US states near the Canadian border including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois were particularly choked, while the Northeast including New York was also experiencing deteriorating air quality.

Questions have begun to mount over a shift in ASEAN’s approach toward closer engagement with Myanmar’s military government nearly five years after the coup, with critics expressing concern that the bloc risks emboldening the junta despite its repeated failure to comply with the group’s peace roadmap.

The Indonesia-Singapore Defense Alumni (Persahan) was launched in conjunction with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Day reception. 

China can say that ASEAN countries acquisced on China's claim that there are no high seas in South China Sea if ASEAN countries do not lodge formal protest with the United Nations Secretary General. 

FIFA's Stadium Code of Conduct bans "banners, flags, flyers, apparel and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive, and/or discriminatory nature" inside stadiums.

In a statement, Katz's office said the two men spoke overnight and the minister "emphasised Israel's determination to remain in the security zones in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon in order to protect Israel's borders and the communities near the border from the threats posed by jihadist forces".

"According to preliminary information, the two vessels departed from Myanmar's Rakhine State in late June carrying mostly Rohingya passengers, reportedly including some who had travelled from refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh," the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency said in a joint statement, saying more than 500 were feared dead.

More than 60 delegations from Europe to Asia are expected to attend the event, titled "Resurgence of Political Terrorism" and chaired by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Nearly a month after Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the Middle East war, the two foes have resumed fighting across the region.

Indonesia has accepted an invitation from the Iranian government for President Prabowo Subianto to visit Tehran, the Foreign Ministry confirmed on Tuesday, saying preparations were underway despite lingering tensions between Iran and the United States.

Australia will enact laws to regulate how artificial intelligence data centers use power and water, and to protect creative copyright, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday.

The first clinical trial is under way of an antiviral drug's effectiveness in people exposed to the deadly Ebola strain spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the WHO said Tuesday.

The UK government said Tuesday it will introduce an overnight social media curfew for children aged 16 and 17, after Prime Minister Keir Starmer last month announced an under-16 social media ban.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday reimposed a naval blockade of all Iranian ports and threatened to hit power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran resumes negotiations, in the latest US escalation of the conflict.

Key priorities in the agreement include cooperation in science and technology as well as investment in agricultural technology, education and the strengthening supply chains for electric vehicle batteries.

"POTUS is absolutely right. Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service. Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER. 20% is of course too much. We will be fair," Tehran's top diplomat wrote, in a social media post.

"You know very well that not only do we not have any enmity with your country, but we also love you, the noble people, who understand the pain and oppression of the Palestinian people more than any other nation," the IRGC said in a statement carried by Fars News.

Although firefighters arrived within minutes, a combination of factors proved deadly for many of the people trapped inside the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub in northern Bangkok.

A wildfire tore through a historic forest near Paris on Monday, forcing highway closures and mobilizing water-bombing aircraft, while Spain's death toll from one of its deadliest wildfires rose to 13, as much of western Europe simmered in a string of heatwaves.

The United States launched a third night of strikes on Iran Tuesday as President Donald Trump reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports and floated a 20 percent fee on cargo in the vital Strait of Hormuz.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruled in favor of the Philippines on July 12, 2016, clarifying that China’s claim over maritime areas within the so-called “nine-dash line” have no lawful effect, unless stipulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). China, as well as Taiwan, rejected the ruling.

Higher energy prices, especially for gasoline, are politically sensitive for Trump ahead of November's congressional elections.

An explosive fire at a pub in Thailand's capital Bangkok killed 27 people and injured dozens, officials said on Monday, with police investigating possible negligence including obstructed emergency exits as people scrambled to flee the burning venue.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Monday they targeted US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, destroyed radar systems in Oman, and struck fuel tanks and ammunition depots at Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan in their latest response to another wave of US strikes.

European countries reported more than 10,000 excess deaths during the record-breaking heatwave that engulfed the west of the continent in late June, official data showed.

The US Central Command (CENTCOMM) said its forces had completed their latest barrage, which began overnight Sunday, on dozens of Iranian targets.

The meeting between foreign ministers of several members of the 11-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Myanmar's Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe was the first such gathering since a 2021 military coup in the country.