Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TOKYO (AP) — Five people were killed and 12 others taken to the hospital after a truck collided with a bus in Hokkaido in northern Japan, according to local media reports.

Police said the truck might have strayed into oncoming traffic, Kyodo news agency reported. The bus was carrying 15 passengers at the time of the accident, which occurred on Sunday.

The drivers of both vehicles died in the crash, Kyodo said.

Video from broadcaster NTV showed the mangled wreckage of the two vehicles stuck on the road in the aftermath of the crash.

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at 4:30 p.m. Monday, the State Department said, as America’s top diplomat wrapped up a two-day visit to Beijing aimed at easing soaring tensions.

A Blinken-Xi meeting had been expected, but neither side had confirmed it would happen until just an hour before the talks, which are seen as key to the success of the trip. A snub by the Chinese leader would have been a major setback to the effort restore and maintain communications at senior levels.

BEIJING, June 18 (APP): The first batch of classic works under the MoU on mutual translation and publication of classics between China and Pakistan was released at the 2023 Beijing International Book Fair held in Beijing.

As per the Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Translation and Publication of Classic Works signed by both countries, the first batch of 10 classic works includes “I Can Still Live Like the Wind: An Anthology of Pakistani Women’s Writing, “Zeenat” and so on, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Sunday.

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), June 18 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Foreign Minister Dr Zambry Abd Kadir will not be able to attend an informal discussion on Myanmar scheduled to be held in Thailand, on Monday.

The Malaysian Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) in a statement cited prior commitment the reason being Zambry’s inability to attend the discussion proposed by Thailand. 

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — All 120 passengers and crew members aboard a Philippine ferry that caught fire at sea on Sunday were rescued safely and the fire was extinguished, the coast guard said.

The M/V Esperanza Star caught fire at dawn while traveling from Siquijor province to Bohol province in the central Philippines with 65 passengers and 55 crewmembers, the coast guard said. It added that it deployed two vessels for rescue and to help put out the flames, which raged for more than five hours.

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday kicked off two days of high-stakes diplomatic talks in Beijing aimed at trying to cool exploding U.S.-China tensions that have set many around the world on edge.

Blinken opened his program by meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang for an extended discussion to be followed by a working dinner. He’ll have additional talks with Qin, as well as China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and possibly President Xi Jinping, on Monday.

MANILA, Jun 17 (NNN-PNA) – A Philippine Senate committee, yesterday kicked off an investigation, into the U.S. request for the country to host Afghan nationals, applying for a special immigrant visa to head for America.

Senator Maria Imelda “Imee” Marcos, the chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, launched the investigation, to shed light on the U.S. proposal. During the hearing, Marcos questioned the reason why the U.S. wanted to involve the Philippines in processing the entry of Afghan nationals, who previously worked with the American agencies in Afghanistan.

TOKYO, June 17 (Reuters) - Japan plans to stoke competition in smartphone app payments, dominated by Apple (AAPL.O) and Google, by banning major app store operators from forcing software developers to use the operators' own payment systems, a government panel said.

The final report by the panel, released on Friday, also said major suppliers of smartphone operating systems (OS) should be obliged to offer users alternative ways to obtain apps in a secure manner other than their own app stores.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — With leader Kim Jong Un in attendance, North Korea opened a key political conference to discuss improving its struggling economy and reviewing defense strategies in the face of growing tensions with rivals, according to state media reports on Saturday.

The enlarged plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee came as the United States sent a nuclear-powered submarine to South Korea in the allies’ latest show of force against the North, which has ramped up its testing of nuclear-capable missiles to a record pace in recent months.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 (NNN-Bernama) — The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar this morning despite the prevailing cautious sentiments surrounding China’s economic growth. 

At 9.04 am, the local note strengthened to 4.6100/6155 against the greenback from 4.6235/6280 at Thursday’s close.   

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is anticipated to move within a tight range of around RM4.62, given the mixed signals this week.