BANGKOK, Aug 15 — Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in the second quarter of 2022, the fastest since the second quarter of 2021 as Covid-19 curbs ease.

JAKARTA, Aug 15 — Indonesia's windfall export earnings thanks to high commodity prices may start dwindling, its statistics bureau warned on Monday, despite the country booking a larger-than-expected surplus in July.

RIYADH, Aug 14 — Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that it has allowed all types of visitors, including those holding tourist visas, to perform Umrah in the kingdom, Xinhua quoted the Saudi Press Agency report.

NEW DELHI, Aug 14 — Sri Lanka has granted permission for a Chinese research vessel to visit the country after initially deferring the planned trip due to pressure from neighbouring India.

LONDON, Aug 13 — A drought was officially declared on Friday across a large swathe of England, amid a new heatwave and prolonged dry weather.

NEW YORK, Aug 13 — Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born novelist who spent years in hiding after Iran urged Muslims to kill him because of his writing, was stabbed in the neck and torso onstage at a lecture in New York state on Friday and airlifted to a hospital, police said.

REUTERS, Aug 12 — Johnson & Johnson will stop selling talc-based baby powder globally in 2023, the drugmaker said on Thursday, more than two years after it ended US sales of a product that drew thousands of consumer safety lawsuits.

REUTERS, Aug 12 — This year's World Cup in Qatar will start a day earlier than originally scheduled with the opening ceremony now taking place before the host nation kick off the tournament on Sunday, November 20, against Ecuador, world governing body FIFA said on Thursday.

LOS ANGELES, Aug 11 — Confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States have exceeded the mark of 10,000, reaching 10,392 cases Wednesday, according to the newest data released by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country's national public health agency, reported Xinhua.

BANGKOK, Aug 11 — Sri Lanka's former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to arrive in Thailand on Thursday and stay temporarily in a second Southeast Asian country since fleeing his island nation last month in the midst of mass protests.

MOSCOW, Aug 11 — Japan has registered 250,403 new coronavirus cases within the past 24 hours, marking thus the largest daily increase since the start of the pandemic, media reported.

OTTAWA, Aug 11 — The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirmed 1,008 cases of monkeypox in the country as of Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

SYDNEY, Aug 10 — Papua New Guinea (PNG)'s incumbent Prime Minister James Marape returned as the new prime minister after being elected unopposed in a parliament poll held in the capital Port Moresby on Tuesday.

TOKYO, Aug 10 — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reshuffled his cabinet and the executive lineup of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Wednesday as the administration faces slipping public support.

NEW YORK, Aug 10 — The US dollar was down in late trading on Tuesday due to the wide expectation of weaker US inflation, reported Xinhua.

NEW YORK, Aug 10 — The US story of monkeypox feels to experts frustratingly like a replay of the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Xinhua quoted a USA Today report last week.

SEOUL, Aug 9 — At least eight people died in and around Seoul overnight, South Korean authorities said on Tuesday, after torrential rain knocked out power, caused landslides and left roads and subways submerged.

SEOUL, Aug 9 — At least seven people died in and around the South Korean capital of Seoul overnight, authorities said on Tuesday, after torrential rain knocked out power, caused slips and left roads and subways submerged.

JAKARTA, Aug 9 — US carmaker Tesla has signed contracts worth about US$5 billion to buy materials for their batteries from nickel processing companies in Indonesia, a senior cabinet minister told CNBC Indonesia.

ROME, Aug 9 — The most severe heatwave in recent memory has held its grip on most of Europe as of Monday, with record high temperatures registered in multiple countries causing severe economic and health damage.