Asia Sri Lanka The country's severe economic crisis is driving women into prostitution after they lost their jobs in the textile industry; 22 million Sri Lankans are facing enormous hardship and prospects of poverty
Asia Syria UN calls for a 'firewall' around the process involving Syria, after diplomatic discussions for the war-torn country were postponed due to Russia's demands, allegedly linked to the invasion of Ukraine
Asia Tajikistan Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urged the Tajik authorities to release four independent journalists who have criticised the government and are currently detained on alleged charges of links to extremist organisations
Asia Turkmenistan The country called on the international community and organisations to develop a dialogue with the new authorities in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan's Deputy Foreign Minister Vepa Khadzhiev said
Asia Turkey The Basilica Cistern built by Justinian the Great for the capital of his Eastern Roman Empire, in modern-day Istanbul, has been reopened after a five-year restoration that transformed the water storage site
Asia United Arab Emirates The Sharjah Roads and Transport Authority has urged the public to take advantage of the remaining discount period on their fines, as the 50% discount on all fines will expire today
Asia Yemen A Yemeni military source announced that Saudi aggressor coalition has violated the humanitarian and military ceasefire in Yemen 155 times in the last 24 hours
Asia Uzbekistan The Electricity Sector Transformation and Resilient Transmission Project was officially launched in Tashkent and will help improve the performance of the National Electricity Grid JSC to ensure reliable energy supplies
Asia Vietnam Vietnamese are the fourth tallest people in Southeast Asia, only behind Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, thanks to improvements in maternal and child nutrition, says a seminar organised by the Ministry of Health
Asia South Korea A proposal to allow all children to enter elementary school at 5 years old, starting from 2025 has been met with support and criticism from the education sector and would require amending the country’s education law
Asia Laos New images of hundreds of trees in forest areas between the Ngime and Hia rivers that had been felled led Authorities in Xayaboury to discover that illegal logs were being harvested and processed in Phaing district
Asia Afghanistan The number of members of the Islamic State terrorist organisation in Afghanistan has increased threefold to 6.000 since the Taliban came to power last year, said Zamir Kabulov, head of the second Asian department of the Russian Foreign Ministry
Asia Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah is both the 29th Yang di-Pertuan (Sultan) of Brunei and the country's Prime Minister since gaining independence from British rule in 1984; apart from Queen Elizabeth II, he is the longest-serving monarch