Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday urged the United States to stop "unwarranted slandering and accusations" and to put an end to words and deeds that undermine Sino-U.S. relations.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked for further comment on the U.S. leader's recent allegations that China is "interfering in" the 2018 mid-term U.S. elections, just one day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to China.

Beijing, Oct 9 :  China will sell 48 high-end armed drones to its "all-weather ally" Pakistan in what a military observer said will be the largest deal of its kind, official media here reported Tuesday.

The cost of the major defence deal was not revealed.

Wing Loong II is a high-end reconnaissance, strike and multi-role endurance unmanned aerial system, capable of being fitted with air-to-surface weapons.

It is roughly equivalent to the American MQ-9 Reaper drone.

by Zhu Ruiqing, Liang Hui

PALU, Indonesia, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- When night fell on disaster-hit Palu, the capital of Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province, Abdul Manan (alias) walked into the yard of his house with a pillow tucked under his arm.

In the tiny yard, carpets were spread out on the ground while tea and food was placed on the side. Abdul's family gathered together under a dim light.

Beijing, Oct 8; AFP: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo faced a testy exchange with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Monday, days after a blistering US denunciation of the Asian power's global and domestic policies.

Pompeo and Foreign Minister Wang Yi highlighted the schism after the chief US diplomat arrived in Beijing on the final leg of an Asian trip focused on North Korea's nuclear issue.

Bangkok, Oct 8; PTI: A 42-year-old Indian was among two foreign tourists killed and five others, including two Indians, seriously injured in a shootout between two rival gangs here, Thai Police said Monday.

The shooting took place last night on a street behind Centara Watergate Pavillion hotel in Ratchathewi district, where tourist coaches were parked, 'Bangkok Post' reported.

Gakhrejr Dheeraj, an Indian, and Keovongsa Thonekeo, 28, a Lao tourist, died at a hospital where other injured are undergoing treatment.

Yangon, Oct 9 (AFP) Myanmar is "unable and unwilling" to investigate its abuses against Rohingya Muslims, a UN rights envoy has said, bolstering calls for the country's generals to be hauled before an international court.

A UN fact-finding mission has called for Myanmar's top brass to be investigated for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes over a brutal crackdown against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state that forced more than 720,000 of the beleaguered minority to flee the country to Bangladesh.

BEIJING, October 8. /TASS/. Former Interpol President and China’s Deputy Minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei is suspected of bribery and other crimes, the ministry said in a statement on Monday, adding that a probe was underway.

"Chinese State Council member and Party Committee Secretary of the Ministry of Public Security Zhao Kezhi announced at the October 8 meeting of the committee that Meng Hongwei was suspected of bribery and other crimes. The National Supervisory Commission is conducting a probe against him," the statement reads.

JAKARTA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from multiple strong quakes and an ensuing tsunami in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province jumped to 1,944 as of Sunday as the search and rescue operation is expected to be completed on Thursday, military and disaster agency officials said.

Spokesman of joint task force for Central Sulawesi province Col. Infantry Muh Thohir said that a total of 2,549 people were still in hospitals for medical treatment after the disasters hit the central province on Sept. 28.

BEIJING, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday met with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying that China and the United States should follow the right path of win-win cooperation, rather than go astray toward conflict and confrontation.

Wang said Pompeo proposed his visit to China and the Chinese side was willing to arrange meetings.

JAKARTA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from multiple strong quakes and an ensuing tsunami in Indonesia climbed to 1,763 on Sunday as the search and rescue operation for victims is expected to end on Thursday, spokesman of the national disaster management agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told Xinhua.