SEOUL, Oct 8 — South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said his country has agreed with Singapore to enter into a strategic partnership next year, the 50th anniversary of the two nations setting up diplomatic relations.

JAKARTA, Oct 8 — Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto pushed for accelerating the completion of Asean's Digital Economy Framework Agreement (Defa) negotiations during the 24th Asean Economic Community Council meeting in Laos yesterday.

VIENTIANE, Oct 7 — The Asean Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) convened today to discuss key matters, including preparations for Timor Leste’s accession as a full Asean member.

VIENTIANE, Oct 7 — Asean should focus on practical, high-impact “quick wins” that are capable of providing immediate and tangible business value to enhance the visibility of the bloc to its immediate stakeholders.

BANGKOK, Oct 7 — Powerful criminal networks in Southeast Asia extensively use the messaging app Telegram, which has enabled a fundamental change in the way organised crime can conduct large-scale illicit activity, the United Nations said in a report today.

BANGKOK, Oct 7 — Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said today Asean must play a key role in ending the protracted civil war in Myanmar, ahead of a summit of the leaders of the 10-member group in Laos this week.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Former Singapore Transport Minister S.

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Oct 7 — Israel bombed targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip on Sunday ahead of the one-year anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attacks that sparked its war, as Israel's defence minister declared all options were open for retaliation against arch-enemy Iran.

PARIS, Oct 7 — Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested in cities around the world on Sunday on the eve of the first anniversary of the deadly October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.

DHAKA, Oct 6 — At least five people have died and over 100,000 remain stranded as devastating floods, triggered by heavy rains and upstream torrents, continue to ravage northern Bangladesh, officials said on Sunday.

KHAN YOUNIS, Oct 6 — In the ruins of his two-storey home, 11-year-old Mohammed gathers chunks of the fallen roof into a broken pail and pounds them into gravel which his father will use to make gravestones for victims of the Gaza war.

HANOI, Oct 6 — Vietnam's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.4 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter on the back of strong exports and industrial production, government data showed today.

BEIRUT, Oct 6 — Massive consecutive strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs from late Saturday into Sunday, Reuters eyewitnesses said, sending booms across the city and sparking flashes of red and white for nearly 30 minutes visible from several kilometres away.

PARIS/ WASHINGTON, Oct 6 — Thousands of protesters took to the streets in major cities around the world on Saturday demanding an end to bloodshed in Gaza and the wider Middle East as the start of Israel's war in the Palestinian enclave approaches its first anniversary.

NANCHANG, Oct 6 — Indonesia defeated China to claim the Badminton World Junior Mixed Team Championships title, winning 110-103 (accumulated points) in a thrilling final held in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi province yesterday, reported Xinhua.

BEIRUT, Oct 5 — Over 200,000 Syrian and Lebanese nationals have arrived in Syria from Lebanon since the start of the Israeli attacks on September 23, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi said on Saturday, reported Sputnik.

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Oct 5 — The potential successor to slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been out of contact since Friday, a Lebanese security source said on Saturday, after an Israeli airstrike that is reported to have targeted him.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 5 — Over 80 police personnel have been injured in clashes with supporters of jailed former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan taking part in a march near Islamabad, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday.

ROME, Oct 5 — Global food prices surged to their largest one-month increase since 2022 in September, driven by extreme weather that put upward pressure on major food commodity categories, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported on Friday, said Xinhua.

NEW YORK, Oct 4 — Facebook owner Meta announced today it had built a new AI model called Movie Gen that can create realistic-seeming video and audio clips in response to user prompts, claiming it can rival tools from leading media generation startups like OpenAI and ElevenLabs.