Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Hundreds of Thai anti-government protesters chanted “Down with Dictatorship” under pouring rain in Bangkok on Friday, defying a government ban on demonstrations for a second day and in spite of a warning from Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

The location of the demonstration was shifted at short notice by about 1.6 km (1 mile) after police deployed in force at the Ratchaprasong Intersection, where tens of thousands of protesters rallied on Thursday.

BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday expressed firm opposition to and denunciation of the U.S. side creating the so-called "Hong Kong Autonomy Act," and sanctioning Chinese personnel based on it, vowing countermeasures "if the U.S. is bent on going this way."

That came after the U.S. State Department's recent warning about tough sanctions soon to be put on international financial institutions doing business with Chinese individuals deemed responsible for undermining Hong Kong's autonomy.

BEIJING, Oct 15 (APP): China firmly opposes any foreign country using Tibet to interfere in its internal affairs,
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Thursday.

Setting up of the so-called special coordinator for Tibetan issues was entirely out of political manipulation to interfere in China internal affairs and destabilize Xijang (Tibet), he said during his regular briefing while responding to a question regarding appointment of a U.S. special coordinator for Tibet.

YEREVAN, October 15. /TASS/: Armenia informed the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) that Turkey was closing its airspace for transporting humanitarian cargoes to the South Caucasus republic, Armenia’s State Civil Aviation Committee reported on Thursday.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (NNN-BERNAMA) — While the world fights COVID-19 pandemic and its emerging socio-economic burdens, Azerbaijan has to cope with a double challenge these days.

In the early hours of Sept 27, 2020, the armed forces of Armenia launched attacks against positions of Azerbaijan, causing human casualties and raising the tensions to a new dangerous level.

TOKYO, Oct 15 (NNN-NHK) – Japan, yesterday, unveiled its newest 3,000-tonne submarine, named Taigei, which was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., amid no signs of the nation reining in its ever-increasing and constitutionally questionable “defence” spending.

The submarine was unveiled at a shipyard in western Japan and is slated to go into service as the 22nd vessel in the Maritime Self-Defence Force’s (MSDF) submarine fleet, in Mar, 2022.

Yerevan, Oct 14 (AP/PTI) The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated Wednesday, as both sides exchanged accusations and claims of new attacks over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, where heavy fighting continues for a third week despite a Russia-brokered cease-fire deal.

BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 1.7 percent year on year in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

The growth eased from the 2.4-percent rise registered in August.

The CPI edged up 0.2 percent month on month in September, compared with an increase of 0.4 percent in August.

Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the NBS, attributed the easing CPI growth to moderating food prices, especially vegetables and pork.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police raided the private offices of media tycoon and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai on Thursday, according to Lai’s aide.

Lai’s aide Mark Simon wrote in a post on Twitter that 14 police officers visited Lai’s office and confiscated documents.

Lai, 71, is an outspoken pro-democracy figure who regularly criticizes China’s authoritarian rule and Hong Kong’s government. He is also the founder of media company Next Digital, which operates pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai police early Thursday dispersed a group of pro-democracy protesters who camped out overnight outside the office of the prime minister to demand his resignation, leading him to implement a “severe” state of emergency in the capital area.

An Associated Press journalist saw riot police advance from multiple locations to force out a few hundred protesters who remained outside Government House, the seat of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. Protesters were seen taken away into police trucks.