Asia Today

Today's news: Indonesia denied a visa to the Israeli gymnastics team, barring them from the World Championships. South Korea summoned the Cambodian ambassador regarding online scams. Myanmar's junta asked ASEAN to send international observers for the December elections.

Today's headlines: Israeli government approves Trump's plan overnight, but shooting continues in Gaza. New 7.4 magnitude earthquake in the southern Philippines: tsunami warning in the Pacific. Kim celebrates the 80th anniversary of the Korean Workers' Party with Vietnamese leader To Lam and Chinese Premier Li Qiang. The President of Kyrgyzstan met his predecessors who had fled abroad in Dubai to “stop fighting”.

Today's headlines: Palestinian who grew up in a refugee camp in Jordan to recieve Noble Prize for Chemistry; China tightens restrictions on rare earth exports ahead of the possible Trump-Xi summit in South Korea at the end of the month; New WHO warning about adulterated syrup that has already killed 22 children in India; Former Armenian president Kocharyan, a native of Nagorno-Karabakh, announces he will challenge Pashinyan in elections.

Today's headlines: Singapore executes another Malaysian citizen; Israel blocks more boats from the Gaza flotilla; Modi inaugurates Mumbai's new international airport; Macau opens luxury health resort; Moldova joins the SEPA payment system, a new step towards Europe.

Today's headlines: Tarique Rahman, Khaleda Zia's son, announces his return to Bangladesh for the elections; Chinese Premier Li Qiang will visit Pyongyang, the first high-level visit since 2019; Egypt's Khaled Ahmed El-Enany Ali Ezz will be the new Director-General of UNESCO; Teachers in Singapore work an average of 47.3 hours per week; The Philippines is searching for new Olympians with an app.

Today's headlines: in Egypt, meetings with Israeli and Hamas delegations on the logistical details of the agreement could take longer than expected (and in the meantime, people are still dying in Gaza). Defence agreement signed between Australia and Papua New Guinea to counter China. Nine dead in new hospital fire in India. The Council of Europe calls for a platform for dialogue between Russian democratic forces in exile.

Today's headlines: Sanae Takaichi wins the Liberal Democratic Party primary and will become Japan's first female prime minister. The Pakistani military has also proposed to the United States that it build and operate a port in the district of Gwadar. The Taliban foreign minister will visit India. Leo XIV has signed his first Apostolic Exhortation, which focuses on caring for the poor and will be published on 9 October.

Today's headlines: China and India will resume direct flights by October after a five-year hiatus; The South Korean president calls on Pyongyang to resume meetings between families separated by the war; At least eight people killed in four days of anti-government protests in Pakistani Kashmir; In Vietnam, the death toll from Typhoon Bualoi rises to 51, with damage estimated at over €500 million.

Today's headlines: Death toll from earthquake in the Philippines rises to 72, while Indonesia races against time to rescue dozens of students trapped under the rubble of an Islamic college; On the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si', Pope Leo XIV renews his call for an “ecological conversion”; Beijing and Kuala Lumpur study a joint project for the exploitation of rare earths; Tens of thousands of families affected by the earthquake in Afghanistan are still without shelter, with fears for the approaching winter.

Today's headlines: South Korean president announces 8.2% increase in defence spending for 2026; Kurdish militias forcibly close Christian schools in north-eastern Syria; Taliban internet blockade paralyses Afghanistan's main airport; North Korean painters in the Russian capital to celebrate the (military) alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang; First cross-border railways between India and Bhutan.

Today's headlines: Islamic college collapses in East Java, Indonesia, at least three dead and dozens missing, over a hundred injured; The UN discusses the Rohingya eight years after their flight from Myanmar, without representatives or delegates from the Muslim minority; From 20 to 23 October, the annual session of the CPC is scheduled in Beijing to define the next five-year plan; Singapore's population grows, driven by new arrivals of migrants.

Today's headlines: in Moldova, the pro-European party wins the parliamentary elections with twice as many votes as the pro-Moscow bloc. At least 40 people are dead and over 50 injured in Tamil Nadu at a rally held by Vijay, a film star who heads a local party. The UN has reintroduced sanctions against Iran, while Tehran has executed one of Israel's “most important spies”. In China, the world's highest bridge opened to traffic yesterday.