Militants in Gaza launched rockets into Israel and Israeli aircraft hit targets in the Palestinian enclave in an explosive backdrop to the signing of pacts for formal ties between Israel and two Gulf Arab countries.

Regional rights body Fortify Rights has called for Malaysia to immediately release the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the human trafficking and mass graves of Rohingya and Bangladeshis discovered in Wang Kelian, Perlis in 2015.

Foreign students can return to Malaysia to resume their studies provided that they apply beforehand and their universities are open.

Japan's Yoshihide Suga is voted prime minister by parliament's lower house, becoming the country's first new leader in nearly eight years, as he readies a "continuity cabinet" expected to keep about half of predecessor Shinzo Abe's lineup.

Israel’s rapprochement with Gulf Arab states has left the Palestinians feeling abandoned by traditional allies and clutching an old playbook in a rapidly changing Middle East, analysts and critics say.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have signed agreements for normalising relations with Israel, becoming the latest Arab states to break a longstanding taboo in a strategic realignment of Middle Eastern countries against Iran.

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan will be the first Indian celebrity to lend his voice to Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant starting next year, as the Silicon Valley giant expands its presence in the massive market.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday he would like convicted rapists to be publicly executed or chemically castrated, reacting to a question on the rape of a woman on a highway last week that has caused uproar in the South Asian nation.

The World Trade Organization ruled on Tuesday that additional tariffs imposed by the United States against China in 2018 were inconsistent with global trading rules.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has expressed the government’s concern about the increasing number of Rohingya refugees arriving on Indonesia’s shores, calling on other countries in the region to share responsibility for addressing the core issues that led to the crisis. In the last two months, Indonesia received almost 400 boat people of Rohingya ethnicity.

Lebanon’s factional rivalries have put the brakes on moves to form a new government on the eve of a deadline agreed with France, stalling efforts to drag the nation out of a dire economic crisis.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said Bangladesh is keen to boost its relationship with Turkey as it is deeply rooted in shared history, faith and traditions based on trust and confidence.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, a loyal aide to outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, wins a landslide victory in a ruling party leadership election on Monday, paving the way for him to replace Abe.

The 50th round of director general (DG) level talks (DGLT) between Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Indian Border Security Force (BSF), which was scheduled for today is likely to be held later this month, officials said.

Taliban and Afghan government forces have clashed across Afghanistan hours after the start of long-awaited peace talks in Doha, underscoring the uphill challenge of settling a 19-year insurgency.

Palestinians fear the UAE’s move will weaken a long-standing pan-Arab call for Israeli withdrawal from occupied land and acceptance of Palestinian statehood in return for normal relations with Arab countries.

Pakistani police released a local journalist accused of defaming the military as a court reprimanded the police for overstepping their mandate, a lawyer for journalist Bilal Farooqi has said.

The USA has assured Bangladesh that it will continue its support to bringing about a peaceful resolution to the protracted Rohingya crisis.

China accused Washington of “political persecution and racial discrimination” yesterday, after the US confirmed it had revoked the visas of more than 1,000 Chinese students under an order by President Donald Trump that accused some of espionage.

Washington’s top diplomat yesterday urged Southeast Asia to cut ties with Chinese companies helping build islands in the South China Sea after China accused the US of becoming “the biggest driver of militarization” in the contested sea, as tensions between Washington and Beijing look set to swamp a regional Asian summit.