourage them listing abroad.

TOKYO, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Japan's ruling bloc led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won more than half of the contested seats in Sunday's upper house election, maintaining a majority in the chamber.

However, the ruling parties and others who advocate constitutional reform did not win the needed 85 seats to get a two-thirds majority, a prerequisite for any amendment.

With 370 candidates vying for the 124 seats, 74 are chosen in specific districts and 50 through proportional representation.

HONG KONG, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Sunday evening strongly condemned some radical protesters' storming of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR.

A spokesperson for the HKSAR government said the liaison office is one of the offices set up by the central people's government in the HKSAR and has constitutional functions.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s protest movement took a violent turn Sunday as police launched tear gas at protesters after a massive march continued late into the evening, and subway riders were attacked by masked assailants who apparently were targeting pro-democracy demonstrators.

The firing of the tear gas was the latest confrontation between police and protesters who have taken to the streets for over a month to fight a proposed extradition bill and call for electoral reforms in the Chinese territory.

BAIKONUR /Kazakhstan/, July 21. /TASS/: The Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft with three crew members on board docked in the automated mode with Russia’s Zvezda module of the International Space Station (ISS) at 1:47 Moscow time.

The live broadcast of the docking is available on the official website of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos.

BAIKONUR /Kazakhstan/, July 21. /TASS/: The modernization of the Baikonur launch center’s famous Launch Pad No.1 - the pad Yuri Gagarin used during the humanity’s first space flight in 1961 - will begin shortly after the launch of the Soyuz MS-15 manned spacecraft due September 25, the head of Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos said on Sunday.

BAIKONUR /Kazakhstan/, July 21. /TASS/: Russia’s FEDOR humanoid robot, which is to depart to the International Space Station (ISS) on August 22, will spend a week and a half aboard the orbital outpost, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin told reporters on Sunday.

"He will spend about a week and a half aboard the station," Rogozin said at the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

According to the Russian space official, the robot was named Skybot F-850.

21 July 2019; AFP: China lifted some restrictions on foreign investment in the financial sector Saturday, as the world's second largest economy fights slowing growth at home and a damaging trade war with the United States.

China will remove shareholding limits on foreign ownership of securities, insurance and fund management firms in 2020, one year earlier than originally planned, the Financial Stability and Development Committee said in a statement posted by the central bank Saturday.