News that Hino will suspend shipments of small trucks, because they missed the required number of engine tests, will also affect about 19,000 of Toyota's Dyna and Toyoace trucks

"We can expect more geopolitical contestation in the Asia-Pacific," he said, adding that Singapore would try its best to avoid being caught up in the "major power rivalry".

The Philippine ambassador in Washington said his country is talking to the US about buying heavy-lift Chinooks, after Duterte scrapped a $227m Russian deal to avoid Ukraine sanctions

Russia claims to be the only country that can do a complete transfer of technology in hi-tech defence equipment, the report said

A Shanghai court gave Xiao Jianhua 13 years in jail, while his Tomorrow Holdings group was hit with a record 55-billion-yuan fine ($8.1 billion) for illegally siphoning public money, bribery

China imported 7.15 million tonnes of Russian oil last month via the East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline and shipped from Russian ports, but domestic demand was weaker

The decision to stop the buyout is the UK's latest move to protect its technological edge from Chinese ownership, The Guardian reported.

The meeting comes on the heels of a new US CHIPS Act that includes $52 billion in subsidies for companies that make chips or conduct chip research in the United States.

Washington and Taipei have agreed to start formal trade talks shortly on a new initiative. Taiwan hopes the talks, which are opposed by Beijing, could begin in September

Japan's Nikkei closed above 29,000 for the first time in seven months and China and Hong Kong stocks rose. South Korea was down.

HKEX has suffered a notable decline in listings and trading at its two Hong Kong exchanges from both China's economic slowdown, plus lingering geopolitical tension.

The US is funding data centres in Africa, plus a 17,000km undersea cable from Southeast Asia through the Middle East and Horn of Africa to Europe, Antony Blinken says