Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

BEIJING, July 26 (APP): Pakistan and China have agreed to continue the high quality construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and strengthen coordination on international and regional affairs during the third round of Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue held in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province,Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Zhao Lijian said on Monday.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (NNN-Bernama) — Muhyiddin Yassin said Malaysia is one of the fastest countries to vaccinate its people against COVID-19 with vaccine injection capacity having reached more than 500,000 doses a day at present.

The Prime Minister said the government would ensure that the vaccination process is carried out in an orderly manner, fast and covered all parts of the country under the National Recovery Plan (PPN).

HANOI, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The 15th National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam on Monday re-elected Pham Minh Chinh as the Vietnamese prime minister for the 2021-2026 tenure, according to voting results.

Chinh, also a member of the Politburo of the 13th Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC), was re-elected with a 95.99-percent approval rate among deputies at the ongoing first session of the 15th NA, according to a statement on the NA's website.

TOKYO, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Hosting the Olympics under the fourth COVID-19 state of emergency, Tokyo reported 1,429 new daily COVID-19 infections on Monday, exceeding the 1,000-mark for the seventh day in a row, local media reported Monday.

Due to the recent resurgence of COVID-19 infections, the cumulative tally of cases in Tokyo has exceeded 200,000. Moreover, people are highly concerned about the spread of the Delta variant of the virus in Japan, especially with the Olympics underway.

TIANJIN, China (AP) — China came out swinging at high-level face-to-face talks with the United States on Monday, blaming the U.S. for a “stalemate” in bilateral relations and calling on America to change “its highly misguided mindset and dangerous policy.”

Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng accused the administration of President Joe Biden of trying to contain and suppress China’s development, according to an official summary of his remarks in talks with visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Monday he has decided to grant official medical benefits to 84 Hiroshima residents who were exposed to highly radioactive “black rain” after the city’s atomic bombing.

Suga’s decision ends a long legal battle by the central government that delayed medical aid for the “black rain” victims, who were outside a government-set boundary used to decide survivors’ eligibility for medical care.

PHNOM PENH, Jul 25 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodia’s Anti-Drug Department police, arrested six suspected drug traffickers, during a raid here, confiscating 156.3 kilograms of illicit drugs, the National Police reported yesterday.

The suspects, four Vietnamese nationals and one Cambodian, were caught at a townhouse in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district, on Tuesday, the police said, adding, they had used the house as a place for manufacturing and storing the drugs.

TOKYO, July 25 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike met on Sunday to discuss the Olympic Games being held in the capital and anti-coronavirus measures, the Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday.

Koike visited the prime minister's official residence, according to the report. The meeting comes as Tokyo reported 1,763 new COVID cases in the capital on Sunday.

CHENGDU, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi Sunday held talks with visiting Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Both sides should adhere to the principles of mutual respect, equal treatment, seeking common ground while reserving differences, and win-win cooperation, Wang said.

FUZHOU, July 25 (Xinhua) -- East China's port city of Quanzhou, once hailed as "the very great and noble city" by the Italian explorer Marco Polo, won UNESCO World Cultural Heritage status Sunday, bringing the total number of the country's UNESCO World Heritage sites to 56.

UNESCO accepted "Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China" as a cultural property on its World Heritage List amid the ongoing 44th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Fuzhou, capital of east China's Fujian Province.