BC-AS--Asian News Digest, AS
ASIA:
TILLERSON-ASIA - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday visited the world's most heavily armed border, greeting U.S. soldiers on guard near the tense buffer zone between rivals North and South Korea. By Lee Jin-man. SENT: 700 words, photos. With TILLERSON-ASIA THE LATEST.
SKOREA POLITICS-PARK'S DOGS - South Korea's presidential office has found a home for two of the nine dogs former President Park Geun-hye left behind when she was forced out of office over a corruption scandal. SENT: 200 words, photos.
CHINA-SOUTH CHINA-SEA - China plans to build an environmental monitoring station on a South China Sea shoal at the heart of a territorial dispute with the Philippines, potentially raising new concerns over Beijing's actions to assert its claims in the strategically crucial waterbody. By Christopher Bodeen. SENT: 510 words.
AUSTRALIA-ASYLUM SEEKERS - The Australian government hit a legal setback Friday in its bid to ban cell phones from immigration detention centers - a policy that critics argue would treat asylum seekers like criminals. By Rod McGuirk. SENT: 400 words.
PAKISTAN - A Pakistan paramilitary official says two suicide bombers have attacked a training facility belonging to the Frontier Constabulary force in the northwest, triggering a shootout that left an officer and the attackers dead. SENT: 130 words.
BUSINESS AND FINANCE
FINANCIAL MARKETS - Asian markets were mixed Friday, weighing prospects that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates fewer times than some investors had expected. By Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 370 words, photos.
CHINA-SAUDIA RABIA - China and Saudi Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding on investment cooperation valued at $65 billion and involving 35 cooperative projects. SENT: 130 words.
___
HOW TO REACH US:
The editor in charge at the AP Asia-Pacific Desk in Bangkok is Scott McDonald. Questions and story requests are welcome. The news desk can be reached at (66) 2632-6911 or by email at asia@ap.org. The Asia Photo Desk can be reached at (81-3) 6215-8941. Between 1600 GMT and 0000 GMT, please refer queries to the North America Desk in New York at (1) 212-621-1650.
Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call (1) 877-836-9477.
