Asia Philippines More than 200.000 domestic workers in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) will benefit from the wage increase recently approved by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board
Asia Kyrgyzstan The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan entered the foreign exchange market for the first time since October 2023 and conducted its first intervention this year
Asia Kazakhstan Kazakhstan-based EdTech start-up CodiPlay presented its innovative solutions at the world's largest educational technology event, Bett 2024, which took place at the end of January at the ExCeL international exhibition and conference centre in London
Asia Nepal The third Chief Minister's Cup men's volleyball national tournament is taking place in Kanchanpur, famous for producing national-level players in various sports; this is the first national event held here in 12 years
Asia Taiwan The Taiwan Lantern Festival 2024 in Tainan, a large outdoor exhibition of lanterns and light installations to celebrate the Lantern Festival observed on 24 February, was partially opened on Saturday evening
Asia Syria Syria and Iraq warned of dangerous consequences following US attacks targeting facilities of Iranian-backed militants in Iraq and Syria
Asia Turkmenistan The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reviewed Turkmenistan's 6th Periodic Report; the experts raised questions about measures to prevent domestic violence and exploitation of women workers, also during the annual cotton harvest
Asia North Korea Since the start of the pandemic, fences and security infrastructure along both coasts have been significantly expanded, in a likely attempt to make it more difficult for residents to escape by sea
Asia Kuwait The Kuwaiti municipality intends to ban handshakes in mourning rooms in cemeteries on health grounds, according to a Kuwaiti newspaper report
Asia Oman His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik issued royal orders to allocate an annual budget for the Ministry of Health to help supply electronic sensor devices to be used to measure glucose levels in diabetic children
Asia Malaysia The sentence of former PM Najib Razak to 12 years in prison for corruption and abuse of power was halved; by the end of 2023, corruption charges had been filed against both Najib and other members of his party, the United Malaysian National Organisation
Asia Iran Three satellites were successfully launched for the first time using the carrier rocket developed by the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics and will be used to test communication and geopositioning technologies