WASHINGTON, Jan 25 — At least 242 million students in 85 countries had their schooling disrupted by extreme climate events in 2024, Unicef said on Friday.

SEOUL, Jan 24 — A South Korean court today rejected a request from the prosecutors’ office to extend the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over a criminal investigation into his short-lived martial law declaration on December 3, Yonhap reported.

BANGKOK, Jan 24 — Thai businesses are expected to incur up to one billion baht (RM130.17 million) in losses from China’s ban on sugar syrup and premixed powder exports from the Southeast Asian nation, with shipments left stranded in Chinese ports, an industry group said.

BANGKOK, Jan 24 — Southeast Asian cities were among five most polluted in the world today according to air-monitoring organisation IQAir, with Ho Chi Minh City ranked second-most polluted, followed by Phnom Penh and Bangkok fourth and fifth, respectively.

SYDNEY, Jan 24 — A rare plant known as the corpse flower bloomed in Sydney today for the first time in more than a decade, emitting an odour likened to rotting flesh and delighting thousands who queued for a whiff.

WELLINGTON, Jan 24 — People leaving New Zealand hit record levels in the 12 months to November 2024, in another sign of the weakness in the country’s economy that moved to a technical recession in the third quarter.

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 — US President Donald Trump said his conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week was friendly and he thought he could reach a trade deal with China.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 24 — The head of Bangladesh's interim government, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, said yesterday that his country's high growth under ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was "fake" and faulted the world for not questioning what he said was her corruption.

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 — Federal documents relating to several high-profile assassinations during the 1960s will become fully available to the public this year after President Donald Trump yesterday ordered their release, United Press International (UPI) reported.

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 — US civil rights groups are warning that an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday lays the groundwork for reinstatement of a ban on travellers from predominantly Muslim or Arab countries.

CASTAIC, California, Jan 24 — Powerful winds and bone-dry conditions could pose a challenge to firefighters battling new wildfires in southern California, including a blaze that swelled over the past day and forced tens of thousands of evacuations north of Los Angeles.

GENEVA/DAVOS, Jan 23 — World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said today that any tit-for-tat trade wars prompted by United States President Donald Trump’s tariff threats would have catastrophic consequences for global growth, urging states to refrain from retaliation.

MANILA, Jan 23 — The Philippines will soon decide on an international platform to sue China for alleged damage to the marine environment, its justice minister said, as it pursues a second high-profile legal challenge against Beijing over the South China Sea.

CASTAIC, Jan 23 — A new wildfire that broke out north of Los Angeles yesterday rapidly spread to more than 9,400 acres (38sqkm), fueled by strong winds and dry brush, forcing mandatory evacuation orders for more than 31,000 people.

MANILA, Jan 23 — The Philippines has signalled a softened stance towards an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into thousands of killings in a “war on drugs”, a probe activists hope will see popular ex-president Rodrigo Duterte face charges of crimes against humanity.

SEOUL, Jan 23 — South Korea’s anti-corruption officials today requested prosecutors indict impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for insurrection and abuse of power for his short-lived martial law declaration.

ISTANBUL, Jan 23 — The Turkish authorities have detained 11 people as part of an investigation into a fire that broke out at a ski resort hotel in northern Bolu province as the death toll rose to 79, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported, citing officials on Wednesday.

TOKYO, Jan 23 — A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck Fukushima Prefecture's Aizu region early Thursday and the Japan Meteorological Agency has warned of potential aftershocks of similar magnitude over the coming week, urging residents to stay vigilant against landslides, avalanches, and falling snow, reported Xinhua.

SHANGHAI, Jan 23 — More than half of the American businesses in China, the highest level in five years, say they are concerned about a further deterioration in the bilateral relationship between the world's two largest economies, a survey published on Thursday shows.

WASHINGTON, Jan 23 — New United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed China's 'dangerous and destabilising actions in the South China Sea' with his Philippine counterpart on Wednesday, and underscored the 'ironclad' US defence commitment to Manila.