Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — At least 133 lawyers have been killed in the Philippines since the 1980s in work-related attacks, nearly half of them in the last six years during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s turbulent term, a prominent group of lawyers said Saturday.

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers also said that harassment of lawyers and judges in the Philippines has continued under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in June, despite alarms raised by the country’s Supreme Court and international watchdogs.

BEIJING, Oct 14 (APP):China firmly supports the just cause of Palestinian people to restore their national rights and will work with the international community to make relentless efforts until an independent state of Palestine is established, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning said here Friday.

ASTANA, October 14. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said there are external efforts to interfere in political, economic and humanitarian relations between Russia and Central Asian countries.

ASTANA, October 14. /TASS/: Moscow has set its sights on getting Central Asian nations on board Russia's import substitution programs, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Russia - Central Asia summit.

"We are interested in your countries joining large-scale Russian initiatives on import substitution and other programs. I am confident that it will benefit the development of all our economies, while acquiring new skills," the Russian leader emphasized.

ASTANA, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday there was no need for massive new strikes on Ukraine and that Russia was not looking to destroy the country.

Putin told a news conference at the end of a summit in Kazakhstan that his call-up of Russian reservists would be over within two weeks and there were no plans for a further mobilisation.

He also repeated the Kremlin position that Russia was willing to hold talks, although he said they would require international mediation if Ukraine was prepared to take part.

SINGAPORE, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry announced on Friday that based on advance estimates, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.4 percent year on year in the third quarter of 2022, easing slightly from the 4.5 percent growth in the previous quarter.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, Singapore's economy grew by 1.5 percent in the third quarter, a turnaround from the 0.2 percent contraction in the second quarter.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea early Friday fired a ballistic missile and 170 rounds of artillery shells toward the sea and flew warplanes near the tense border with South Korea, further raising animosities triggered by the North’s recent barrage of weapons tests.

The North Korean moves suggest it is reviving an old playbook of stoking fears of war with provocative weapons tests before it seeks to win greater concessions from its rivals.

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets surged Friday after Wall Street rebounded from a slump caused by higher-than-forecast inflation numbers.

Market benchmarks in London and Paris opened up more than 1%. Tokyo jumped 3.3% for its biggest one-day gain in seven months. Hong Kong and Shanghai also rose. Benchmark U.S. crude rose almost $2 per barrel.

On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark S&P 500 index was down 0.4%.

BEIJING (AP) — When Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, it wasn’t clear what kind of leader he would be.

His low-key persona during a steady rise through the ranks of the long-ruling Communist Party gave no hint that he would evolve into one of modern China’s most dominant leaders, or that he would put the economically and militarily ascendant country on a collision course with the U.S.-led international order.

13 October 2022; MEMO: Malaysia has selected Turkish Aerospace Industries to provide three unmanned aircraft, Defence News reports.

According to the report, the Malaysian government has decided to contract with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the country's Defence Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, said in a statement.

The purchase will be funded under the country's five-year spending plan, rather than its defence budget, the Minister added.