Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

Manila, Jun 30 (AP/PTI) The Philippine army chief expressed outrage Tuesday over the fatal police shooting of four soldiers, including two officers, and demanded justice with both sides providing contrasting accounts of the killings.

Eduardo Ano, a retired military chief of staff who now oversees the national police as interior secretary, ordered the police involved in Monday's violence in the southern town of Jolo in Sulu province be disarmed and restricted for investigation.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have released a U.S. pilot for FedEx Corp (FDX.N) who was detained last year on suspicion of smuggling weapons and ammunition, the pilot’s lawyer said.

Todd Hohn, a former U.S. Air Force pilot, was detained in September in the southern city of Guangzhou after he piloted a FedEx freighter aircraft. Chinese authorities said at the time they had found suspected air gun pellets in his luggage.

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), June 29 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Beginning today, Malaysians and foreigners entering the country will have to bear the cost of COVID-19 tests which are conducted upon their arrival, said Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said, however, three categories of individuals including differently-abled people (OKU) carrying the OKU card issued by the Social Welfare Department (JKM) would be exempted from paying.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police said Tuesday that they’ve summoned two activists accused of raising tensions with North Korea by sending propaganda balloons or plastic bottles filled with rice across the border.

Park Sang-hak, a North Korean refugee who has floated anti-Pyongyang leaflets by balloon across the land border, and his brother Park Jung-oh, who has floated plastic bottles filled with rice across the sea boundary, were being questioned at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, an agency officer with direct knowledge of the cases said.

TOKYO, June 30 (NNN-NHK) – The unemployment rate in Japan increased in May from a month earlier, as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to firms laying off staff, as businesses stall, the government said, in a report, on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan’s unemployment rate climbed 2.9 percent in the recording period, with the figure coming on the heels of a 2.6-percent increase, logged a month earlier.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong media are reporting that China has approved a contentious law that would allow authorities to crack down on subversive and secessionist activity in Hong Kong, sparking fears that it would be used to curb opposition voices in the semi-autonomous territory.

The South China Morning Post newspaper and public broadcaster RTHK, both citing unnamed sources, said that the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress voted unanimously to approve a national security law for Hong Kong on Tuesday.

BEJING, June 29 (APP): China’s willingness and confidence to continue China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) cooperation with Pakistan has never changed, and the two countries’ collaboration in this regard has never been stalled nor slowed.

Just last week, China, Pakistan and a Chinese company signed a $2.4 billion deal for the construction of a 1,124-megawatt hydropower project at Kohala, marking the country’s largest foreign investment in the power sector.

Beijing, Jun 29 (AP/PTI) The Chinese government is taking draconian measures to slash birth rates among Uighurs and other minorities as part of a sweeping campaign to curb its Muslim population, even as it encourages some of the country's Han majority to have more children.

BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the world, with the death toll worldwide having topped 500,000, and cases surging in Latin American and African nations.

Global COVID-19 deaths surpassed 500,000 on Sunday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

Latest data from the CSSE showed that the current death toll stands at 501,281, while the number of confirmed cases has surpassed 10,117,000.

BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- China has decided to impose visa restrictions on U.S. individuals who have acted viciously on issues related to Hong Kong, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing in response to the U.S. imposition of visa restrictions on Chinese officials.

The U.S. attempt to obstruct China's national security legislation for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by adopting the so-called sanctions will be to no avail, Zhao added.