Asia Iran The websites of Iranian parliament and its affiliated news agency were disabled after a cyber-attack claimed by 'Uprising till Overthrow', affiliated to exiled opposition group People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran, considered a terrorist organisation
Asia India Thousands of farmers are protesting against Modi's government and the conservative Bharatiya Janata Party with riots in several cities, repressed with tear gas and water cannons; access points have been closed with barbed wire, spikes and concrete blocks
Asia Malaysia Malaysia ranks eighth on the list of best places to retire according to International Living's Annual Global Retirement Index 2024, and is the only Asian country to make it into the top 10
Asia Philippines NASA's mission to test air quality through international collaboration will help the Philippines gain access to advanced monitoring techniques to study and combat pollution
Asia Vietnam 2023 brought a major breakthrough for science and technology: Vietnam had the first scientist to win the VinFuture prize and saw an explosion in AI with the country's desire to implement ChatGPT
Asia Kyrgyzstan Reporters Without Borders called on Coalition for Media Freedom to take action against the liquidation of Kloop Media, known for its news website and journalistic investigations, after the Oktyabrsky District Court decided on 9 February to close it down
Asia Iraq A 3D-printed copy of Bull of Nimrud, built in 9th century BC and destroyed by Isis fighters in 2015, donated has been donated by Italy; previously on display at Colosseum in Rome and Unesco headquarters in Paris, it's now relocated at the of Basrah Museum
Asia Indonesia The National Food Agency is implementing five measures to ensure the availability of rice and stabilise prices nationwide
Asia Turkey According to recent survey, 250 people die every day in Turkey because of smoking, said Dr Akçay, president of Turkish Association for Respiratory Research and director of the Department of Chest Diseases at the Faculty of Medicine of Başkent University
Asia Uzbekistan Uzbekistan's courts found 666 people guilty of sexual harassment under the new Article 41-1 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility in 2023, said Supreme Court spokesman Aziz Abidov
Asia Nepal 321 families affected by wild elephant attacks in Jhapa district are awaiting compensation from the government after the animals caused damage to people and property in various places and at different times in the current 2023/24 fiscal year
Asia Jordan The number of Jordanians participating in ‘Urdun Jannah’, the program aimed at stimulating domestic tourism, reached 14.199 in January; Aqaba welcomed 11.413 visitors, while Jerash, Dana Reserve and Shobak recorded no visits through ‘Urdon Jannah'
Asia Japan Recent survey by Taisho University shows Japanese people in smaller towns and villages with at least 5% foreign population do not regularly interact with the foreigners who live in their communities, underscoring the need to work on integrating society