Amid growing security concern and aggressive posturing of China, Taiwan stated on Tuesday that it has detected a number of Chinese aircraft and warships operating around the country over the past 24 hours that crossed the meridian line of the Taiwan Strait and entered air defence identification zone.

According to the Defence Ministry of Taiwan, 59 sorties of Chinese military aircraft and nine Chinese naval ships operating around Taiwan were detected on Tuesday morning. It said that 43 out of 59 sorties crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s northern, central southwestern and eastern Air Defence Identification Zone.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reaffirmed his commitment to securing lasting peace in Ukraine as Britain hosted a virtual meeting with more than 25 political leaders on Saturday. However, no detailed or updated defence measures were announced.

At the press conference after the virtual meeting, when asked whether any concrete commitments emerged from it, Starmer said the meeting had helped build political and military momentum, with participating countries agreeing to increase collective pressure on Russia. However, he stopped short of disclosing what specific measures would be taken at the "operational phase."

Joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and leaders from Canada, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, and the European Union, Starmer urged Russia to "come to the table to negotiate a deal", news reported. He also announced plans to host a military meeting next Thursday.

The passage of Tropical Cyclone Jude through northern Mozambique has claimed 14 lives and affected over 100,000 residents across several provinces, according to a preliminary report released by the Mozambican government.

Government spokesperson Inocencio Impissa presented the report at a press conference in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, saying that the fatalities were recorded mainly in the provinces of Nampula and Niassa, resulting from collapsing walls, lightning strikes, and drowning.

He said the cyclone caused damage to about 20,000 houses, with over 7,000 completely destroyed and more than 13,000 partially damaged, leaving thousands of families displaced.

In the health sector, 30 health facilities were damaged, while in education, 182 classrooms in 59 schools were destroyed, affecting 17,402 students and 264 teachers, news agency reported.

Road infrastructure also suffered significant damage, with the destruction of six access roads, particularly in Nampula province, 

Millions of people in Japan are reported to be addicted to online gambling, with the amount of money spent on illegal gambling reaching 1.2 trillion yen annually, a police survey revealed on Thursday.

According to the report of Japan's National Police Agency, about 3.37 million people in Japan are estimated to have used overseas online casinos despite the ban in the country. The findings of its first study are released following recent cases involving athletes and celebrities, amid a lack of public awareness about its illegality, local media reported

Some 40 per cent of the users were unaware online casinos are illegal, the survey by the National Police Agency showed. "There is a possibility that a lack of awareness about illegality encourages people to use online casinos," an NPA official said, leading Japanese daily, The Japan Times reported

Pakistan's financial capital Karachi continues to witness a surge in crime rate as armed robbers looted Rs 1.15 million in cash from the staff of the Peoples' Bus Service in Gulshan-e-Hadeed late Wednesday night. They later escaped with the cash, weapons and mobile phones. According to the driver, the robbery took place at the last stop of the bus service, where the staff was resting.

Elaborating on the incident, the driver of the bus said six assailants arrived in a vehicle, and four armed men forced them inside the bus at gunpoint before looting Rs 1.15 million in cash, local media reported.

Last week, three armed robbers stormed a shop and looted mobile phones, cash, and other valuables in Karachi. Despite the presence of several people at the shop, the robbers managed to escape without facing any resistance,

2025 is turning out to be no different than 2024 for residents of Karachi in terms of rampant street crime incidents, which have resulted in the death of at least 19 people since January in the provincial capital.

Two South Korean Air Force fighter jet pilots were booked on Thursday for charges related to last week's accidental bombing of a village after pilot error was found to be the cause of the accident, the Defence Ministry said.

Last Thursday, two KF-16 fighter jets dropped eight MK-82 bombs outside a training range in Pocheon, some 40 kilometres north of Seoul, during live-fire drills, injuring 38 people, including 24 civilians.

"The Criminal Investigation Command has confirmed in the probe to date that the pilots' erroneous entry of target coordinates was the direct cause of the accident," the Defence Ministry said in a notice to reporters.

The pilots, booked as of Thursday, have been charged with professional negligence resulting in injury, according to the ministry, news agency reported.

They were also charged for damaging military facilities, including a church, the ministry said.

Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is being taken to face the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of crimes against humanity, local media reported on Wednesday.

He was arrested under a warrant issued on orders of the ICC at Manila airport on Tuesday morning upon his arrival from Hong Kong. He is facing charges before the ICC for his role in alleged extrajudicial killings committed during his administration's war on drugs.

Human rights groups estimate that more than 30,000 people were killed during the drug war, many of them were accused without evidence and executed without trial.

Philippines Senate President Francis Escudero on Wednesday commended law enforcement, legal representatives, and supporters for the orderly and incident-free serving of the arrest warrant from ICC against former President Duterte.

South Korea's antitrust regulator said on Wednesday it has decided to fine the country's three major mobile carriers a total of 114 billion won (US$78.5 million) for alleged collusion in mobile number portability (MNP).

SK Telecom Co., the local industry leader, was slapped with a fine of 42.7 billion won, while KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. were ordered to pay 33 billion won and 38.3 billion won, respectively, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), reports news agency.

The FTC said the three companies have allegedly monitored the net increase and decrease in MNP transfers on a daily basis to maintain a nearly equal distribution of switching customers between November 2015 and September 2022.

They regulated daily transfer numbers using sales incentives, or payments made to distribution networks and consumers switching carriers under MNP, to control market share and minimise competition.

The regulator noted that the companies had colluded to limit competition with each other in the NMP market, as the country's mobile subscription has been already saturated with virtually no new subscribers.

Yemen's Houthi group announced the resumption of attacks against Israeli ships in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea on Tuesday said in a statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV that the attacks were resumed to support the Palestinians and pressure Israel to reopen the border crossings for the entry of aid into Gaza.

On Friday, Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi issued a four-day ultimatum to Israel, demanding the allowance of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave, or his group would resume naval attacks, news agency reported.

The targeted attack of Jaffar Express passenger train by militants of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) at Mashkaf, Dhadar, Bolan, has now become a standoff between the security forces and the militants, who have taken over 100 passengers as hostages.

While BLA claims that it has taken at least 100 Pakistani military officials and personnel hostage after derailing the express train, Pakistani authorities said that the passenger train was carrying civilians and families, including women and children, who it says are under the custody of BLA militants after stopping the train in a tunnel.

"Terrorists have halted the train inside a tunnel to keep the hostages in control. Security forces have reached the area despite it being away from the roads. Terrorists are also in contact with their facilitators outside the country," stated sources in the security forces.