Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, Aug 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. special envoy for North Korea will visit South Korea this weekend amid a standoff over U.S.-South Korean military exercises that North Korea has warned could trigger a security crisis.

Sung Kimwill arrive in Seoul on Saturday for a four-day visit, during which he will meet his South Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk, and other officials, the U.S. State Department and Seoul's Foreign Ministry said.

Beijing, Aug 20 (PTI) China's national legislature on Friday formally endorsed the three-child policy mooted by the ruling Communist Party, in a major policy shift aimed to prevent a steep decline in birth rates in the world's most populous country.

The revised Population and Family Planning Law, which allows Chinese couples to have three children, was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

BEIJING, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese astronauts Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming had both slipped out of the space station core module Tianhe by 10:12 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Friday to conduct extravehicular activities (EVAs) for a second time, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Nie opened the hatch of Tianhe's node cabin at 8:38 a.m., the CMSA said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s longest-governing political party reclaimed the premiership it lost in a shock 2018 election defeat, after the king on Friday named its candidate, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, as the country’s new leader.

Ismail was the deputy prime minister under the government of Muhyiddin Yassin, who resigned Monday after less than 18 months in office as infighting in his coalition cost him majority support.

BEIJING (AP) — China is tightening control over data gathered by companies about the public under a law approved Friday by its ceremonial legislature, expanding the ruling Communist Party’s crackdown on internet industries.

The data protection law follows anti-monopoly and other enforcement actions against companies including e-commerce giant Alibaba and games and social media operator Tencent that caused their share prices to plunge.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s space agency plans to bring soil samples back from the Mars region ahead of the U.S. and Chinese missions now operating on Mars, in hopes of finding clues to the planet’s origin and traces of possible life.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, plans to launch an explorer in 2024 to land on the Martian moon Phobos to collect 10 grams (0.35 ounce) of soil and bring it back to Earth in 2029.

BEIJING, Aug 19 (APP): China and Pakistan are enhancing communication and coordination on Afghan issues as two important neighbors of Afghanistan, and expect to play constructive roles in maintaining regional peace and stability, which has triggered India’s anxiety.

India has been unwilling to make a U-turn in its policies after a prolonged hostility toward the Afghan Taliban.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian king the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah today held an audience with 114 members of the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament Lower House) who had nominated Ismail Sabri Yaakob for the prime minister’s post.

Ismail Sabri from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition is said to have received enough nominations to edge the other contender for the post, Anwar Ibrahim of Pakatan Harapan (PH).

BEIJING, Aug 19 (NNN-ANA) – The Taliban, yesterday, met with former Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, as the group is seeking to form a new government in the war-torn country.

The meeting between the Taliban and the former Afghan leader came, after Afghan President, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, left the country, following the Taliban’s takeover of most parts of the country, including the capital city of Kabul, on Sunday.

PHNOM PENH, Aug 19 (Reuters) - The last surviving leader of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime on Thursday denied involvement in genocide and being responsible for crimes against humanity, in one of his final appearances before an international tribunal.

Khmer Rouge era President Khieu Samphan, 90, was speaking during his appeal of a 2018 guilty verdict that was one of only a few rulings against those deemed "most responsible" for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from 1975-1979.