Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

VIENTIANE, June 27 (NNN-Bernama) — The Hague Court of Appeal in the Netherlands on Tuesday dismissed the Sulu claimants’ application for recognition and enforcement of a purported arbitral award of US$14.9 billion (RM62.59 billion) to be enforced in the Netherlands.

The ruling was announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim here in the capital of Laos before he departed for home after a two-day official visit to the ASEAN member state.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan announced a decision Tuesday to reinstate South Korea as a preferred nation with fast-track trade status starting July 21, virtually ending a four-year economic row that was further strained during their bitter historic disputes.

Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters that Japan and South Korea have also agreed to set up a framework to review and follow up on the systems as needed.

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court is to deliver a verdict Wednesday in the case of five people accused of impeding the queen’s motorcade during a pro-democracy march in 2020, an offense that if judged egregious could bring a death sentence.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s muted reaction to the Wagner mercenary group uprising against Russia’s military belies Beijing’s growing anxieties over the war in Ukraine and how this affects the global balance of power.

China’s ruling Communist Party called the swift end of the 22-hour revolt Moscow’s “internal affair,” with state media affirming China’s support for Russia.

Chinese observers said the incident showed how overblown Western rhetoric was regarding the “Russian internal conflict” and that President Vladimir Putin’s hold on power remains secure.

TOKYO, Jun 25 (NNN-NHK) – The number of people reported missing in Japan came in at 84,910 in 2022, up for the second consecutive year, Japan’s National Police Agency, said.

The figure saw an increase of 5,692 from the previous year, according to the agency.

By age group, cases of missing people in their 20s saw the highest number, with those in their teens and 20s accounting for approximately 40 percent of all missing persons, the agency said, in its report.

TOKYO, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Passengers evacuated a train in a central subway station in Tokyo after a man was seen carrying a knife on Sunday, local media reported.

Three were injured during the rush to get off the train.

At around 4:15 p.m. local time, police received a call reporting a person wielding a knife in a train compartment at Shinjuku station on the JR Yamanote line, said local fire and police departments.

TOKYO, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Multiple civic groups in Japan have continued to oppose the country's plan of dumping nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, exhorting the government to take the long-term impact into account to avoid entailing endless trouble to future generations.

PHNOM PENH, Jun 24 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodian Prime Minister, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, today called for people to be vigilant over a significant rise in new HIV infections, last year.

“1,400 people became newly infected with HIV in 2022, about 300 higher than those infected in 2021,” he said, during a meeting with thousands of factory workers in Phnom Penh.

The new infections were mostly detected among men having sex with men, he said, urging people having many sexual partners to use condoms, in order to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

JAKARTA, Jun 24 (NNN-ANTARA) – A small plane with six people on board crashed in Indonesia’s eastern Highland Papua province yesterday, an official said.

The Grand Caravan plane, operated by PT Samuwa Aviasi Mandiri (SAM AIR), went down in a deep forest after leaving Elelim airport in Yalimo district, said Yusuf Latief, spokesman of the national search and rescue office.

“The search by a helicopter found the wreckage of the plane,” the spokesman said.

HONG KONG, June 24 (Reuters) - Eleven people were injured on Cathay Pacific's (0293.HK) flight CX880 at Hong Kong's international airport early on Saturday after the carrier aborted takeoff due to a technical issue, Cathay said in a statement.

The flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles was carrying 17 crew and 293 passengers. It performed "an aborted takeoff in accordance with standard procedures after a technical issue was detected by the crew."