Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong’s highest court on Monday ruled the city’s government had the right to invoke colonial-era emergency powers last year to ban the wearing of masks at all public processions and meetings during the height of 2019’s protests.

During the anti-government protests which have largely died down, many demonstrators wore masks to hide their identities from authorities and to protect themselves from tear gas.

PYONGYANG, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Kim Tok Hun, premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korean (DPRK), visited Mount Kumgang tourist area to learn about its development, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Sunday.

The report said, Kim, also a member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, toured round Kosong Port coastal tourist area, Haegumgang coastal park area, sports and cultural area, and discussed technical matters concerning the development of Mount Kumgang tourist area, and carrying them out.

Tokyo, Dec 21 (AP-PTI) Japan's Cabinet approved a ninth straight increase in the nation's defense budget as the government bolsters funding to develop longer-range cruise missiles and stealth fighters to counter potential threats from China and North Korea.

The record 5.34 trillion yen (USD 51.7 billion) defense budget planned for fiscal 2021 is the first under Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and is a 1.1 per cent increase over the current year's budget.

NUR-SULTAN, December 20. /TASS/: President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law introducing amendments and supplements into the legislation to strengthen protection of citizens’ rights in criminal proceedings and the corruption control. Government officials are banned from holding accounts with foreign banks since now, the press service of the head of state says.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated the Patimban sea port in West Java on Sunday, saying the new gateway would have a “strategic” role in boosting the nation’s pandemic-hit economy.

The 43.2 trillion rupiah ($3.07 billion) port in the town of Subang, 140 km (90 miles) east of the capital Jakarta, is one of the government’s priority infrastructure projects, designed to boost Southeast Asia’s largest economy and relieve pressure on Jakarta’s congested Tanjung Priok port.

Beijing, Dec 19 (AP-PTI) China will soon begin coronavirus inoculations for workers in health care, transport and border control, a senior official said Saturday.

Vice Minister of the National Health Commission Zeng Yixin gave few specifics but said the government was prioritising those most at risk of catching the virus.

BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- China is firmly opposed to the United States adding 59 Chinese entities to its "entity list" of export controls, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said Saturday.

China will take necessary measures to protect Chinese companies' legitimate rights and interests, said the spokesperson.

SAMUT SAKHON, Thailand (AP) — Thousands of people lined up for coronavirus tests in a province near Bangkok on Sunday, as Thai authorities scrambled to contain an outbreak of the virus that has infected nearly 700 people.

Triple lines of mainly migrant workers stretched for around 100 meters in one location alone, at Mahachai in Samut Sakhon province, as health officials in mobile units methodically took nasal swabs. There were three locations in total in the area.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — In October, Indonesian diplomats and Muslim clerics stepped off a plane in China. While the diplomats were there to finalize deals to ensure millions of doses reached Indonesian citizens, the clerics had a much different concern: Whether the COVID-19 vaccine was permissible for use under Islamic law.

As companies race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and countries scramble to secure doses, questions about the use of pork products — banned by some religious groups — has raised concerns about the possibility of disrupted immunization campaigns.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A top North Korea official has visited a mountain resort that had been jointly run with rival South Korea during past rapprochement and discussed efforts to unilaterally rebuild it into “a cultural resort envied by the whole world,” state media reported Sunday.

Some experts say North Korea may be putting pressure on South Korea in order to benefit from an economic engagement as the pandemic is aggravating North Korean economic woes.