Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea leader Kim Jong Un said his country’s hard-won nuclear weapons were a solid security guarantee and a “reliable, effective” deterrent that could prevent a second Korean War, state media reported Tuesday.

Kim’s comments before war veterans marking the 67th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War again show he has no intention of abandoning his weapons as prospects dim for resuming diplomacy with the United States.

BEIJING (AP) — They have the largest economies in the world. They spend more than anyone else on their militaries. From high-tech chips to control of the high seas, their interests are closely intertwined.

The ongoing sharp deterioration in U.S.-China ties poses risks to both countries and the rest of the world. In the latest escalation, a U.S. consulate in Chengdu in southwestern China shuttered Monday, ordered by China to close in retaliation for the U.S. shutting down its consulate in Houston last week.

MITO, Japan (AP) — Shares advanced in Asia on Tuesday after U.S. stocks resumed their upward march on Wall Street, while the price of gold pushed to nearly $1,970 per ounce.

Benchmarks climbed in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai after the S&P 500 rose 0.7% overnight.

Much attention will be focused on a two-day meeting for the Federal Reserve that begins Tuesday, while hopes for more help for the American economy are rising as Congress debates another stimulus package.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam on Tuesday locked down its third-largest city for two weeks after 15 cases of COVID-19 were found in a hospital, the government said.

Public transport into and out of the central city of Da Nang was cancelled. Over the weekend, thousands of mostly Vietnamese tourists had to end their summer holidays in the popular beach destination. The lockdown has dealt a hard blow to the city’ tourism industry, which was just being revived after earlier coronavirus cases mostly subsided at the end of April.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian court pronounced former Prime Minister Najib Razak guilty Tuesday in his first corruption trial over the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB investment fund.

The ruling came five months after a new government took power with Najib’s Malay party the biggest bloc in the alliance. His party’s shocking election ouster in 2018 was driven by public anger over the 1MDB scandal.

“I find the accused guilty and convict the accused of all seven charges,” Judge Mohamad Nazlan Ghazali said after spending two hours to read out his ruling.

BEIJING, July 27 (APP): China’s messaging app WeChat have stopped providing services to some Indian users following an earlier ban of Chinese apps by the Indian government. Analysts believe it is a proactive move that more Chinese companies will take to be “more discreet” under the tightening of the Indian government.

Some WeChat users in India saw their services affected as many reported they were unable to send and receive messages, and their accounts were logged out automatically from the platform, Global Times reported on Monday.

BEIJING, July 27 (APP): China has exchanged views on Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) diagnosis and treatment protocol for COVID-19, effective TCM prescriptions and clinical experiences with 82 countries and regions including Italy, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Pakistan, and donated TCM products to more than 10 countries.

Besides, it also dispatched TCM doctors to 27 countries and regions for epidemic relief, which indicated the sense of responsibility of a major country, People’s Daily reported.

YANGON, July 27 (NNN-MNA) – Myanmar authorities seized 7.7 kilograms of heroin in Sagaing Region, according to a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Sunday.

Acting on a tip-off, the joint police force made a seizure during their operation in Salingyi township, on Saturday.

Heroin worth 770 million kyats (550,000 U.S. dollars) were confiscated from a car.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — After years of insisting on his innocence, former Malaysian leader Najib Razak learns his fate this week in his first corruption trial linked to one of the world’s biggest financial scandals — a verdict widely seen as a test for the rule of law five months after a new government took power.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Hundreds of protesters in the Philippine capital marched and staged motorcades Monday against a new anti-terror law and other issues despite police threats of arrests ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s annual state of the nation speech.