ANKARA, March 1 — Amnesty International on Thursday called for an urgent investigation into the killing by Israeli forces of more than 100 Palestinians who were waiting for food supplies in Gaza.

CAIRO, March 1 — Gaza health authorities said Israeli forces on Thursday shot dead more than 100 Palestinians as they waited for an aid delivery, but Israel blamed the deaths on crowds that surrounded aid trucks, saying victims had been trampled or run over.

DHAKA, March 1 — A massive fire raced through a six-storey building in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka late on Thursday, killing at least 43 people and injuring dozens, the country's health minister said.

LONDON, March 1 — More than a billion people globally are now considered obese, a condition linked to an increased risk of numerous serious health problems, according to updated estimates from the World Health Organization and an international group of researchers.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 —The ringgit ended higher against the US dollar on Thursday, spurred by Bank Negara Malaysia’s comments on its valuation.

HEFEI (China), Feb 29 — Volkswagen has signed an agreement with Chinese electric vehicle startup XPeng on strategic technical collaboration to jointly develop two intelligent connected vehicle models for the Chinese market, Volkswagen Group China said Thursday.

GAZA CITY, Feb.

JAKARTA, Feb 29 — Indonesia is setting its sights on joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) within two to three years, a pivotal move in its economic shift towards the Golden Vision 2045.

BEIJING, Feb 29 — The Chinese embassy in Tokyo has criticised Japan for continuing its water discharge from the Fukushima nuclear power plant (NPP), saying it ignores the concerns of both the Japanese people and the international community.

BERLIN, Feb 29 — Thirty-four European media organisations filed a lawsuit against Google on Wednesday due to the tech giant's practices in digital advertising.

PARIS, Feb 29 — Paris 2024 Olympics organisers are confident they can do without air conditioning at the athletes village, which will be delivered slightly ahead of schedule when it is officially unveiled by President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.

ANKARA, Feb.

TOKYO, Feb 28 — Japan on Wednesday started its fourth round of release of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean, despite opposition from local fishermen and residents, as well as backlash from the international community, reported Xinhua.

TORONTO, Feb 28 — The United Nations (UN) on Tuesday pointed to the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, saying that none of its humanitarian aid convoys had reached northern Gaza since Jan 23.

WELLINGTON, Feb 28 — New Zealand will repeal on February 27 a world-first law banning tobacco sales for future generations, the government said, even while researchers and campaigners warned of the risk that people could die as a result.

SINGAPORE, Feb 28 — Singapore's second-largest bank Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) said it expected interest rates to trend downwards, likely from second half of 2024, after posting a 12 per cent jump in fourth-quarter net profit that missed expectations.

SYDNEY, Feb 28 — Tens of thousands of residents in Australia's southeast were told to evacuate today due to an intense heatwave which authorities said could further spread a massive bushfire in Victoria state, which faces its worst conditions in four years.

LOS ANGELES, Feb 27 — Organisers have revealed the first group of star-studded presenters for the 96th annual Oscars ceremony, reported the German News Agency (dpa).

JERUSALEM/CAIRO/NEW YORK, Feb 27 — United States (US) President Joe Biden hopes to have a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza start by next Monday (March 4) as the warring parties appeared to close in on a deal during negotiations in Qatar, which also aim to broker the hostages' release.

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 — A United States (US) Air Force airman who set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington in an apparent act of protest against the war in Gaza has died, the military and local police said yesterday.