Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

OSAKA, Japan (AP) — With an eye on the race back home to challenge him, President Donald Trump opened his most consequential trip of the year Friday by pushing allies on trade and defense spending at an international summit.

Trump opened the G20 summit in Japan by meeting with the host, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, followed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He sounded optimistic about inking trade deals with all three and praised alliances he has strained in the past.

Seoul, Jun 27 (AFP/PTI) North Korea on Thursday warned the South to stop "meddling" in talks between Pyongyang and Washington, repudiating its neighbour days before US President Donald Trump arrives in Seoul amid a nuclear deadlock.

Talks have been stalled since February when a second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed, after they failed to agree on what the North would be willing to give up in exchange for sanctions relief.

OSAKA, Japan (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders are gathering in Osaka for a summit of the Group of 20 major economies that is likely to be overshadowed by both trade and geopolitical tensions.

President Donald Trump was due to arrive later Thursday, and to meet with Xi on Saturday as the G-20 meetings conclude.

Xi was also expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, seeking a breakthrough after years of strain over territorial disputes. It is his first visit to Japan since he became communist China’s top leader in 2013.

SHENZHEN, China (AP) — Chinese tech giant Huawei has warned a U.S. proposal to block the company from pursuing damages in the country’s patent courts would be a “catastrophe for global innovation.”

Huawei’s chief legal officer warned Thursday the proposal by an American senator would threaten the global intellectual property system that supports technology development.

SINGAPORE (AP) — Asian stocks advanced Thursday ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Japan this week.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.8% to 21,262.10 and the Kospi in South Korea climbed 0.9% to 2,139.91. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.9% at 28,466.09. The Shanghai Composite jumped 0.7% to 2,995.82 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1% to 6,644.90. Shares rose in Taiwan and throughout Southeast Asia.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday that South Korea must stop trying to mediate between Pyongyang and Washington, as it stepped up its pressure on the United States to work out new proposals to salvage deadlocked nuclear diplomacy.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The U.S. and North Korea feel the need to resume diplomacy and are trying to narrow their differences for new summit talks, a top South Korean official said Wednesday as he contrasted their efforts with the tensions surrounding Iran’s collapsing nuclear accord.

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul told reporters in Seoul that the two adversaries need to continue building up trust following the failed talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in February.

26 June 2019; DW: China said on Tuesday that it will turn away all meat shipped from Canada after a customs investigation revealed as many as 188 "counterfeit" veterinary health certificates, the Chinese embassy in Canada said in a statement on its website.

China launched the probe after inspectors found residue from ractopamine, a restricted feed additive, in a batch of Canadian pork products.

Seoul, Jun 26; AFP/GANASHAKTI: North Korea denounced US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as an obstruction to nuclear negotiations on Wednesday, days before President Donald Trump visits Seoul while talks with Pyongyang are deadlocked.

The process has been stalled since a second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in February collapsed, after they failed to agree on what the North would be willing to give up in exchange for sanctions relief.

Sydney, Jun 26 (AFP/PTI) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday warned that "collateral damage" from trade spats between China and the United States were hurting smaller countries and threatening the global economy.

In an usually public warning to allies in Washington, Morrison said the "world's most important bilateral relationship -- the US-China relationship" had become "strained".