RAMALLAH, April 23 — Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas today called on Hamas to lay down arms and hand the management of Gaza to his Palestinian Authority (PA), part of efforts to answer international doubts over the authority’s role at a key moment for the region.

ISTANBUL, April 23 — More than 150 people were injured when they jumped from buildings in Istanbul today as one of the strongest quakes in years hit the city.

SHANGHAI, April 23 — Preliminary plans for the China and Russia-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) include building a nuclear reactor on the moon’s surface, a presentation by a Chinese space official today showed.

BENGALURU, April 23 — Intel is set to unveil plans this week to slash more than 20 per cent of its workforce, in a move to streamline operations and reduce bureaucratic inefficiencies, Bloomberg News reported yesterday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

MOSCOW, April 23 — US President Donald Trump has acknowledged that 145 per cent tariffs on China are high but believes that they will decrease substantially, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.

SINGAPORE, April 23 — The US dollar jumped broadly against major currencies today as investors heaved a sigh of relief after President Donald Trump backed away from threats of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell following his recent attacks.

SRINAGAR, India, April 23 — At least 26 people were feared killed after suspected militants opened fire on tourists in India's Jammu and Kashmir territory yesterday, three security sources said, the worst attack on civilians in the troubled Himalayan region for years.

ZURICH, April 22 — Roche said today that it would invest US$50 billion (RM219 billion) in the United States over the next five years, creating more than 12,000 new jobs, in the latest massive investment by companies reacting to President Donald Trump’s tariffs policy.

BANGKOK, April 22 — Asian crime syndicates behind the multibillion-dollar cyberscam industry are expanding globally including to South America and Africa, as raids in Southeast Asia fail to contain their activities, the United Nations said in a report yesterday.

BANGKOK, April 22 — Thailand's industrial sentiment in March fell for the first time in three months, with a future index pointing to a further fall on concerns about US tariffs, the Federation of Thai Industries said today.

SINGAPORE, April 22 — Singapore’s former First Lady, Noor Aishah Mohammad Salim, widow of the country’s first president Yusof Ishak, passed away today at the age of 91.

SINGAPORE/NEW YORK, April 22 — The global liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market is facing an upheaval as high tariffs on US imports force Chinese buyers to swap American cargoes for alternatives from the Middle East, while US shipments divert to Europe and elsewhere in Asia.

TOKYO, April 22 — The dollar languished near its lowest level in three years on Tuesday as President Donald Trump's unrelenting attacks on the Federal Reserve chairman further eroded investor confidence in the US economy.

VATICAN CITY, April 22 — Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died yesterday after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, the Vatican said, ending an often turbulent reign in which he sought to overhaul an ancient and divided institution.

VATICAN CITY, April 21 — Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died, the Vatican said in a video statement today, ending an often turbulent reign marked by division and tension as he sought to overhaul the hidebound institution.

MOSCOW, April 21 — China halted liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases from the United States in March, while simultaneously increasing its imports from Australia, Indonesia, and Brunei, according to a RIA Novosti analysis of Chinese customs data.

SEOUL, April 21 — South Korea has found rising attempts to disguise foreign products as Korean exports, mostly from China, to avoid US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, its customs agency said today.

BEIJING, April 21 — Twenty-one humanoid robots joined thousands of runners at the Yizhuang half-marathon in Beijing on Saturday, the first time these machines have raced alongside humans over a 21-km course.

MOSCOW, April 20 — Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a surprise one-day ceasefire in Ukraine yesterday for Easter, but Kyiv said Russian forces continued artillery fire and called instead for an extended true halt to hostilities.

BRASILIA, April 20 — Brazil should not explore oil reserves in the Amazon region, because of the dangerous impact on local communities, Indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire, of the Kayapo people, told Reuters during the country’s largest Indigenous gathering last week.