Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council on Saturday submitted a bill to an ongoing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, asking the NPC Standing Committee to make a decision for the sixth Legislative Council (LegCo) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to continue operation.

Entrusted by the State Council, Xia Baolong, head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, explained the bill to lawmakers at the session.

TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese city of Nagasaki on Sunday marked its 75th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing, with the mayor and dwindling survivors urging world leaders including their own to do more for a nuclear weapons ban.

At 11:02 a.m., the moment the B-29 bomber Bockscar dropped a 4.5-ton (10,000-pound) plutonium bomb dubbed “Fat Man,” Nagasaki survivors and other participants stood in a minute of silence to honor more than 70,000 dead.

BEIJING, August 8 (APP): This week marks a year of the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status by India when it repealed a set of articles from its constitution in August 2019. Ever since, there has been a near-total blackout of the internet and a series of curfews and lockdowns have devastated the region’s economy.

SHANGHAI/SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies Co [HWT.UL] will stop making its flagship Kirin chipsets next month, financial magazine Caixin said on Saturday, as the impact of U.S. pressure on the Chinese tech giant grows.

U.S. pressure on Huawei’s suppliers has made it impossible for the company’s HiSilicon chip division to keep making the chipsets, key components for mobile phone, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Unit was quoted as saying at the launch of the company’s new Mate 40 handset.

SEOUL (Reuters) - At least 21 people have died after 46 days of heavy rains in South Korea, with the country’s longest monsoon in seven years causing more flooding, landslides and evacuations on Saturday.

More than 3,000 people had been evacuated as of 6 a.m. local time on Saturday (2100 GMT Friday), according to Ministry of the Interior and Safety data, as rains battered the southern part of the Korean peninsula. Eleven people are missing.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Beijing’s top representative office in Hong Kong said on Saturday that sanctions imposed by Washington on senior Hong Kong and Chinese officials were “clowning actions” that would not frighten or intimidate Chinese people.

Separately, the Hong Kong government said the sanctions were “shameless and despicable” and represented “blatant and barbaric” interference in China’s internal affairs.

“We will not be intimidated,” a government spokesman said.

BEIJING, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi said Friday that China and the United States need to jointly safeguard the foundation of bilateral relations and protect the friendship between the Chinese and American people.

He made the remarks in a signed article titled "Respect History, Look to the Future and Firmly Safeguard and Stabilize China-U.S. Relations," which was published Friday.

BEIJING, Aug 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe urged his US counterpart in a phone call Thursday to avoid actions and rhetoric on Taiwan and other issues that could escalate tensions between the rivals, state media reported.

Wei urged the US side to stop erroneous words and deeds” and “avoid taking dangerous moves that may escalate the situation,” referring to the status of Taiwan and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

HIROSHIMA (Japan), Aug 7 (NNN-AFP) — Japan on Thursday marked 75 years since the world’s first atomic bomb attack, with the coronavirus pandemic forcing a scaling back of ceremonies to remember the victims.

Survivors, relatives and a handful of foreign dignitaries attended this year’s main event in Hiroshima to pray for those killed or wounded in the bombing and call for world peace.

But the general public was kept away, with the ceremony instead broadcast online.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Leader Kim Jong Un visited parts of southern North Korea where days of torrential rains have flooded hundreds of houses and vast areas of agricultural land, state media reported Friday.

It’s rare for Kim to visit a flood-stricken site. The last time state media reported such a visit was in September 2015, when he inspected recovery work at a flood-hit northeast city, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry.