Asia

JAKARTA — The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by a rare tropical storm in the Malacca Strait climbed past 600 on Monday as Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia struggled to reach tens of thousands of displaced people and account for the missing. Officials reported 435 deaths in Indonesia, 170 in Thailand and three in Malaysia. Separately, Cyclone Ditwah in the Bay of Bengal killed 153 people in Sri Lanka, with 191 others missing and more than half a million affected nationwide, authorities there said. Rescue…

Europe-Africa Summit: Leaders Seek Revitalized Partnership Amid Global Challenges Scores of African and European leaders are gathered in Luanda, the capital of Angola, for the seventh edition of the Europe-Africa Summit. This year's summit arrives at a critical juncture, characterized by "fraying" relations between these historic trading partners, as the influence of Russia, China, and the United States continues to expand across the region. Experts emphasize the necessity of re-evaluating the relationship between Europe…

India offers aid as Botswana confronts acute medicine shortages India has offered to assist Botswana in addressing a severe shortage of essential medicines, officials said during a visit by Indian President Droupadi Murmu. The offer was announced by Botswana President Duma Boko at a joint media briefing, underscoring the urgency of the country’s health supply crisis. President Boko announced the offer while briefing the media alongside visiting Indian President Droupadi Murmu. Available reports put the stock of essential…

The Taiwanese government has firmly declined South Africa's request to shift its representative office from Pretoria to Johannesburg. This demand followed pressure from China, which had urged the South African administration to complete the relocation by the end of October. Speaking on behalf of Taiwan, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung emphasized the importance of honoring a 1997 agreement. That year marked a significant turning point; Pretoria officially severed diplomatic ties with Taipei but allowed Taiwan to retain its…

Several countries around Asia and the Pacific that are experiencing their first major waves of the coronavirus rushed to impose severe restrictions, a year and a half into a pandemic that many initially did well. Against the rapidly increasing number of infections in recent months, authorities in countries such as Thailand, South Korea and Vietnam announced or…

Former minister says China's production is still inadequate China is at least 30 years away from becoming a "superpower" manufacturing nation, a former industry minister said on Sunday, despite boasting the world's most complete industrial supply chains. In recent years, China has become the world's leading manufacturing nation, accounting for over a third of global production,…