Asia

India deploys more than 20,000 police and paramilitary officers ahead of a Saturday election protest demanding the election chief step down over voter rolls

Overseas borrowers have raised 115.5 billion yuan this year as low Chinese interest rates and easier cross-border rules expand yuan financing

Strait of Hormuz tanker attacks hit a wartime high last week as Iran warns it will block unauthorised routes, cutting vessel transits to a two-month low

European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič arrived in Beijing for two days of critical negotiations with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, seeking to rebalance a daily €1 billion trade deficit and address raw material export controls amid joint warnings from France and Germany

Sri Lanka arrested ex-first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa over alleged misuse of children's hospital donations, a major blow to the once powerful Rajapaksa family.

Iran military chief Ali Abdollahi says the Oct 7 attack accelerated Israel's decline, as Israelis and Palestinians mark three years since the Hamas-led assault

An Indonesian court jailed dozens of Indian nationals for a Bali online gambling operation, with most getting two years and deportation after release.

Vance says Iran must cut enrichment to end the seven-month war, telling Reuters Tehran must make a “meaningful” reduction in its nuclear enrichment capacity

Bahrain foreign minister visits Pakistan on 7-8 October for talks on trade, investment, defence and security at the third Joint Ministerial Commission

US President Donald Trump announced an upcoming discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the suspicious death of a Siberian plague research technician, while the WHO and US State Department press Moscow for transparent biological risk reporting

Four Indonesian seamen return home after more than five months held hostage by Somali pirates on the MT Honour 25 tanker

India says 12 crew injured, 11 of them Indian, after a Panama-flagged tanker was attacked off Oman in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran warns Bahrain and other regional states it will respond if their territory or airspace is used again in attacks, an Iranian diplomat told the UN

Rahul Gandhi detained briefly in New Delhi as opposition MPs marched on the Election Commission, demanding its chief resign over voter roll changes

UN rights council unanimously urged the Taliban to repeal all practices restricting women and girls, saying the discrimination should shock humanity

Saudi-backed Yemeni forces have seized Dhubab district overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, sources say, as the fight to push the Houthis out intensifies

India-US trade talks have hit a "plateau", Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says, as a US trade probe complicates efforts to close the deal

A Flydubai co-pilot planned the attack before being hired by the airline, two Israeli officials say, citing his UAE interrogation over flight FZ1073

Israel's army chief Eyal Zamir says the military must learn from the Oct 7 failures as investigations conclude ahead of the anniversary of the attack

European Union Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will meet Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing for two days of make-or-break talks to address a mounting €360 billion trade deficit and high-tech export surges, as both sides prepare defensive counter-measures