HANOI, June 4 — The 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Customs Directors-General Meeting, with a packed agenda of 12 key items, will shape customs cooperation in the near future.

CANBERRA, June 4 — Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected at a third poultry farm near Melbourne, but not the same strain that spread globally and raised fears of human transmission, the Victoria government said on Wednesday.

THE HAGUE, June 4 — The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said yesterday Palestine filed in the Registry of the Court a bid to intervene and a declaration of intervention in South Africa’s case against Israel, alleging genocide in the Gaza Strip.

NAYPYIDAW, June 4 — Myanmar’s junta is cracking down on gold and foreign exchange traders and agents selling foreign real estate, with 35 arrests announced in the last two days as part of efforts to stabilise its rapidly depreciating currency.

WASHINGTON, June 4 — United States Senator Bernie Sanders reiterated yesterday he will not attend an address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a joint session of Congress.

BEIJING/HONG KONG, June 4 — China authorities said they would close Beijing’s Tiananmen Square today, the 35th anniversary of the crackdown, while Hong Kong police also tightened security as activists in Taiwan and elsewhere prepared to mark the date with vigils.

BEIJING, June 4 — China’s Chang’e-6 probe has lifted off from the far side of the moon, starting its journey back towards Earth, China’s national space agency announced today.

SEOUL, June 4 — South Korea’s consumer inflation slowed for a second straight month in May to a 10-month low, official data showed today, coming in lower than market expectations.

TOKYO, June 4 — A safety test scandal at Japanese automakers widened yesterday, with Toyota Motor and Mazda both halting shipments of some vehicles after Japan's transport ministry found irregularities in applications to certify certain models.

TOKYO, June 4 — The dollar languished at its lowest since April against the euro and sterling today as signs of a softening United States economy boosted the case for earlier Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate cuts.

ROME, June 4 — Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies "fully endorse and will stand behind the comprehensive" ceasefire and hostage release deal for the Gaza war outlined by US President Joe Biden and call on Hamas to accept it, a statement said yesterday.

ISLAMABAD, June 4 — A high court in Pakistan overturned jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's conviction on charges of leaking state secrets, his lawyer and his party said yesterday, but Khan will remain in prison for now due to a conviction in another case.

BHUBANESWAR, India, June 4 — India's unusually severe heatwave this summer is suspected to have killed more than 100 people and made tens of thousands ill, authorities and media reports said, while parts of the country were also battered by a recent cyclone and heavy rains.

JABALIA, Gaza Strip, June 3 — Palestinian Umm Mohammed Khrouat says she would rather live in a tent than the school where she is forced to shelter with her five children in northern Gaza, so bad are the conditions after nearly eight months of war.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has upgraded its 2024 profitability projections for airlines to US$30.5 billion in net profit compared to the US$25.7 billion forecast made in December 2023.

JAKARTA, June 3 — The head and deputy head of Indonesia’s new capital city authority, who oversee the US$32 billion project, have resigned, the state secretariat minister said today.

TOKYO, June 3 — Asian factory activity expanded in May as manufacturers benefited from broadening global demand, private surveys showed on Monday, adding to hopes for sustained economic recovery in the region where China is showing early signs of rebound.

BEIJING, June 3 — China’s first food security law aimed at achieving “absolute self-sufficiency” in staple grains came into effect on Saturday, reinforcing efforts by the world’s biggest agriculture importer to lower its reliance on overseas purchases.

NEW DELHI, June 3 — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance is projected to win a big majority in the general election that concluded on Saturday, TV exit polls said, suggesting it would do better than expected by most analysts.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that its projection for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) to triple to reach 1.9 billion litres (1.5 million tonnes) in 2024 is on track.