Nurse assistant arrested for self-administering propofol drug on first day at work in South Korea

Abusing propofol can trigger severe complications and even death.

China sentences official to death for taking $325m in bribes

The 69-year-old helped companies secure valuable contracts in exchange for money, a court heard.

Australia vows stronger ties with Solomon Islands amid China concerns

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said both nations have agreed to continue negotiations on a new comprehensive treaty.

Will Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing’s Laos visit pave his way back into the ASEAN family?

The trip is part of efforts to give the impression that Myanmar is no longer diplomatically isolated.

Myanmar bets on ancient temples, Buddhist pilgrimage sites to boost tourism

Myanmar authorities are bidding to revive an industry devastated since the 2021 coup plunged the country into civil war and international isolation.

NATO to unveil big arms deals in Ankara before summit with Trump

ANKARA, July 7 - NATO leaders plan to unveil arms deals worth tens of billions of dollars in Ankara on Tuesday to show they are heeding U.S. calls to spend more to defend Europe before joining President Donald Trump for a summit.

Graffiti artist scales Australian bridge tower, paints bird cartoon, disrupts traffic

SYDNEY, July 7 - A man scaled the 140-metre-high (460 foot) tower of a cantilever bridge in the Australian city of Melbourne on Tuesday and painted a giant cartoon bird on it, disrupting morning commuter traffic.

Graffiti artist accused of scaling Australian bridge tower and painting giant cartoon bird

The man demanded a peanut butter sandwich be delivered by drone before he would come down.

Storms kill at least eight in central China as Typhoon Bavi looms offshore

US leads international concern after China test-fires missile into Pacific

The test fire is the latest move in its rapid military modernisation.

Fatal Typhoon Maysak floods burst dam wall in China

At least two have been killed by flooding due to Maysak, while another 480,000 have been evacuated across the southern Guangxi province.

India's Modi to meet Indonesia's Prabowo for talks on defence, food security

JAKARTA, July 7 - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto on Tuesday, as the leaders of two of the world's most populous countries seek to finalise deals ranging from defence to food security.

Samsung profits jump 1,800% as AI chip sales soar

The firm's shares fell sharply on Tuesday as some investors had expected an even stronger performance.

How Indonesian fashion brand Saya built a cult following with a signature dress that went viral

Founded by two former graphic designers in Jakarta, the contemporary fashion brand built a loyal following with versatile pieces that move seamlessly from beach getaways to special occasions.

Flooding kills two in China’s Nanning as east braces for super typhoon

Floods hit reservoirs and villages in Guangxi region.

Can China repeat its EV success with robotaxis?

China's self-driving car firms have been given a headstart by the country's EV supply chain as they expand globally.

Why undersea cables have become the next strategic prize in US-China rivalry

Carrying about 99 per cent of global data traffic, undersea cables have become a new front in the strategic rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

Norway urges China to help bring Russia to Ukraine peace talks

OSLO, July 6 - Norway wants China to use its ties to the Russian leadership to help bring about a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine, also for the sake of better relations with Europe, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday.

France's Macron visits Syria, in first trip by an EU head of state since Assad toppled

DAMASCUS, July 6 - French President Emmanuel Macron landed in Syria on Monday, Syria's state news agency reported, in the first visit to Damascus by a European Union head of state since rebels led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

Hundreds evacuated, dams breached as heavy rain batters south China

Officials raised the emergency response in Nanning, Guangxi’s capital, to the highest level after torrential rain breached dams.

Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok at highest heat risk amid rising El Nino concerns: Oxford University study

Research warns that Thailand, Vietnam and other parts of ASEAN could be hit hard by El Nino.

Azerbaijan summons Russian envoy over attack on SOCAR fuel station in Ukraine

BAKU, July 6 - Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said on Monday it had summoned Russia's ambassador to protest against what it said was a Russian drone strike on a fuel station belonging to state oil and gas company SOCAR in Ukraine's Mykolaiv region on Sunday.

Pakistan mediating Libya unity push as rival camps seek deal, Pakistani sources say

ISLAMABAD, July 6 - Pakistan has quietly begun mediating between Libya's rival eastern and western power centres, two Pakistani sources said, in a previously unreported Pakistani effort that would further raise its diplomatic profile if it succeeds.

Video allegedly of S’porean stealing RON95 petrol in Malaysia flagged as fake, misleading

The car in the video is believed to be a Malaysian car.

Japan and Singapore take bilateral ties into orbit with new space pact

They will exchange critical information and deepen collaboration in cutting-edge fields.

Nuclear power is fueling a supercharged new space race

Interplanetary travel to Mars aboard nuclear-powered spaceships may sound like science fiction – yet NASA is planning to make it a reality. The Space Reactor-1 Freedom mission is scheduled for launch by December 2028 to explore Mars, with NASA heralding it as “the first

Armenia hopes it can resolve 'problematic issues' with Russia, PM Pashinyan says

MOSCOW, July 6 - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Monday that he hoped the South Caucasus country could mend its relationship with Russia and resolve certain \"problematic issues\" which have arisen recently.

SK Hynix’s IPO is really a bet on the future of AI

When South Korea’s chip giant SK Hynix launches its planned US$29 billion US listing, investors will tell themselves they’re buying one of the world’s most important semiconductor companies. But what they will really be buying is a rosy artificial intelligence forecast.

Chinese court hands former official rare death sentence in $419 million graft case

Yang Youlin illegally accepted money and property while holding various government posts

Chinese court hands former local official rare death sentence in $324 million graft case

BEIJING, July 6 - A Chinese court on Monday sentenced Yang Youlin, a former senior local official in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, to death over corruption while also convicting him of abuse of power and money laundering among other charges, a court statement showed.

Sri Lanka prison riots leave 26 dead and more than 100 injured

The two days of violence at Negombo Prison are the worst prison riots in the country in years.

Japanese government bonds have a three-body problem

In May, the yield on Japan’s ten-year government bond touched 2.8%, its highest level in nearly three decades. For a market that spent a generation anchored near zero, this was not a technical adjustment — it was a tremor that reverberated across the Pacific: as Japanese yields

Kremlin says Russia-China naval drills are not a threat to other nations

MOSCOW, July 6 - The Kremlin said that joint naval drills between Russia and China which kicked off on Monday in the waters and airspace off the Chinese city of Qingdao were not directed against any other country and would boost regional security.

Singapore and Indonesia 'strategically aligned' to keep Strait of Malacca and Singapore open to all: PM Wong

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and President Prabowo Subianto also addressed the Middle East conflict's implications for regional shipping lanes at their Jakarta meeting.

India's anti-terrorism agency charges LeT founder Hafiz Saeed over Kashmir attack

SRINAGAR, India, July 6 - India's anti-terrorism agency said it filed charges on Monday against Hafiz Saeed, founder of Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), over an attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir last year that triggered a conflict with Pakistan.

India charges Pakistan-based militant leader in 2025 attack that killed 26 in Kashmir

New Delhi has accused Pakistan of backing the attack, claims Islamabad has repeatedly denied.

Familiar voice of Seoul subway lives on after actor’s death

Kang Hee-su, whose voice has guided passengers on Seoul Subway Lines 1 to 8 since 1996, died in Seoul on July 4.

Rights group says jailed British couple in Iran continue hunger strike

DUBAI, July 6 - Two Britons jailed in Iran on espionage charges are maintaining a hunger strike over prison conditions and have been denied adequate medical care and contact with their families, U.S.-based Iranian human rights news agency HRANA reported on Monday.

Malaysia authorities increase surveillance at KLIA to combat touts

The touts charged exorbitant fees for transport to Kuala Lumpur.

Mourning and celebration collide as Iran, US both claim victory

It is ironic to see the Islamic Republic of Iran burying its slain supreme leader and the United States celebrating its 250th independence anniversary in the same week. Both sides have used mourning and commemoration occasions to claim victory in a war that has led to a fragile

Sri Lanka prison riot kills 26, wounds more than 100

The wounded were rushed to the Negombo hospital, about 35km north of the capital Colombo, following overnight clashes between inmates from two drug gangs at the area's main prison, police said.

Watch: Why Australia's PM apologised for 'inappropriate' Kylie comments

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has apologised for remarks he made about popstar Kylie Minogue in a podcast interview last week.

No, China did not manage to avoid a crash

Back in the 2010s, a lot of people marveled at China’s seemingly recession-proof economy. Throughout the global financial crisis of 2008 and the Chinese stock market crash and capital flight of 2015, the country never recorded a single quarter of negative economic growth.

Clashes escalate at Sri Lanka prison to leave 25 dead, many more injured

COLOMBO, July 6 - Twenty-five people were killed and about 100 injured as security officials struggled to contain two days of clashes between rival groups of inmates at a prison in Sri Lanka, authorities said on Monday, marking the deadliest such violence in years.

‘Strategically aligned’: Singapore, Indonesia want Strait of Malacca open and free for all, say leaders

The commitment emerged after talks between PM Lawrence Wong and President Prabowo Subianto at the Leaders’ Retreat.

Sarawak cops seize over 16,000kg of bird’s nests worth $26 million in series of raids

Initial investigations found that the bird’s nests were intended for export to other countries.

China's Nanning on top alert as Typhoon Maysak triggers catastrophic flooding

Maysak made landfall in the southern island province of Hainan last Friday (Jul 3), the first tropical cyclone to reach the Chinese mainland this year.

UN rights council orders urgent inquiry into Sudan's al-Obeid

GENEVA, July 6 - The U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday passed a motion condemning the escalating violence committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan's al-Obeid region, while setting up an urgent inquiry into alleged abuses there.