JERUSALEM, Feb 23 — Israel has said it is delaying the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners it had planned to free the day before until militant group Hamas met its conditions, underscoring the fragility of the Gaza ceasefire accord.

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, Feb 21 — Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong raised concerns with her China counterpart today over inadequate notice given by the Chinese navy of a rare live-fire exercise in international waters between Australia and New Zealand that forced airlines to divert flights.

LONDON, Feb 21 — The United States government’s foreign aid freeze has upended the supply chain for medical products crucial for fighting diseases including HIV and malaria in some of the world’s poorest countries, and life-threatening gaps could persist for months, according to two sources familiar with the sector.

HANOI, Feb 21 — Vietnam will impose a temporary anti-dumping levy of up to 27.83 per cent on some hot-rolled coil steel products originating from China, the trade ministry said today.

HAMILTON, Feb 21 — The Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Bureau for Arab States yesterday described the 14-year civil war in Syria as one of the “deadliest conflicts in recent history,” with “90 per cent of the population in poverty”.

SYDNEY, Feb 21 — China's largest bubble tea and drinks firm, Mixue Group, is seeking to raise HK$3.45 billion (US$443 million/RM1.99 billion) in a Hong Kong initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing made today.

PARIS, Feb 21 — French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday he will travel to Washington to try to convince President Donald Trump that his interests were in line with European allies and that showing any weakness to Russia's Vladimir Putin would make it harder to deal with China and Iran.

HONG KONG, Feb 21 — Hong Kong's Democratic Party said late yesterday it would start preparations to disband and wind up its affairs after a meeting of its leadership, amid a years-long national security crackdown in the China-ruled city.

BENGALURU, Feb 21 — ChatGPT developer OpenAI's weekly active users surged past 400 million in February, a company spokesperson told Reuters yesterday, highlighting rapid growth in the adoption of artificial intelligence tools.

NANJING, Feb 20 — A group of 200 Chinese citizens suspected of involvement in fraud were escorted back to China by Chinese police on Thursday after being repatriated from Myawaddy, Myanmar, Xinhua reported.

JAKARTA — Indonesian investigators arrested a senior politician from the only opposition party in Parliament today in a long-running bribery case connected to a Parliamentary appointment, the country's anti-graft agency chief said.

SEOUL, Feb 20 — South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared in a Seoul court today for his first trial hearing on charges of insurrection in the country’s first criminal prosecution of an incumbent leader.

SYDNEY, Feb 20 — Dozens of false killer whales stranded on a remote beach in the Australian state of Tasmania will be euthanised after bad weather and the isolated location hampered efforts to push them back into the waters, Australian authorities said today.

JAKARTA, Feb 20 — Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are working on a comprehensive plan for the main areas of cooperation for the next five years, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told RIA Novosti.

CANBERRA, Feb 20 — Children in Australia are able to easily bypass the minimum age limit imposed by social media platforms, a report by the country’s online safety regulator showed today, ahead of a landmark ban by the government on access for those under 16.

LONDON, Feb 20 — Google has developed an AI tool to act as a virtual collaborator for biomedical scientists, the United States blue chip said yesterday.

JAKARTA, Feb 19 — Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto reshuffled his Cabinet today, replacing a minister and three heads of state institutions to enhance government performance, reported Xinhua.

GENEVA, Feb 19 — The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that a mass campaign to vaccinate children against polio in Gaza would resume on Saturday, with over half a million children targeted.

NEW YORK/SINGAPORE, Feb 19 — Asian stocks wavered today after the S&P 500 and European shares ended at record highs, in the face of US President Donald Trump's latest tariff threats on auto, semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports.

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 19 — South African lab technician Nozipho Mlotshwa was waiting for the test results for a potential HIV vaccine, which has eluded scientists for decades, when the order came from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to stop work.