Four people drowned after a boat carrying migrants and refugees sank off the coast of the Greek island of Kos in the Aegean Sea, according to state media.

The victims were identified as two women and two children, news agency reported.

A rescue operation is underway and the Hellenic Coast Guard has reported that 26 people have already been rescued.

The exact number of passengers on board at the time of the incident remains unclear.

Since 2015, Greece has been one of the key entry points for irregular flows of refugees and migrants into the European Union, particularly from the south.

The mayor of a small town in south Mexico's Oaxaca state has died after being stabbed due to "interpersonal" conflict , local authorities said.

The victim became the second mayor killed in the country in less than 10 days, after Alejandro Arcos, mayor of Chilpancingo, capital of southern Guerrero state, was murdered on October 6 just days after taking office, news agency reported.

Roman Ruiz, the mayor of Candelaria Loxicha with a population of 11,166, was stabbed to death as a result of an "interpersonal" conflict, the Oaxaca State Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday on X.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has strongly condemned a deadly Israeli airstrike on tents of displaced persons near a hospital compound in the central Gaza Strip.

He made the remarks on Tuesday in a statement released by the Ministry, describing the attack "using incendiary bomb" as a complete example of a "war crime" and part of the "genocide plot" against Palestinians.

Baghaei stressed that targeting civilians and civilian facilities, especially hospitals and relief and medical centers, was prohibited during conflicts, news agency reported.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is looking to expand the budget to fund inflation relief measures to support struggling households ahead of the upcoming general election, local media reported on Tuesday.

The size of an extra budget to be compiled to fund a fresh set of inflation relief measures will likely exceed 13 trillion yen (about $87 billion), Ishiba said at a campaign stop in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture in northeastern Japan.

"We will aim to enact a large budget that will exceed the previous year's extra budget after putting together necessary measures," Ishiba said.

The government's new economic package will come as households continue to struggle with rising prices of everyday goods, with inflation outpacing wage growth, reports.

Representatives from the Lao central bank, the Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL), and local financial institutions gathered in the Lao capital, Vientiane, on Tuesday for training on green finance, aiming to strengthen understanding and implementation of sustainable financial practices.

The training aimed to develop a Laos green finance taxonomy, establish guidelines for green lending, integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk management, and set up a framework for thematic bond issuance, reports.

These initiatives are designed to align with ASEAN and international standards.

Deputy Governor of the BOL, Soulivath Souvannachoumkham, said that the training is a significant step toward building a greener and more inclusive economy.

Evaluation instruments to better guide Malaysia's investment policy are being developed to maintain the country's momentum as a major investment destination for key industries, a Malaysian official said on Tuesday.

Such instruments or "scorecard" will be aligned with the country's National Investment Aspirations (NIA) policy, which is composed of six pillars, namely increasing economic complexity, creating high-value jobs, extending domestic linkages, developing new economic clusters and improving inclusivity, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG), Malaysian Investment, Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Liew Chin Tong said in his keynote speech at the Securities Commission-World Bank Conference 2024.

Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos on Tuesday stressed the need to increase investments, develop financing mechanisms, and ensure inclusivity to reduce disaster risk in the Asia-Pacific region.

In his speech at the 2024 Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) opening ceremony, Marcos highlighted the importance of "sustained and predictable data and financing", adding that such resources should be accessed by those economically challenged and disaster-prone.

Marcos said the Philippines, at the heart of the Pacific Ring of Fire, is highly susceptible to natural hazards, including tropical cyclones, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, as reported by news agency.

About 2,000 female security officers currently serve in Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior, local media reported.

"No employee or member of the Ministry of Interior, especially female police officers, will face any personal or official threats due to their duties in the previous administration," said Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the ministry.

According to Qani, most female officers work in the ministry's service and inspection departments, reports.

A few months back, a Taliban-led Afghan government announced the ratification of 'Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice', with 35 articles detailing significant restrictions on the Afghan population with arbitrary and potentially severe enforcement mechanisms.

A Bruneian man lost his life in a highway accident in the country, local media reported.

The accident happened on Monday along the Telisai-Kuala Belait highway in Brunei, involving a sedan and a lorry. Police personnel were immediately dispatched to the scene, reports.

It is believed that the victim was standing beside his vehicle, which had stopped at the side of the highway when the accident occurred.

The police are continuing their investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident, according to the report.

Earlier on July 20, a member of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces died after his high-powered motorcycle collided with a vehicle during a convoy at KM39 on Jalan Keningau-Tambunan.

Tokyo stocks rose on Tuesday, with the key stock index rising for the fourth straight day on overnight Wall Street gains and a weak yen.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, gained 0.77 per cent, or 304.75 points, to close at 39,910.55.

During intraday trading, the Nikkei briefly exceeded the 40,000 mark for the first time in nearly three months, a level last seen on July 19.

The rise was supported by gains in US stocks during Japan's holiday and a weaker yen against the US dollar, which bolstered risk appetite among overseas investors, news agency reported.