Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

MEDAN, Indonesia (AP) — At least 30 people were killed in a fire that swept through a house that doubled as a match factory in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, a disaster official said Friday.

Irwan Syahri, from the local disaster mitigation agency in Langkat district, said the dead included three children. He said many of the victims were burned beyond recognition.

TV footage showed the burned-out structure, its floor littered with twisted metal, blackened corrugated iron roofing and other debris.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping offered encouragement for North Korea’s new focus on economic development in a speech in Pyongyang, turning to a topic Beijing has long pressed with its communist neighbor, amid wider concerns over the North’s nuclear weapons program.

In an address at a banquet Thursday night, Xi noted that the nation under leader Kim Jong Un had “initiated a new strategic line of economic development and improving people’s livelihoods, raising socialist construction in the country to a new high tide,” according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.

20 June 2019; AFP: Former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei pleaded guilty at a trial in China on Thursday to accepting $2.1 million in bribes -- a remarkable fall from grace for the former vice minister of public security.

The Tianjin No.1 Intermediate Court said Meng "showed repentance" during the hearing, which was the culmination of a dramatic case that shook the international police organisation and put a spotlight on China's opaque judicial system.

TOKYO, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday that he is not considering dissolving the lower house of parliament and calling a snap election.

Speculation had been growing that Abe might dissolve the lower chamber and call a snap election to coincide with this summer's upper house election.

In response to an opposition lawmaker who posed the question to Abe in parliament, the Japanese leader replied "It's not at all in my mind."

HONG KONG/June, 20./TASS/: Hong Kong students and youth organizations have vowed to take to the city streets again if Carrie Lam, the head of the local administration, does not promise to withdraw the controversial extradition bill instead of just suspending it, the Standard reported on Thursday.

The activists issued an ultimatum, which requires Carrie Lam to make an official statement today before 17:00 local time (12:00 Moscow time). Otherwise, the students promised to convene a new mass demonstration in front of the government building starting Friday.

TOKYO, June 20. /TASS/. Russian bomber violated Japan’s airspace near the southern Okinawa Prefecture and Hachijo Island in the Philippine Sea on Thursday, Kyodo news agency reported citing Japan’s Defense Ministry.

The Japanese Air Force’s fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the bomber, the ministry said, noting that there was no dangerous situation.

BEIJING (AP) — Former Interpol President Meng Hongwei confessed to accepting more than $2 million in bribes and expressed regret for his crime, a Chinese court said Thursday.

The No. 1 Intermediate Court in the northeastern port city of Tianjin said Meng read a statement containing the confession at a hearing.

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were higher on Thursday, with the Shanghai benchmark up 2.6%, after the Federal Reserve reaffirmed that it’s prepared to cut interest rates if needed to shield the U.S. economy from trade conflicts or other threats.

The Thursday tracked modest gains on Wall Street. The 10-year Treasury note slid to 1.98%, its lowest level since November 2016, as investors bet on at least one interest rate cut this year, possibly as early as July.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived Thursday morning for a two-day state visit to North Korea, where he is expected to talk with leader Kim Jong Un about the stalled negotiations with Washington over North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

A photo posted by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on its mobile app showed a large welcoming contingent including a military band at the airport in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

TAIYUAN, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese archaeologists have discovered a stone building complex dating back more than 1,500 years in the county of Jishan, northern China's Shanxi Province, according to local authorities.

The archaeologists found a fireplace and ceramic fragments in the building complex in the village of Foyukou, which is believed to be a military installation built in the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589).