Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

KUNMING/CHONGQING, July 2 (NNN-XINHUA) – Thousands of people have been affected, as rainstorms continue to ravage southwest China.

In Yunnan Province, heavy downpours since Monday night have led to three deaths and one missing, in the city of Zhaotong, as of 9.00 p.m. on Tuesday, local authorities said yesterday.

The lives of over 90,000 people in the city have been disrupted by the rainfalls and floods, according to the city’s emergency management department.

YANGON, July 2 (NNN-MNA) – Bodies of at least 50 jade scavengers have been recovered, while many others are still missing, in a landslide in Myanmar’s Kachin state today, U Dollar, an official from the local village administration office, said.

Caused by monsoon rains, the landslide occurred at a jade mining site, in Sate Mu village tract of Hpakant township at 8:00 a.m. local time, said a release from the Fire Services Department.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong police arrested a 24-year-old man at the city’s airport early on Thursday on suspicion of stabbing an officer during protests against a new national security law imposed by Beijing on the financial hub.

The arrest followed the latest protests on Wednesday in which police fired water cannon and tear gas and arrested more than 300 people as demonstrators defied the sweeping security legislation introduced by China to snuff out dissent.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan citizens should avoid unnecessary visits to or transit through Hong Kong, Macau or mainland China after the passing of an “outrageous” national security law for the former British colony, a Taiwan government official said on Thursday.

The law, imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing, targets crimes like secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison. It has been widely condemned in Chinese-claimed and democratic Taiwan where Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters have won support.

BEIJING, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Indian military commanders on Tuesday held the third round talks, and made progress on deescalating the situation along the border, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday.

Zhao said the two sides continued working towards implementing the consensus reached at the two earlier rounds of commander-level talks. They had made progress in the effective measures by frontline troops to disengage and deescalate the situation.

YANGON, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Bodies of at least 50 jade scavengers have been recovered so far after a massive landslide in Myanmar's Kachin state on Thursday morning, according to a press release from the Fire Services Department.

Caused by the monsoon rains, the landslide occurred at a jade mining site in Sate Mu village tract of Hpakant township at 08:00 a.m. local time, the release said.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has asked four U.S. media organisations to submit details about their operations in the country, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, in what it described as retaliation for U.S. measures against Chinese media outlets.

The Associated Press, UPI, CBS, and National Public Radio are required to provide information about their staff, financial operations and real estate in China within seven days, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily news briefing.

(Reuters) - Myanmar state media on Wednesday announced Nov. 8 as the date for a parliamentary election set to serve as a test of the country’s first democratic government in half a century.

A statement attributed to union election commission chairman Hla Thein and read out on state television said a “multi-party general election for the parliament” would be held on that day.

The polls are seen by analysts as an important test of the Myanmar’s transition away from direct military rule.

SEOUL, July 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said that his country will make all-out efforts to let the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States hold talks before the U.S. presidential election.

Moon made the remarks during a video conference with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which was held on Tuesday to discuss ways to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, the South Korean presidential Blue House said Wednesday.

BEIJING, July 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his like are just daydreaming as they attempt to cut the flesh and blood ties between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday.

Zhao said this when asked to comment on remarks by Pompeo, who repeatedly attacked the CPC and the Chinese political system and said that the hopes and dreams of the Chinese people should be distinguished from those of the Party.