Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell below $43 a barrel on Friday as a resurgence of coronavirus cases raised concern that fuel demand growth could stall, although crude was still headed for a weekly gain on lower supply and wider signs of economic recovery.

The United States reported more than 55,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a new daily global record for the pandemic. The rise in cases suggested U.S. jobs growth, which jumped in June, could suffer a setback.

“If this trend continues, oil demand in the region is at risk,” said Louise Dickson of Rystad Energy.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong police arrested a 24-year-old man at the airport early on Thursday on suspicion of stabbing and wounding an officer during a demonstration against a new national security law imposed by Beijing on the financial hub.

The arrest followed protests on Wednesday in which police fired water cannon and tear gas and arrested more than 300 people as demonstrators defied the sweeping security legislation introduced by China to snuff out dissent in the former British colony.

There were no signs of protests on Thursday.

YANGON, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of a massive jade mine landslide in Myanmar's northernmost Kachin state has risen to 146, the Information Ministry said.

The number of injured people reached 31, said a statement from Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services.

Caused by the monsoon rains, the landslide hit a jade mining site in Sate Mu village tract of Hpakant township at 8:00 a.m. local time.

TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo prosecutors said Friday that a request for extradition of two Americans arrested in the U.S. for allegedly helping Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of Nissan, flee Japan while he was out on bail has been filed.

“We express our deepest gratitude for the cooperation the U.S. authorities have shown to our request,” the Tokyo District Prosecutors Office said in a statement.

“We plan to cooperate in all ways possible so the extradition procedures for the two can be carried out quickly,” it said.

HONG KONG (AP) — Prominent Hong Kong democracy activist Nathan Law has left the city for an undisclosed location, he revealed on his Facebook page shortly after testifying at a U.S. congressional hearing about the tough national security law China had imposed on the semi-autonomous territory.

In his post late Thursday, he said that he decided to take on the responsibility for advocating for Hong Kong internationally and had since left the city.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged officials to maintain alertness against the coronavirus, warning that complacency risked “unimaginable and irretrievable crisis,” state media said Friday.

Despite the warning, Kim reaffirmed North Korea’s claim to not have had a single case of COVID-19, telling a ruling party meeting Thursday that the country has “thoroughly prevented the inroad of the malignant virus” despite the worldwide health crisis.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities will file legal action against the European Union over alleged discriminatory anti-palm oil campaign through a dispute settlement mechanism under the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Its minister, Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali said the legal action, in collaboration with the Attorney General’s Chamber, was based on principle and justification, as well as in line with the trade practices underlined by the WTO.

YANGON, July 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The death toll from a mud slide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar surged to over 100 on Thursday, authorities said, in one of the worst accidents ever to hit the perilous industry.

“A total of 113 have bodies been found so far,” Myanmar Fire Service said in a Facebook post.

A local police officer said search and rescue efforts had been suspended due to heavy monsoon rains.

BEIJING, July 2 (APP): Amid an armed conflict with China, India is seeking strengthening military cooperation with Russia which will be only intensified an armaments race.

TOKYO, July 2. /TASS/: Japan’s government refrains from commenting on the voting on constitutional amendments in Russia but stresses that its position on the issue of South Kuril Islands and the peace treaty with Russia remains the same, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters at a regular press conference on Thursday.