Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING (AP) — President Donald Trump has stepped up a conflict with China over security and technology by issuing an order barring Americans from investing in companies that U.S. officials say are owned or controlled by the Chinese military.

The impact of the order Thursday wasn’t immediately clear but it could add to pressure on companies including telecom equipment giant Huawei and video surveillance provider Hikvision that already face U.S. export bans and other sanctions.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares have opened lower as rising cases of coronavirus infections in the U.S., Europe and Asia add to worries that economies will once again be hamstrung by pandemic restrictions on travel and businesses.

Reports of surging COVID-19 cases have had a sobering effect on markets that had advanced on hopes for a vaccine and expectations that pro-business policies will continue after last week’s U.S. elections.

MANILA, Nov 12 (NNN-PNA) – Philippine rescuers evacuated people stranded on rooftops of their submerged homes today, as Typhoon Vamco caused major flooding in the capital, Manila, and several provinces in the main island of Luzon.

Typhoon Vamco, the third powerful cyclone to batter the Philippines in 11 days, made landfall last night, unleashed fierce winds and intense rains that triggered landslide, rockslide and flash floods, in regions ravaged by Super Typhoon Goni early this month.

VIENTIANE, Nov 12 (NNN-KPL) – The Lao government plans to build a new expressway, linking Luang Prabang with Oudomxay, drastically reducing travel time between the two provinces.

According to Lao economic daily, the proposed expressway would link Luang Prabang province, some 230 km north of the capital Vientiane, with Oudomxay province, stretching some 113.9 km.

Luang Prabang authorities discussed a feasibility study at a meeting last Friday, chaired by Deputy Provincial Governor of Luang Prabang, Soukan Bounyong.

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating rose 1.9 percentage points from a year earlier to 46.3 percent this week, a weekly poll showed Thursday.

The negative assessment on Moon's conduct of state affairs slipped 1.0 percentage point to 49.2 percent this week, according to the Realmeter survey.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party lost 1.4 percentage points over the week to 33.3 percent.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s pro-democracy legislators began resigning in protest Thursday, one day after the government ousted four members of their camp.

The 15 remaining members of the bloc have said they will resign en masse in a show of solidarity after China’s central government in Beijing passed a resolution this week that led to the four lawmakers’ disqualification.

Most of the 15 did not attend a regular session of the legislature on Thursday, and some later handed in resignation letters at the Legislative Council’s secretariat.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s legislature opened Thursday ahead of the planned mass resignation of its pro-democracy bloc, one day after the government ousted four of its members.

One of the pro-democracy lawmakers, Lam Cheuk-ting, unfurled a banner from a balcony of the legislative council building saying the city’s leader Carrie Lam had brought disaster to Hong Kong and its people.

BEIJING, Nov. 11 (APP): Handmade silk carpets from Kashmir became one of the best-selling products at the 3rd China International Import Expo which concluded in Shanghai.

“Unlike ordinary carpets, for me the Kashmir one is an artwork worth collecting. That’s the reason why I bought it almost without any hesitation despite the high price,” a Chinese man who bought an exquisite Kashmir carpet with RMB 60,000 from Zahid Ahmad of Woven Cashmere at CIIE told China Economic Net (CEN).

TOKYO, November 11. /TASS/: Joe Biden’s presumptive victory in the US presidential election will encourage further strategic rapprochement between Russia and China, Senior Research Fellow at Japan’s Sasakawa Peace Foundation Taisuke Abiru told TASS on Wednesday.

"The Donald Trump administration labels China as a US strategic rival," the expert noted. Washington has been consistently carrying out a tough policy on China. This line is unlikely to change under Biden. In the coming years we will see continued strategic rivalry between the US and China," according to the expert.

YEREVAN, November 11. /TASS/: Armenia had to sign an agreement to end hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh in order to prevent a military collapse, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Wednesday during a live broadcast on his Facebook page.

"If the fighting had continued, there was a very high probability that Stepanakert, Martuni, and Askeran would have fallen. Subsequently, thousands of our soldiers could have been surrounded, that is, a collapse would have happened. We had to sign that agreement," he noted.