Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen appealed to China’s No. 2 leader not to let frustration over U.S. curbs on access to processor chips and other technology disrupt economic cooperation during a visit Friday aimed at improving strained relations.

Meeting with Premier Li Qiang, Yellen said Washington and Beijing have a duty to cooperate on issues that affect the world. She appealed for “regular channels of communication” at a time when relations are at their lowest in decades due to disputes over technology, security and other irritants.

BEIJING, Jul 6 (NNN-XINHUA) – Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with Yohei Kono, president of the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade (JAPIT), in Beijing today.

Noting that, this year marks the 45th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said that, bilateral relations are at a new crucial juncture.

BEIJING, July 6 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday began a four-day visit to China that was expected to focus on easing ties between the world's two largest economies, despite low expectations on both sides.

Shortly after arriving in the Chinese capital, Yellen said she was glad to be in Beijing and looked forward to advancing President Joe Biden's goal of deepening communication between the two countries.

BEIJING, July 6 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday urged the military to deepen war and combat planning to increase the chances of victory in actual combat, Xinhua news agency said, renewing his call to troops to safeguard China's sovereignty and territory.

Xi said the world has entered a new period of turmoil and change and China's security situation has become more unstable and uncertain, according to state-run Xinhua, in comments he made to troops while on an inspection tour of the Eastern Theater Command.

PHNOM PENH, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Thursday launched guidelines on online child protection to ensure a safe and positive online experience for all children.

Undertaken by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, with support from the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the guidelines aim to encourage industries within the sector to prevent and respond to current and emerging harms posed by the use of technology in a timely manner.

SEOUL, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Japan's planned discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean will pose a serious threat to the world's oceans, lawmakers of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party said Thursday.

"The discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima (Daiichi) Nuclear Power Plant poses a serious threat to the world's oceans," Wi Seong-gon, a Democratic Party lawmaker and chief of the party's prevention committee on the release of Fukushima nuclear wastewater, told a press conference with foreign correspondents here.

TOKYO, July 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Yokota base in Japan's western Tokyo area has acknowledged three incidents of leakage involving foam fire extinguishers containing per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of organic fluorine compounds that raise health concerns, local media reported.

It marked the first time that the U.S. military has acknowledged such leakage of foam fire extinguishers at Yokota Base, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported.

BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to tell Chinese officials Washington wants healthy economic competition but will defend U.S. trade curbs imposed on security grounds and express concern about Beijing’s export controls on metals used in semiconductors and solar panels, a senior Treasury official said Thursday.

MANILA, July 5 (Reuters) - The Philippines on Wednesday accused China's coast guard of harassment, obstruction and "dangerous manoeuvres" against its vessels, after another incident near a strategic feature of the South China Sea that has become a flashpoint between them.

Philippine coast guard boats were assisting a naval operation on June 30 when they were "constantly followed, harassed, and obstructed by the significantly larger Chinese coast guard vessels", Philippine coast guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela, said in a Tweet.

July 4 - Monday, July 3, was the hottest day ever recorded globally, according to data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction.

The average global temperature reached 17.01 degrees Celsius (62.62 Fahrenheit), surpassing the August 2016 record of 16.92C (62.46F) as heatwaves sizzled around the world.

The southern U.S. has been suffering under an intense heat dome in recent weeks. In China, an enduring heatwave continued, with temperatures above 35C (95F). North Africa has seen temperatures near 50C (122F).