Asia Cambodia The 400 square kilometres of protected area of Angkor Wat are home to 120.000 people, with tourism 'responsible' for the boom; now the government has decided that 10.000 families will be evicted from the area
Asia Malaysia Malaysia has no plans to reintroduce a Goods and Services Tax (GST) or another large-scale consumption tax, said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
Asia Oman Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman announced the dates for the opening of registration for citizens and residents wishing to perform Hajj rites for the 1444 AH (2023) season
Asia Kuwait The country has set a new world record for the world's largest bisht: the impressive garment, measuring 17 x 16 metres, beat the previous record of 17 x 9 metres held by Saudi Arabia
Asia Lebanon UNICEF has warned of an educational disaster in Lebanon, urging the immediate reopening of public schools to end the disruption to education
Asia Maldives The first tourism seminar in Huvadhu Atoll was organised for 40 participants to teach them how to support local tourism in the atoll but also to create awareness among people about the local positive and negative effects of tourism
Asia North Korea North Korean authorities have ordered girls and women to change their names if they are called 'Ju Ae', as it is forbidden in the country to be called by the same name as leader Kim Jong Un's daughter
Asia Japan Academic Yusuke Narita's words, recently published by the New York Times, have aroused great controversy for his bold statement on the country's ageing: "it seems to me that the only solution is quite clear: isn't it mass suicide of the elderly?"
Asia Indonesia Indonesia and China have agreed a budget overrun of 18 trillion rupiah ($1,2 billion) for the Jakarta-Bandung bullet train; it will be Southeast Asia's first high-speed rail link when completed, in a few months time
Asia Philippines The country has accused China of shining a 'military-style' laser light to scuttle a supply mission in a disputed shoal in the South China Sea; the laser glare temporarily blinded the crew of the Philippine coast guard vessel, forcing it to retreat
Asia Sri Lanka Single-use plastic will be banned after a series of deaths of elephants and wild deer from plastic poisoning; the measure was recommended by a working group appointed 18 months ago to study the impact of plastic waste on environment and wildlife
Asia Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides won the presidential election, promising a unity government tasked with advancing peace talks with estranged Turkish Cypriots; Christodoulides, 49, took 51,9% of the vote, runoff independent rival Mavroyiannis, 66, took 48,1%
Asia Taiwan The promotional poster for Pool A of the World Baseball Classic, to be held in Taichung, has been updated to include photos of players from all competing teams, after the event organiser, Major League Baseball, protested the absence of Taiwanese players