MEXICO CITY/SAO PAULO, Feb 11 — Brazil and Mexico, two top shippers of steel to the United States (US), will wait to see if US President Donald Trump announces tariffs on steel and aluminium imports before reacting, officials from both nations said on Monday.

MANILA, Feb 11 — Campaigning for the Philippines' midterm elections kicked off on Tuesday against a fractured political backdrop, heightened by a high-profile row among warring elites that culminated in last week's impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.

WASHINGTON, Feb 11 — United States (US) President Donald Trump proposed cancelling the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas if all the hostages in the Strip are not released by Saturday, Anadolu Agency reported.

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 — United States (US) President Donald Trump is expected to introduce new 25 per cent tariffs on Monday on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, on top of existing metals duties, in another major escalation of his shake-up of trade policy.

SINGAPORE, Feb 10 — A 34-year-old self-radicalised Malaysian was arrested under Singapore’s Internal Security Act (ISA) in November last year, according to the Internal Security Department (ISD).

JAKARTA, Feb 10 — Indonesia launched an annual free health screening on Monday, a 3 trillion rupiah (US$183.54 million) initiative to prevent early deaths that the country’s health ministry said was its biggest undertaking ever.

TOKYO, Feb 10 — Japan’s current account surplus jumped to a record last year, data from the finance ministry showed on Monday, as a weaker yen boosted returns on foreign investments that helped to comfortably offset a trade deficit.

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, Feb 10 — US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he will introduce new 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, on top of existing metals duties, in another major escalation of his trade policy overhaul.

LONDON, Feb 9 — A first edition of JK Rowling’s debut Harry Potter novel has sold for £18,000 (US$22,329 or RM99,158) after going under the hammer, reported German news agency (dpa).

WINDHOEK, Feb 9 — Sam Nujoma, the activist and guerrilla leader who became Namibia’s first democratically elected president after it won its independence from apartheid South Africa, died aged 95 on Saturday, the Namibian Presidency said on Sunday.

CAIRO, Feb 9 — Saudi Arabia affirmed its categorical rejection of remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians from their land, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

BEIRUT, Feb 8 — Lebanon formed a new government on Saturday, following unusually direct United States (US) intervention in the process and in a step intended to bring the country closer to accessing reconstruction funds, following a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah.

JAKARTA, Feb 8 — Indonesia is drafting new regulations to safeguard children from online risks, including age restrictions on digital platforms, the Ministry of Communications and Digital announced.

GENEVA, Feb 8 — Amnesty International’s secretary-general Agnes Callamard has condemned United States (US) President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), calling it a "reckless action" that signals Israel is above the law and weakens universal principles of international justice.

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 — United States (US) President Donald Trump signed an executive order to cut US financial assistance to South Africa, the White House said on Friday, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Washington's ally Israel.

JERUSALEM, Feb 8 — Palestinian militant group Hamas is set to hand over three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian detainees and prisoners in the latest stage of a ceasefire deal aimed at opening the way to ending the 15-month war in Gaza.

GENEVA, Feb 8 — The suspension of foreign aid programmes by United States (US) President Donald Trump puts 6.3 million people at risk of dying from the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) over the next four years, a United Nations (UN) organisation dealing with the viral disease warned on Friday.

GAZA CITY, Feb 8 — Palestinians in Gaza say they are determined to rebuild their own seafront restaurants and hotels, dismissing US President Donald Trump’s vision of creating a “Riviera of the Middle East” emptied of its population and under US control.

LONDON, Feb 7 — Thousands of victims of modern slavery are being denied support because of the United Kingdom’s crackdown on illegal migration, according to more than a dozen sources, a decade after the approval of legislation that put the country at the forefront of the global fight against human trafficking.

MANILA, Feb 7 — The Philippines' lower house has impeached Vice-President Sara Duterte, the daughter of the country's firebrand former president, setting the stage for a rare, high-profile trial in the Senate.