Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, June 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's presidential Blue House said on Thursday that the country will sternly deal with any act to scatter leaflets criticizing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) across the inter-Korean border.

Kim You-geun, first deputy director of the Blue House National Security Office (NSO), told a press briefing that the government will thoroughly clamp down on the dispersion of anti-DPRK leaflets and materials, saying any violation will be sternly dealt with according to law. 

BEIJING, June 10 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday rebuked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's remarks on HSBC backing the Hong Kong national security legislation, urging the U.S. side to adopt a correct view and cease "driving a wedge" and "making inflammatory accusations."

JAKARTA, June 10 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The number of positive COVID-19 cases in Indonesia has surged past 34,000, with a total of 1,959 deaths.

According to Indonesia’s government spokesman on COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto, in the 24-hour period until noon today, 1,241 new positive cases and 36 deaths were reported.

“There are currently 34,316 positive cases while 14,242 patients are still under surveillance for COVID-19,” he said in his daily news conference broadcast on the official YouTube channel of the Indonesian Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

KUALA LUMPUR, June 11  (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia recorded only two new COVID-19 cases yesterday, which is the lowest daily tally — a good sign indicating that the country is heading towards zero case and freedom from the pandemic soon.

However, it will all depend on the people’s ability to exercise self-control in complying with the standard operating procedure (SOP) as there is no more movement control and the country is in the recovery phase.

SANDAKAN, June 11 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Police are on the hunt for nine Filipino men who escaped from the temporary detention centre in Sibuga here early yesterday during heavy rain.

Sandakan District Police chief ACP Mohd Azhar Hamin said the detainees, aged between 18 and 43, got out of the centre through a window in the toilet after breaking the grille.

“All of them were held for immigration cases and were in the process of being deported to the Philippines,” he said in a statement Thursday.

SEOUL, June 11 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s automotive export, more than halved last month, as the COVID-19 outbreak weakened global demand, a government report showed today.

The number of vehicles exported was 95,400 in May, down 57.6 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It was the first time in almost 17 years since July, 2003, that the number of car export fell below 100,000.

PYONGYANG, June 11 (NNN-KCNA) – The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), warned the United States today, not to interfere in the inter-Korean affairs, denouncing the U.S. double-dealing on such issues as “disgusting.”

Kwon Jong Gun, director general of the Department of U.S. Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, said, it was ridiculous for Washington to urge the DPRK to return to diplomacy and cooperation, while keeping close coordination with South Korea.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares tumbled Thursday as reports of rising numbers of coronavirus infections in many countries raised fears over risks from reopenings from pandemic shutdowns.

Asian markets had been expected to track Wall Street’s retreat after the Federal Reserve signaled a long path to recovery from the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic.

BEIJING, June 10 (APP): China and India are taking actions to ease situation along border after the diplomatic and military channels of two countries reached a positive consensus, Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Hua Chunying said here on Wednesday.

10 June 2020; AFP: Japan's powerful lower house of parliament approved an emergency budget worth nearly $300 billion Wednesday, doubling the scale of measures to pep up the world's third-biggest economy after the coronavirus tipped it into recession.

Consumer spending has slowed to a crawl despite Japan's relatively low infection numbers and death toll from the pandemic, prompting the first economic downturn since 2015.