Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam, virus-free for months, is bracing for another wave of COVID-19 infections after state media reported new cases in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and the Central Highlands linked to a recent outbreak in the central city of Danang.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the current wave of infections was different to a second wave Vietnam fought in March, and every province and city in the country was at risk, state broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) reported.

Hong Kong, Jul 29 (AP/PTI) Hong Kong's economy shrank by 9% from a year earlier in the latest quarter, hurt by the coronavirus pandemic and facing more potential damage from the loss of US trade privileges due to a security law imposed by Beijing.

The performance reported Wednesday for the three months ending in June was an improvement over the previous quarter's 9.1% contraction, the biggest since the government began reporting such data in the 1970s.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A prominent Chinese legal scholar who was detained and then fired after criticising President Xi Jinping hopes to clear his name by overturning a prostitution charge brought against him by police, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

Xu Zhangrun, a former constitutional law professor at the prestigious Tsinghua University, was detained by police in Beijing in early July for nearly a week after being accused of soliciting prostitution while in the southwestern city of Chengdu last December.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mixed Wednesday as reports of dismal company earnings add to pessimism over the widespread economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 1.2% to 22,397.11 after Fitch Ratings downgraded its outlook for Japan to “negative” from “stable.”

“The coronavirus pandemic has caused a sharp economic contraction in Japan, despite the country’s early success in containing the virus,” Fitch said in announcing its decision.

BEIJING, July 28 (APP): The health ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have advocated for collective efforts of the SCO member states to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Russian Healthcare Minister Mikhail Murashko chaired the third meeting of Health Ministers of the SCO Member States held via video conference, according to a statement issued by SCO Secretariat here.

YEREVAN, July 28. /TASS/: The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border overnight to Tuesday was relatively calm, Armenian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan said on Tuesday.

"Overnight to July 28, like now relative calm has been observed on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border," the spokesperson wrote on her Facebook page. The Azerbaijani forces violated ceasefire 17 times at various parts of the border, firing at Armenia’s positions 220 times, she noted.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Hong Kong’s government would suspend agreements on mutual assistance for criminal matters, including extradition, with Britain, Canada and Australia.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a daily briefing that the three countries’ decision to suspend extradition agreements with Hong Kong over a new security law for the city constituted a gross interference in China’s internal affairs.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Tuesday that it hopes the United States can show flexibility in resolving the stalemate on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea’s nuclear programme.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters during a daily briefing that North Korea’s reasonable concerns had not been addressed.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The case of a Singaporean caught spying for China in the United States has reawakened fears over China recruiting intelligence assets on an island state which has won trust among Western governments while keeping on good terms with Beijing.

Jun Wei Yeo, a 39-year-old academic who also goes by the name Dickson Yeo, pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on Friday to acting as an illegal agent of Chinese intelligence. He will be sentenced in October and faces up to 10 years in prison.

BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday rebuffed U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's slanderous remarks on the Communist Party of China (CPC), saying his sensational and irresponsible claims were criticized and condemned by people who pursue peace and justice, including Americans with a broader vision.