Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will attend a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Tuesday, the U.S. embassy in Brunei told Reuters.

Biden will lead the U.S. delegation for the ASEAN-United States summit, the embassy said. The virtual summit will be held as part of ASEAN leaders' meeting this week.

HONG KONG, Oct 25 (Reuters) - International rights group Amnesty International said on Monday it would close its Hong Kong offices because a China-imposed security law had now made it "effectively impossible" for rights groups to work freely without the risk of reprisals.

Anjhula Mya Singh Bais, the chair of Amnesty’s international board, said in a statement that the two offices would close by year-end, noting an intensification of a crackdown that has forced at least 35 groups to disband under the law this year.

TOKYO, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost in one of two by-elections held ahead of the general election this weekend but won the other.

As two LDP lawmakers resigned, the by-elections for vacant seats in the upper chamber of parliament took place in the Yamaguchi and Shizuoka constituencies. The by-elections, which were the first national contests held since Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio took office on Oct. 4, were closely watched as a bellwether for the general election.

BANGKOK, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- When leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their dialogue partners meet virtually this week, high on the agenda will be the joint efforts for a post-pandemic recovery as countries recently began to reopen their economies and borders following the receding of the COVID-19 outbreak.

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets rose Monday after Wall Street slipped and China tightened travel controls in some areas in response to coronavirus infections.

Shanghai and Hong Kong advanced while London and Frankfurt opened higher. Tokyo declined.

On Wall Street, futures for the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.1% higher.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Children as young as 3 will start receiving COVID-19 vaccines in China, where 76% of the population has been fully vaccinated and authorities are maintaining a zero-tolerance policy toward outbreaks.

Local city and provincial level governments in at least five provinces issued notices in recent days announcing that children ages 3-11 will be required to get their vaccinations.

BEIJING, Oct 24 (APP): Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying has been promoted to the post of China’s assistant foreign minister, the ministry’s official website stated on Sunday.

Born in Jiangsu Province, Hua Chunying joined the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) as staff member and Attaché, Department of Western European Affairs in 1993.

During her career, she served in Chinese Embassy in Singapore and Chinese Mission to the European Union and also worked on different positions in MFA.

TASHKENT, October 24. /TASS/: The voter turnout at Sunday’s presidential elections in Uzbekistan exceeded 70% at 17:30 local time (15:30 Moscow time), Bakhrom Kuchkarov, deputy chairperson of Uzbekistan’s Central Election Commission (CEC) said.

"More than 15 million people had cast their votes by 17:30 local time. The voter turnout exceeded 70%," he said, adding that the CEC was monitoring the voting process and registered a number of violations.

PHNOM PENH, Oct 24 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodia yesterday, lifted ban on all flights from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, after most of the kingdom’s population have been vaccinated against COVID-19, Health Minister, Mam Bunheng said, in a press statement.

The decision to lift the ban was made by Cambodian Prime Minister, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, and it took effect immediately, he said.

“It’s part of the country’s move to reopen social and economic activities gradually, in all areas, by adapting to the new normal and to reactivate air transport services,” Bunheng said.

TAIPEI, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Buildings shook in Taipei on Sunday as an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 struck northeastern Taiwan, but there were no reports of damage.

It had a depth of 66.8 km (41.5 miles), and could be felt across the northern, eastern and western parts of Taiwan, with the epicentre in Yilan county, the weather bureau said.

The Taipei metro was briefly closed for checks, but re-opened shortly afterwards. The state-run power operator said the grid was operating as normal, while the railway administration said it was carrying out track inspections.