WASHINGTON -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines from later this week, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby announced Monday, in the first visit to Southeast Asia by a top member of the Biden administration.

Leaving Friday, Austin will stop in Alaska before heading to the region. In Singapore, he will speak at an event hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Kirby said in a statement. Nikkei reported on the planned trip earlier Monday.

"Secretary Austin'

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. has installed a new representative in Japan to handle ambassador duties until President Joe Biden's presumed nominee, Rahm Emanuel, can be sworn in.

Raymond Greene assumed the role of U.S. charge d'affaires ad interim in Japan on Saturday, filling the post vacated by predecessor Joseph Young in June.

Greene, a 25-year career diplomat at the State Department, previously held such posts as director for Japan and East Asian economic affairs at the National Security Council

HANOI -- Vietnam is mobilizing public forces, including the police, public security and military, as Ho Chi Minh City, the country's largest city, and adjacent provinces face a sharp increase of COVID-19 cases.

Authorities are making efforts not to allow the pandemic to trigger social instability as the National Assembly -- the country's most important political event -- kicks off on Tuesday.

"Police of southern provinces and cities need to deploy their full force, closely coordinate with military forces, advise

TOKYO -- Goldman Sachs will expand investments in alternative assets like office buildings and data centers in Japan, consolidating various investment operations into a new merchant banking division capable of tackling a wide range of deals.

As part of a global reorganization drive in its investment operations, the group is merging Goldman Sachs Japan's principal investment division with Goldman Sachs Asset Management's property division and other operations.

"Japan is a major economy and will serve as a key hub within Asia," said Goldman Sachs Japan Managing Director Takashi

TOKYO -- The Japanese government is looking into reassigning an embassy official in Seoul in the near future after he used sexual imagery when commenting on South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Hirohisa Soma, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy, reportedly told a journalist at a South Korean broadcaster suggesting that Moon was playing tug of war with himself over soured bilateral relations. The embassy condemned the remark on Saturday.

The transfer is expected to amount to a de facto removal from the post, which Soma has served in since

WASHINGTON/TOKYO -- The U.S., Europe, Japan and others on Monday accused China of a "pattern of malicious cyber activity," linking Beijing to an attack on Microsoft Exchange email servers discovered in March.

Concerns about this behavior are bringing countries together to "call out those activities, promote network defense and cybersecurity, and act to disrupt threats to our economies and national security," a White House statement said. The group includes the U.S., Japan, Australia, New Zealand,

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor said Monday that it will not air any Olympic-related TV advertisements going forward, despite the automaker being a top-tier sponsor.

President Akio Toyoda will not attend the opening ceremony, the company also said.

The decision signaled that the automaker is distancing itself from the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, which are set to kick off Friday but are facing lukewarm public sentiment for being held amid a surge in coronavirus cases in Tokyo.

The fear that participation in the unpopular Games could hurt, rather than

BANGKOK -- Thailand's leading wireless carrier Advanced Info Service urged shareholders on Monday to reject a tender offer by compatriot power provider Gulf Energy Development, citing the "inappropriate price" of the bid.

The "tender offer price is lower than the fair value of the company," the carrier known as AIS said in a filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Gulf Energy is offering 120.93 baht per share, while AIS calculates the appropriate value as between 214 and 234

TOKYO -- An antibody cocktail developed by U.S.-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals was granted special emergency approval by Japan's health ministry on Monday, opening up new opportunities to keep milder coronavirus cases from progressing and overwhelming heath care providers on the ground.

Developed with Roche, the treatment was administered to then-U.S. President Donald Trump when he contracted COVID-19 last year. It received an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that November.

"This is