Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s Communist Party says it will support Fujian province in exploring a new path for integrated development with Taiwan, state media reported on Tuesday.

Fujian is the province across a strait from Taiwan, which China regards as a wayward region.

In the next five years, China will help Taiwanese businesses participate in the Belt and Road Initiative and list on mainland markets, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing the ruling party’s recommendation for the economic and social development for 2021-2025.

BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday urged the United States to stop political persecution and suppression against Chinese journalists.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a query concerning visa extension of Chinese journalists in the United States.

The visa extension applications of some Chinese journalists in the United States were approved, and the validity period is from Aug. 4 to Nov. 4 this year, according to Wang.

BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Global COVID-19 deaths surpassed 1.2 million on Monday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The global death toll rose to 1,200,471, while there were more than 46.5 million cases worldwide as of 3:24 p.m. (0724 GMT), the CSSE data showed.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Monday buoyed by further signs of recovery in China’s manufacturing sector.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.4% to 23,303.42 in morning trading, while South Korea’s Kospi gained nearly 0.9% to 2,287.17. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% to 5,952.40. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.7% to 24,277.75, while the Shanghai Composite inched down less than 0.1% to 3,221.78.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police arrested seven people Sunday over scuffles that broke out in the city’s legislature during a faceoff between pro-democracy and pro-Beijing lawmakers earlier this year.

The arrested include current and former opposition lawmakers, according to their political parties and media reports.

A police statement said that six men and one woman had been detained on suspicion of contempt and interfering with legislative members. It did not name them.

YEREVAN, October 31. /TASS/: Azerbaijan’s armed forces used white phosphorus munitions prohibited by the Geneva Conventions in Nagorno-Karabakh on Saturday morning, the Armenian government’s United Information Center reported.

MANILA, Oct 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Philippine officials on Saturday ordered the evacuation of thousands of residents in the southern part of the main Luzon island as a category 5 storm that is the world’s strongest this year approaches the Southeast Asian nation.

Typhoon Goni, with 215 kmh sustained winds and gusts of up to 265 kmh, will make landfall on Sunday as the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines since Haiyan that killed more than 6,300 people in 2014.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian president Joko Widodo on Saturday condemned what he called “terrorist” attacks in France, but also warned that remarks by President Emmanuel Macron had “insulted Islam” and “hurt the unity of Muslims everywhere.”

Conservative Islamic organizations in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, have called for protests and boycotts against France, sharing an image of Macron as a red-eyed devilish snail.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, facing a challenge from the opposition and dissent within his coalition, on Saturday urged lawmakers to pass the 2021 budget to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malaysia has seen a resurgence in infections that is battering the economy, with the number of cases more than doubling in the past month.

BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- A handful of U.S. politicians cannot deceive the world by smearing China, nor can they stop China from pursuing peaceful development and achieving national rejuvenation, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked to comment on U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's repeated smearing of China during his recent visits to Asian countries.