This comes amid Islamabad's effort to engage more Asian nations and diversify trade partnerships beyond China.

Jobs held by women are nearly twice as exposed to automation, while youth employment is declining in high-AI-exposure roles, according to the United Nations Development Programme.

Images of logs swept out into flood-hit areas have circulated online, and experts have said deforestation and environmental degradation contributed to the floods and landslides, which have killed over 600 people in the country.

Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor has appointed BN’s Jafry Ariffin, who is the Sabah UMNO Secretary, as the new state tourism, culture and environment minister.

Analysts warned the dispute sparked by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan could persist, leaving ordinary people to navigate the resulting uncertainty.

Tokyo and Manila have reportedly held informal talks on a possible export of the Type 03 Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile system. The same unit is also slated for deployment on a Japanese island near Taiwan - a move that has drawn Beijing’s ire.

Relations have been strained since Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested last month that her country could intervene militarily in any Chinese attack on Taiwan.

Torrential monsoon season deluges, paired with two separate tropical cyclones, dumped heavy rain across all of Sri Lanka and parts of Indonesia's Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia.

Residents of Wang Fuk Court were told by authorities last year they faced "relatively low fire risks" after complaining about fire hazards posed by the renovations.

"National sovereignty and the core values of freedom and democracy are the very foundation of our nation," Lai Ching-te told army reservists.

India's protectionist regulations are exhausting for its trade partners. It’s both a surprise and a relief that some are now being rolled back, says Mihir Sharma for Bloomberg Opinion.

Nearly 600 people have been killed and hundreds remain missing. 

Researchers have tied the problem to widespread over-extraction of groundwater, particularly in lower-income neighbourhoods where piped water is scarce.

Initial tests had suggested the netting was up to standard, but investigators had not been able to check all of it earlier due to the fire.