Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

KULAI (Johor, Malaysia), July 9 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysians have suffered a total loss of RM302 million due to online scams on Facebook and Instagram from 2021 to June this year. 

Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Teo Nie Ching said the losses incurred from scams on Facebook amounted to RM232 million, whereas on Instagram, it was RM70 million.

“We have also had a meeting with Meta, the parent company, because we really want to prove that this is indeed a serious issue.

PHNOM PENH, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia still underwent pain from U.S. cluster munitions dropped in the Southeast Asian country half a century ago, the country's Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Sunday.

"Cambodia has suffered painful experience from cluster bombs dropped by the United States in the early 1970s," he said in a message released on his official Telegram channel.

"Until now, it has been more than half a century, but (we) have not found a way to destroy all of them yet," he added.

BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday said she agreed Washington will listen to Chinese complaints about security-related curbs on U.S. technology exports and might “respond to unintended consequences” as she ended a visit to Beijing aimed at reviving strained relations.

Yellen defended “targeted measures” on trade that China’s leaders complain are aimed at hurting its fledgling tech industries. She said the Biden administration wants to “avoid unnecessary repercussions” but gave no indication of possible changes.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean opposition lawmakers sharply criticized the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog on Sunday for its approval of Japanese plans to release treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

They met with Rafael Grossi in a tense meeting in Seoul that took place while protesters screamed outside the door.

Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general, arrived in South Korea over the weekend to engage with government officials and critics and help reduce public concerns about food safety.

PHNOM PENH, Jul 8 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Prak Sokhonn, will attend the 56th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and related meetings, in Jakarta, from Jul 11 to 14, the country’s foreign ministry said, in a press statement yesterday.

His attendance will be made at the invitation of Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, the statement said.

BEIJING, July 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, a trailblazer in the field of economics, met with six female economists in Beijing on Saturday, an effort to spotlight gender diversity following meetings with China's largely male government leaders.

Yellen, the first woman to head the U.S. Treasury, has made women's contributions and importance to economies a focal point of her tenure, often meeting with women economists and entrepreneurs during her travels, and hailing the benefits of boosting women's participation in the workforce and leadership.

July 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden told Chinese President Xi Jinping following his meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin to "be careful" because Beijing relies on Western investment, according to excerpts from an interview with CNN.

"I said: This is not a threat. This is an observation," Biden said.

"Since Russia went into Ukraine, 600 American corporations have pulled out of Russia. And you have told me that your economy depends on investment from Europe and the United States. And be careful. Be careful."

TOKYO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Several non-profit organizations (NPOs) in Japan announced Friday the launch of a marine-protection project aimed at preventing the government's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant to the ocean.

The NPOs, including the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center and the Japan Congress Against A- and H-Bombs, will start the project titled "Future of the Ocean" on July 17, which is recognized as "Marine Day" in Japan.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Cities across China opened their air raid shelters to offer residents relief from the heat Friday as unusually high temperatures across parts of the country started claiming lives.

Northern China is experiencing strings of days with record-high temperatures, compounded by drought. Earlier this week, Beijing reported more than nine straight days with temperatures exceeding 35 C (95 F), according to the National Climate Center — a streak unseen since 1961.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s People’s Liberation Army sent 13 aircraft and 6 vessels into airspace and waters around Taiwan over the past 24 hours as of early Saturday, overlapping with United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to Beijing aimed at mending strained relations.