SYDNEY, March 28 — Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday called a national election for May 3, launching a five-week campaign that is set to be dominated by cost-of-living pressures.

RIYADH, March 28 — The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has successfully digitised more than three billion transactions, significantly reducing paper usage and carbon emissions to support the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) and promote environmental sustainability.

ISTANBUL, March 27 — The Trump administration is set to end United States (US) funding for Gavi, the global vaccine initiative, and scale back malaria efforts, according to documents obtained by The New York Times on Wednesday.

DHAKA, March 27 — Bangladesh's transitional government head Muhammad Yunus has warned that the protracted crisis in Myanmar threatens regional stability during his address at the Boao Forum for Asia conference in China, Anadolu Ajansi reported.

HANOI, March 27 — The Cambodian authorities have reported that the country has intensified efforts to combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation last year, recording 197 cases, an increase of 20 per cent compared to 164 cases in the previous year.

NAYPYITAW, March 31 — The chief of Myanmar's ruling junta has vowed to hold a free and fair election in December, as he urged armed opponents in a widening civil war to renounce violence and pursue dialogue.

WASHINGTON, March 27 — United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the short video app used by 170 million Americans.

BANGKOK, March 27 — Thailand's Cabinet has approved a draft law to establish entertainment complexes to boost tourism and generate economic growth.

SINGAPORE, March 27 — Singapore has raised the maximum spending limit for election expenses to account for inflation, the Elections Department announced in a statement today, Xinhua reported.

WASHINGTON, March 27 — United States President Donald Trump yesterday unveiled a 25 per cent tariff on imported cars and light trucks starting next week, widening the global trade war he kicked off upon regaining the White House this year in a move auto industry experts expect will drive up prices and stymie production.

SINGAPORE, March 27 — A strip of the Pacific Ocean seabed mined for metals more than 40 years ago has still not recovered, scientists said late yesterday, adding weight to calls for a moratorium on all deep sea mining activity during United Nations-led talks this week.

NEW YORK, March 27 — OpenAI is not expecting its cash flow to turn positive until 2029, Bloomberg News reported yesterday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

BERLIN, March 27 — Accelerated climate action could boost global gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.2 per cent by 2040 compared with current policies, a study showed on Tuesday, as delegates from 40 countries meet in Berlin to shape the agenda for the COP30 summit in Brazil later this year.

KYIV, March 26 — Ukraine and Russia accused one another on Wednesday of flouting a truce on energy strikes brokered by the United States (US), and conditions set by Russia cast doubt over a planned ceasefire in the Black Sea.

JAKARTA, March 26 — Indonesia's security forces have arrested three soldiers for allegedly being involved in the sale of weapons and ammunition to separatists in the country's far-eastern Papua region, reported Xinhua.

SYDNEY, March 26 — An Australian senator pulled out a large, dead fish in Parliament today to protest the government’s proposed laws that would safeguard controversial salmon farms in a heritage-listed inlet in the state of Tasmania.

HONG KONG, March 26 — China’s glacier area has shrunk by 26 per cent since 1960 due to rapid global warming, with 7,000 small glaciers disappearing completely and glacial retreat intensifying in recent years, official data released this month showed.

BANGKOK, March 26 — Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra breezed through a no-confidence vote in Parliament today in the first test of her premiership, emerging unscathed from a two-day opposition onslaught to reaffirm the stability of her coalition.

SINGAPORE, March 26 — Oil prices edged higher today on supply concerns, with the United States stepping up efforts to limit Venezuelan and Iranian oil exports, while a bigger-than-expected drop in US crude inventories also lent support.

UISEONG, March 26 — At least 18 people have died as multiple wildfires rage across South Korea’s southeastern region, with thousands of firefighters aided by the military deployed in a bid to contain one of the country’s worst forest fires in decades.