Reuters

By Summer Zhen

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Global hedge funds that use an equities long-short strategy are growing increasingly bullish on China, evidenced by the heavy pick-up in their purchases of Hong Kong-listed shares, UBS Group said in a note.

Hong Kong's stock markets, which closely mirror China's struggling performance, have recovered since March as Beijing rolled out economic support measures. The Hang Seng Index rose more than 7% in... (continue reading...)

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India's main opposition Congress party said on Friday that Rahul Gandhi, the face of the party and its former president, will contest general elections from the family bastion seat of Raebareli in north India as well.

The decision of the party and the family to field Gandhi from the seat in Uttar Pradesh state signals their confidence to take on the political might of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

By Ankur Banerjee

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian stocks rallied on Friday after Apple's record $110 billion share buyback plan lifted the tech sector, while the yen put more distance from recent 34-year lows to cap a tumultuous week that saw suspected interventions from Tokyo.

With markets in Japan and mainland China closed on Friday, regional trading activity is likely to be subdued as traders look ahead to the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data... (continue reading...)

By Gerry Doyle

(Reuters) - The success of ballistic missile defences facing their first complex, high-stakes combat scenarios in Israel, the Red Sea and Ukraine will encourage militaries globally to invest in the pricey systems, experts say - and intensify missile arms races.

Iran launched as many as 120 intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Israel on April 13, U.S. and Israeli officials say. U.S. SM-3 and Israeli Arrow interceptors... (continue reading...)

By Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's defence ministry said on Friday it had detected a renewed incursion by Chinese military aircraft across the sensitive Taiwan Strait, as China reported its navy had carried out combat drills with landing craft.

Over the past four years, China's military has significantly ramped up its activities around democratically-governed Taiwan. Beijing views the island as its own territory, a position the... (continue reading...)