Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

HONG KONG, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Four Hong Kong student leaders charged with "advocating terrorism" after their union passed a motion last month mourning the death of a 50-year-old who stabbed a policeman before killing himself were denied bail on Thursday.

The four, aged 18-20 and all from the University of Hong Kong (HKU), are the latest democracy activists to be denied bail under a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on the former British colony last year.

BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- China maintains contact and communication with the Afghan Taliban and other parties on the basis of full respect for the sovereignty of Afghanistan and the will of all parties, and it encourages and hopes the Afghan Taliban can follow through its positive statements, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s longest-governing political party appeared set to reclaim the premiership it lost in a shock 2018 election result, with its lawmakers summoned to the palace Thursday to verify their candidate has enough support to take office.

The choice of former Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob would essentially restore the ruling alliance of Muhyiddin Yassin, who resigned as prime minister on Monday after infighting in the coalition cost him majority support.

SINGAPORE (AP) — Asian stock markets retreated Thursday after U.S. central bank policymakers made no firm decision on when to unwind their support measures for the economy.

Regional indices tracked losses on Wall Street. The lack of a directive from the Federal Reserve fueled worries over surging coronavirus infections caused by the delta variant, and the pandemic’s impact on consumer spending and jobs growth.

TOKYO (AP) — Nearly three years later, former Nissan executive Greg Kelly is still wondering why the questions that led to his arrest and trial in Japan weren’t simply taken up in the automaker’s corporate boardroom.

Hong Kong, Aug 18 (AP-PTI) Hong Kong will tighten entry restrictions for travellers arriving from the United States and 15 other countries beginning Friday, extending the quarantine period to 21 days.

Previously, the 15 countries, which also include Malaysia, Thailand, France and the Netherlands, were classified as medium-risk, with travellers able to stay only seven days of quarantine if they were fully vaccinated and tested positive for antibodies prior to leaving for the city.

SEOUL, Aug 18 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s automotive production fell last month, owing to the production disruption in some of the factories, a government report showed today.

The number of vehicles, made in domestic plants, was 297,585 in July, down 13.9 percent from the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It came, as the production in some of the local factories was delayed, by the facility construction and the shortage of semiconductors, used for cars.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia Wednesday recorded 22,242 new cases of COVID-19, the highest number since the pandemic hit the country last year.

Sharing the latest data on the viral infection via his Twitter account, Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this new development has brought the cumulative number of cases in the country to 1,466,512.

He said Selangor continued to record the highest number of cases among the states, with 6,858 followed by Sabah (2,413), Penang (1,867), Kedah (1,852), Kuala Lumpur (1,587) and Johor (1,477).

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday had a phone conversation with Haji Erywan, special envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to Myanmar and Brunei's second minister of foreign affairs, over ties and the situation in Myanmar.

Wang expressed his appreciation for Brunei's contribution to the development of China-ASEAN relations as the rotating chair of ASEAN, and thanked Brunei for its support in elevating the positioning of China-ASEAN relations.

BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's Mars rover Zhurong has accomplished its exploration and detection tasks as planned, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Tuesday.

As of Aug. 15, 2021, Zhurong had worked on the surface of Mars for 90 Martian days, or about 92 days on Earth, with all scientific payloads having started to work on detection tasks, said the administration.