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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (Photo: Strait Times)

US backs nations that say China violated their East Sea claims

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday the United States will support countries that believe China has violated their maritime claims in the East Sea but suggested it would do so through diplomatic rather than military means.

“We will go provide them the assistance we can, whether that’s in multilateral bodies, whether that’s in ASEAN, whether that’s through legal responses, we will use all the tools we can,” he said at a news conference, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The United States on Monday rejected China’s claims to offshore resources in most of the East Sea, drawing criticism from China which said the U.S. position raised tension in the region, highlighting an increasingly testy relationship.

The United States has long opposed China’s expansive territorial claims on the East Sea, sending warships regularly through the strategic waterway to demonstrate freedom of navigation there. Monday’s comments reflect a harsher tone, Reuters reported.

Twitter accounts of prominent figures hacked

The Twitter accounts of major public figures and corporations, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Apple were hijacked Wednesday, in a stunning show of force by hackers.

According to The Guardian, the compromised accounts, which count tens of millions of followers, sent a series of tweets proposing a classic bitcoin scam: followers were told that if they transferred cryptocurrency to a specific bitcoin wallet, they would receive double the money in return.

Other compromised accounts include those of Kanye West, Michael Bloomberg, Uber, and a number of cryptocurrency exchanges or organizations.

Joe Biden's account was hacked (Photo: Captured)

The messages included the address of a bitcoin wallet whose balance grew rapidly to more than 11 BTC (more than $100,000) as the scam spread. Tweets with similar messages were repeatedly deleted and re-posted by some of the compromised accounts over the course of Wednesday afternoon.

While the motives and source of the attack are not yet known, the coordinated hijacking of the verified communications streams of world leaders, celebrities and major corporate accounts was a frightening prospect. Twitter has become a de facto wire service for the world and is used for official communications by governments during emergencies; a hack on the scale of Wednesday’s attack could have been more disruptive or even dangerous.

Twitter said it was aware of “a security incident” and “taking steps to fix it”, but provided no further information hours after the hack began.

Twitter’s stock price tumbled more than 3% in after-hours trading.

TikTok fined in S. Korea over privacy issue

South Korea's telecommunications regulator said Wednesday it fined video sharing platform TikTok Pte Ltd. 186 million won (US$155,000) for collecting data of children under the age of 14 without parental consent, and did not properly notify users of its overseas transfer of personal data, Yonhap news agency reported.

TikTok illegally collected 6,000 pieces of data of users younger than 14, while local user data were transferred to its servers in the United States and Singapore without prior notification, according to the KCC.

The regulator has investigated TikTok since October last year after the United States fined the company US$5.7 million in February that year for illegally collecting children's data.

The regulator's move is the latest blow to the Chinese-owned global social media platform.

The app had 3.4 million users in South Korea in December last year, according to industry tracker WiseApp. The platform has gained a huge following among teenagers since it launched in 2017 in the country, being used by many K-pop groups and artists.

U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month that a ban on TikTok is being considered over privacy issues, while India decided to ban the app late last month amid diplomatic tension with China after deadly border clashes.

TikTok illegally collected 6,000 pieces of data of users younger than 14 (Photo: TBS)

Co-founder of Pathao, Gokada CEO found dead in Manhattan apartment

A gruesome murder of a person, believed to be a tech CEO, has been reported inside a luxury Manhattan apartment in New York City, on Wednesday.

Police believe the deceased to be Fahim Saleh, who is the CEO of Nigeria-based motorbike startup company Gokada. Saleh is also the co-founder of ride-sharing company Pathao, which operates in Bangladesh and Nepal.

The body of the tech entrepreneur, 33, was apparently found alongside an electrical saw.

According to the report on New York Post, the body of the deceased was found in a bad state. The sources described the killing as an apparent targeted murder, as per the report.

The same report stated that the CCTV footage from the building showed Saleh entering a lift with a man wearing a mask and carrying a bag on Monday.

Although an official confirmation on the victim’s identity and the incident is yet to come about, Gokada and Pathao have shared the news of his demise on social media.

The result of medical examination, which will establish the identity of the dismembered body, is still awaited, The Himalayan Times said.

Fahim Saleh (Photo: Brand News)

Gold Price Analysis: XAU/USD bulls stay hopeful above $1,800 despite Wednesday’s spinning top

Gold prices ease from one week high to $1,810 amid early Thursday morning in Asia. The bullion marked consecutive third positive daily closing the previous day. However, sluggish moves portray a “Spinning Top” candlestick formation suggesting traders’ indecision. The pattern joins the quote’s recent failures to refresh monthly high in suggesting the underlying weakness of the bullish momentum.

As a result, the bears could seek fresh entries targeting $1,800-$1,798 support area comprising 10-day EMA and an upward sloping trend line from June 15. However, any further weakness by the yellow metal will divert the bears towards July 01 top near $1,789, according to FX Street.

It should also be noted that the Gold price weakness past-$1,789 might not refrain from attacking the early-June peaks near $1,745.

On the contrary, the monthly top, also the multi-year high, around $1,818 acts as an immediate resistance, a break of which could escalate the bullion’s north-run towards August 30, 2011 peak surrounding $1,840.

Additionally, the precious metal’s ability to stay strong beyond $1,840 enables it to aim for the record high of $1,921 flashed during September 2011.

Gold daily chart (Photo: FX Street)

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