Hi all,

In today's bulletin: China publishes Beijing coronavirus genome data suggesting a European strain, tensions simmer between India and China, Malaysia's PKR will only support Anwar, Indonesia makes third rate cut, Australia under 'state-based' cybersecurity attack and more...

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CHINA PUBLISHES BEIJING COVID-19 GENOME DATA, OFFICIALS SUGGEST A EUROPEAN STRAIN

China on Friday released data saying the coronavirus linked to a recent outbreak in Beijing comes from a European strain that is different from the one currently circulating on the continent, China correspondent Elizabeth Law reports.

This comes just over a week after cases first surfaced at a wholesale market -- the largest in Asia -- which has sickened 184 in the capital alone, with more linked cases in other provinces.

China, which had been under pressure to publish such data, said it had also submitted the data to the World Health Organisation.

"According to preliminary genomic and epidemiological study results, the virus is from Europe, but it is different from the virus currently spreading in Europe," Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official Zhang Yong said. "It's older than the virus currently spreading in Europe."

The US, meanwhile, questioned China's credibility on reporting fresh coronavirus cases in Beijing. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, an outspoken critic of China, urged greater transparency during talks on Wednesday in Hawaii with senior Chinese official Yang Jiechi.

Read also: Beijing's partial coronavirus lockdown a sign of the world's new normal

And: In China's coronavirus vaccine race, shortage of monkeys and weekends

MODI FINDS NEIGHBOURS SILENT AS INDIA-CHINA TENSIONS SIMMER

If Prime Minister Narendra Modi thought he could count on the public support of neighbours as he faced his most significant foreign policy challenge as India's leader, he was mistaken.

Amid a serious escalation of tensions with China following the first fatalities along their contested border in more than four decades, a surging epidemic and an economy heading for recession, the silence of India's traditional regional allies and partners like Bangladesh and Nepal has been deafening.

Meanwhile, China returned 10 Indian soldiers captured during a deadly border clash earlier this week, an Indian government source said on Friday, as the two Asian nuclear powers sought to de-escalate tensions.

Having actively sought greater economic engagement with China, Modi is compelled to review the state of those ties, just at a time when Sino-US relations have also deteriorated.

Must read from East Asia Editor Goh Sui Noi: 'Insecure' China flexing its muscle against India?

And this editorial from the Kathmandu Post: Violent face-off in Himalayas does not bode well for neighbours

MALAYSIA'S PKR SAYS WILL ONLY SUPPORT ANWAR AS PM CANDIDATE, NOT MAHATHIR

An emergency meeting of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) on Friday has decided that it will only support the proposal for its president Anwar Ibrahim to be the prime ministerial candidate for Pakatan Harapan (PH).

PKR has rejected the return of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the coalition's candidate.

In a statement issued after a meeting via video conferencing, the PKR leadership and party MPs said the party will not support any proposal for Dr Mahathir to be made the PM again.

The co-called 'Pakatan Plus' alliance of some 107 or 108 MPs has been torn over who to put forward as its prime ministerial candidate to help its push to return to power.

PKR has 38 MPs including Datuk Seri Anwar, and without its support, PH cannot mount a bid to topple the three-month old government of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Must read from Malaysia Bureau Chief Shannon Teoh: With opposition split over Mahathir or Anwar for PM, Muhyiddin could be safe

And: Malaysia's police chief defends questioning of two opposition MPs over critical comments

INDONESIA CENTRAL BANK MAKES YEAR'S THIRD RATE CUT, TRIMS GDP OUTLOOK

Indonesia's central bank on Thursday delivered its third cut to the benchmark rate this year, stepping up support for South-east Asia's largest economy as it struggles to avoid a recession amid the broadening fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bank Indonesia cut the seven-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 4.25 per cent, the lowest since 2018, as predicted by the majority of economists in a poll.

The move came a day after the finance minister warned of recession risks, with gross domestic product (GDP) expected to shrink by 3.1 per cent in the second quarter - the first contraction since 1999 - and possibly contract again in the following three months.

Go deeper: Strong rupiah, weak economy: Jakarta Post

AUSTRALIA SUBJECT TO 'STATE-BASED' CYBERSECURITY ATTACK, PM MORRISON SAYS

Australia's prime minister revealed on Friday that his country was under a broad cyberattack from a "state-based actor" targeting government, public services and businesses, with suspicions falling on China.

The attacks have targeted all levels of the government, political organisations, essential service providers and operators of other critical infrastructure, Mr Scott Morrison said in a media briefing in Canberra. "We know it is a sophisticated state-based cyber actor because of the scale and nature of the targeting," he said.

Must read: Microsoft warns of spike in drive-by download attacks in Singapore

And: Don't fall for that 'tech support' call

IN OTHER NEWS

SOUTH KOREA'S WEALTHY, PASSED OVER BY PANDEMIC PAIN, SPLURGE ON LUXURY CARS: South Korea's swift handling of the Covid-19 crisis has provided a backdrop for a sharp increase in demand for premium and luxury cars, dealers and officials said, as wealthy people, insulated from many of the pandemic's worst effects, want to show off on the road.

CHINA SAYS ONE-FIFTH OF BELT AND ROAD PROJECTS 'SERIOUSLY AFFECTED' BY CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: About 20 per cent of projects under China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative to link Asia, Europe and beyond have been "seriously affected" by the coronavirus pandemic, an official from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

INDIA'S MODI PROMOTES YOGA AGAINST CORONAVIRUS: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extolled yoga as a way of building a "protective shield" of immunity against the coronavirus, as his nation battles a surge in infections. The Indian leader, a teetotal vegetarian, set up a ministry to promote yoga, Ayurveda and other traditional Indian treatments when he came to power in 2014.

CHINA'S SECURITY LAW THREATENS HONG KONG JOURNALISTS, SAYS MEDIA WATCHDOG: The new national security legislation China is imposing on Hong Kong could be used against journalists operating in Asia's main financial hub, which maintains distinct freedoms from the mainland, a global media watchdog group said. Reporters Without Borders said Beijing's move to bypass Hong Kong's legislature and force new laws banning terrorism, secession, subversion and foreign interference could result in journalists facing the same type of intimidation and criminal prosecution that they encounter in mainland China.

That's it for today, thanks for reading and have a great weekend.

Tom