Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, Jun 8 (APP): A Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson on Monday confirmed that a meeting between senior military officials of China and India was held during weekend and said the two sides were ready to engage in consultations to properly resolve the border standoff.

“On the afternoon of June 6, a meeting was held between the commanders of China and India in Chusul- Moldo region in which the two sides held consultations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Hua Chunying said during her regular briefing held here.

8 June 2020; AFP: Japanese growth figures were better than initially feared in the first quarter, according to official data published on Monday, but the world's third-top economy was still mired deep in recession.

Gross domestic product contracted by 0.6 percent in the January-March period compared to the previous quarter. Authorities had initially reported a 0.9-percent contraction.

Economists had expected the revision, with the market forecasting a 0.5-percent contraction.

8 June 2020; AFP: The heir to South Korea's Samsung empire appeared in court Monday as judges deliberate on whether to detain him over a controversial merger of two business units seen as a key step to his succession.

Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, is already being re-tried on charges of bribery, embezzlement and other offences in connection with a corruption scandal that brought down former South Korean president Park Geun-hye.

PUTRAJAYA, June 7 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Interstate travel will be allowed beginning this Wednesday, with the exception of areas declared under enhanced movement control order (EMCO), Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

In announcing the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) to replace the Conditional MCO, which will end on Tuesday, Muhyiddin said this will be among the restrictions to be lifted while the country goes through the COVID-19 recovery phase.

The RMCO will see more relaxed conditions from June 10 until August 31, the Prime Minister said.

BEIJING, June 8 (NNN-XINHUA) – China will make its COVID-19 vaccine a global public good, when it is ready for application, after successful research and clinical trials, a senior Chinese official said, Sunday.

Wang Zhigang, minister of science and technology, said in Beijing that, international cooperation should be strengthened in vaccine development, clinical trials and application.

Vaccine development should focus on ensuring safety, effectiveness, and accessibility, Wang said.

HANOI, June 8 (Xinhua) -- A boat carrying seven people capsized in Vietnam's northern Lao Cai province, leaving two dead and one missing, Vietnam News Agency reported on Monday.

Bodies of the two men aged 26 and 31 each were found Monday morning while a 35-year-old man was still missing as the boat capsized midnight Sunday in a section of Chay river in Bac Ha District, the news agency reported.

Among seven on board, only four successfully swam back to the shore, according to the report.

SHANGHAI, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The first subject from the Shanghai-based Huashan Hospital of Fudan University on Sunday morning received an injection of JS016 -- a recombinant, fully human, monoclonal neutralizing antibody against COVID-19.

It is allegedly the world's first clinical trial for the antibody on a healthy human participant after completing testing on non-human primates, according to the municipal science and technology commission of Shanghai.

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares advanced Monday in Asia, buoyed by surprisingly strong U.S. jobs figures that helped power a surge on Wall Street on Friday.

Crude oil prices rose after major oil producing nations agreed to extend a production cut of nearly 10 million barrels of oil a day through the end of July to counter the blow to demand from the coronavirus pandemic.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam on Monday ratified a significant trade deal with the European Union, which is expected to boost the country’s manufacturing sector and exports, as it recovers from a dip caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Lawmakers approved the agreement as they met in the National Assembly for the first time since the pandemic began. The deal was signed in Hanoi last June and was ratified by the European Parliament in February.

Seoul, Jun 6 (AP/PTI) North Korea threatened to permanently shut a liaison office with South Korea as it continued to condemn its rival for failing to prevent activists from sending anti-North Korean leaflets across the border.

The statement by North Korea's ruling Workers' Party on Friday came a day after the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un said her country would end a military agreement reached with South Korea in 2018 to reduce tensions if Seoul fails to stop the activists.