JAKARTA, May 20 — Southeast Asia experienced 44 serious disaster events last week, including floods, landslides, and strong winds in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, according to the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre).

BANGKOK, May 20 — Covid-19 cases in Thailand surged to 33,030 last week with at least 6,000 infections reported in Bangkok, according to the Thailand Department of Disease Control.

BANGKOK, May 19 — The Thai government has announced plans to review its policies and projects in response to global economic volatility caused by trade wars and tariff policies imposed by major powers.

MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called for Israel's exclusion from international cultural events such as the Eurovision song contest over its military campaign in Gaza, just as Russia was barred after it invaded Ukraine.

BUCHAREST, May 19 — Romania's European allies and markets welcomed centrist Nicușor Dan's presidential election victory over a Eurosceptic hard-right rival on Sunday, relieved that the European Union (EU) member had avoided a lurch to a Donald Trump-inspired political path.

JAKARTA, May 19 — Bank Indonesia (BI) will resume its easing cycle on Wednesday with a quarter-point interest rate cut, a Reuters poll of economists found.

BANGKOK, May 19 — Thailand and Indonesia have agreed to elevate their bilateral relationship to a "Strategic Partnership," aimed at strengthening cooperation across various sectors.

JAKARTA, May 19 — The police in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province have foiled an attempt to traffic 26 undocumented workers to Malaysia and arrested three suspected traffickers, according to the authorities.

Dubai, May 19 — Nothing captured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's isolation more starkly this week than the image of US President Donald Trump shaking hands with Syria's leader Ahmed al‑Sharaa — a man Israel has branded "an al‑Qaeda terrorist in a suit".

WASHINGTON, May 19 — Former US President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an "aggressive form" of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, his office said in a statement yesterday.

CAIRO, May 18 — Israel’s airstrikes killed at least 100 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip overnight, local health authorities said today, as mediators hosted a new round of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.

KYIV, May 17 — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Saturday for stronger sanctions on Moscow after a Russian drone killed nine bus passengers in northeastern Ukraine just hours after the two countries held their first peace talks in three years of war.

STOCKHOLM, May 17 — Epic Games' Fortnite video game was not available on Apple's iPhone devices in the European Union and the United States on Friday.

JAKARTA, May 16 — The Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has set a target for the mandatory use of five per cent bioethanol (E5) in fuel blends, which will begin in 2026.

PARIS, May 16 — After watching frightening images of a prominent French crypto boss' daughter being attacked on a Paris street during a botched kidnapping, crypto executive Alexandre Aimonino finds solace in the changes he has made to his daily routine.

SEOGWIPO, May 16 — The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group adopted a statement on Friday that cited "fundamental challenges" facing the global trading system, but stopped short of discussing a joint response to United States (US) tariffs looming large over its meeting.

BRUSSELS, May 16 — Microsoft has offered to sell its Office product without Teams at a lower price than Office with Teams, as well as offer rivals better interoperability access to its services and products, EU antitrust regulators said on Friday.

ISTANBUL, May 16 — Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul on Friday at their first direct peace talks in more than three years, under pressure from United States (US) President Donald Trump to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.

SAN JOSÉ, May 16 — United States (US) President Donald Trump intensified pressure on Apple chief executive Tim Cook to shift more manufacturing to the US, criticising the company's growing production in India, the German Press Agency reported.

SEOGWIPO, May 16 — The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's (Apec) trade gathering comes to a close on Friday, with divisions over US tariffs and reforms to the World Trade Organisation putting the adoption of a joint statement in doubt, according to some diplomats.