Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea called South Korea’s president “a parrot raised by America” Tuesday, resuming its trademark derisive rhetoric against its rivals amid renewed animosities on the Korean Peninsula.

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, issued the latest verbal salvo after South Korean President Moon Jae-in criticized the North’s missile launches last week. She said Moon’s “illogical and brazen-faced” comments echoed the U.S. stance.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mixed in listless trading Tuesday after U.S. stocks finished mostly lower as cause for optimism, such as the Suez Canal reopening, mixed with caution about the vaccine rollout.

Japan’s benchmark slipped 0.1% in morning trading to 29,347.21. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost early gains to fall 0.4% to 6,772.10. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.6% to 3,053.78. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3% to 28,408.74, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3% to 3,423.83.

SEOUL, March 29. /TASS/: South Korea has called on Russia to provide active support to the denuclearization process on the Korean Peninsula, a spokesperson for the South Korean Defense Ministry said on Monday during a press briefing, commenting on the talks between South Korean Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian police discovered powerful explosives and arrested more suspected Islamist militants on Monday, after a series of raids following a suicide attack a day earlier outside a cathedral on the first day of the Easter Holy Week.

The two bombers were the only fatalities in Sunday’s attack in the city of Makassar on Sulawesi island, which wounded 19 people and took place as mass was finishing.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore’s foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan has called the situation in Myanmar “an unfolding tragedy” that will take time to overcome, and said it was essential for Southeast Asian countries to have a position on how to respond.

“It is going to take quite some time to resolve. I must confess to you that I am pessimistic,” Balakrishnan told local media, according to a transcript released on Monday.

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China urges the United States not to attempt to break China's bottom line and prudently handle issues involving the Taiwan question, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a query on U.S. ambassador to Palau joining the Palau president's delegation in its visit to Taiwan.

BEIJING (AP) — China stepped up pressure Monday on foreign shoe and clothing brands to reject reports of abuses in Xinjiang, telling companies that are targeted by Beijing for boycotts to look more closely and pointing to a statement by one that it found no forced labor.

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets were mixed Monday amid optimism about government stimulus and the rollout of coronavirus vaccines.

London opened lower, while Shanghai and Tokyo advanced.

U.S. futures were lower following sales of large blocks of stock that news reports said were carried by Archegos Capital Management, run by financier Bill Hwang.

Wall Street’s advance Friday was led by stocks that would benefit if vaccinations and government spending boost the U.S. economy as much as expected.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Thai authorities along the country’s northwestern border braced themselves Monday for a possible influx of more ethnic Karen villagers fleeing new airstrikes from the Myanmar military.

Myanmar military aircraft carried out three strikes overnight Sunday into Monday, according to Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian relief agency that delivers medical and other assistance to villagers. The strikes possibly injured one person but caused no apparent fatalities, a member of the agency said.

BEIJING (AP) — A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is “extremely unlikely,” according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press.

The findings were largely as expected and left many questions unanswered, but the report provided in-depth detail on the reasoning behind the team’s conclusions. The researchers proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis.