DUBLIN, Dec 18 — Leo Varadkar, former Irish Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Fine Gael party, has been elected as the new prime minister of Ireland following a vote in the lower house of the Irish parliament on Saturday.

SINGAPORE, Dec 16 — Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has conveyed his heartfelt condolences and sympathies to all those affected by the landslide at Genting Highlands today.

LOS ANGELES, Dec 16 — Several journalists who covered Elon Musk were suspended from Twitter on Thursday night, days after an account tracking the whereabouts of Musk's private jet was also banned from the platform.

LONDON, Dec 16 — British airline Virgin Atlantic will operate the world's first "net zero" transatlantic flight, the German Press Agency (dpa) quoted Britain's Department for Transport (DfT).

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 — Bilateral trade volume between Malaysia and South Korea surpassed US$20 billion (RM88.2 billion) for the first 10 months of 2022, said South Korea Ambassador to Malaysia Yeo Seung Bae.

JAKARTA, Dec 15 — Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said the European Union (EU) should treat Asean member countries equally if they want to fully enjoy the fruit of a better partnership.

LONDON, Dec 15 — Tens of thousands of nurses are going on strike for the first time across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the German press agency dpa reported.

BEIJING, Dec 15 — A 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted the waters off Taiwan's Hualien County at 12.03pm Thursday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC).

YANGON, Dec 15 — An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 struck about 6.43 km east of Tada-U in Myanmar's central Mandalay region at 3.16 am local time on Thursday, according to Myanmar's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.

SEOUL, Dec 15 — South Korea has called on the Group of 20 (G20) nations to factor in each nation's economic conditions and other circumstances in global responses to climate change.

GENEVA, Dec 15 — The chief of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday he hopes that Covid-19 would no longer be a global health emergency sometime next year.

GENEVA, Dec 15 — At least 115 media workers have been killed in 29 countries around the world this year, a 45 per cent increase compared to last year, the Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) said Wednesday.

DOHA/RABAT, Dec 15 — Moroccans slumped with disappointment on Wednesday after their team's semi-final defeat to France, but were still pumped with pride for a World Cup run that spurred tears of joy across Africa and the Arab world.

PARIS, Dec 15 — Supporters poured into Paris's freezing Champs-Elysees boulevard on Wednesday after a World Cup semi-final between France and Morocco which for millions tugged at the heartstrings, as "Les Bleus" won 2-0 to reach the final for a second time in a row.

BANGKOK, 14 Dis — Thailand welcomed more than one million Malaysian tourists since the reopening of borders between the two countries this year.

BERLIN, Dec 14 — A summit commemorating 45 years of diplomatic relations between Asean and the EU is expected to usher in an era of better economic ties, Vietnam News Agency reported, quoting German newswire DW.

BRUSSELS, Dec 14 — The European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meet for their first summit on Wednesday to deepen economic ties, with European leaders pressing for firm, shared language critical of Russia.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — Malaysia has the potential to become a regional hub for vocational and technical training to people of other countries in this region.

Brussels, Dec 14 — European Union (EU) leaders are in Brussels on Wednesday for a summit with their counterparts from Southeast Asia to mark 45 years of relations with the Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) reported dpa.

GENEVA, Dec 13 — Growth in real global GDP will drop from 5.7 per cent in 2021 to 3.3 per cent in 2022, a new UN report said Monday, showing that trade in goods and services will slow, with growth in merchandise exports expected to decline by half.