The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a 3 million US dollar technical assistance project to enhance power sector reform in Laos, aiming to create a sustainable and reliable clean electricity supply in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

The project will also help pave the way for increased investment and private sector participation in renewable energy, News Agency reported on Thursday.

Laos has significant potential to scale renewable energy to generate revenue and mitigate climate change impacts, but it needs to promote private sector investment through sound macroeconomic management and structural reforms, said the report.

The country's energy sector is challenged by reform gaps and financial issues, hindering investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure, as well as the country's ability to meet regional energy transition goals.

Japan launched an H2A rocket carrying an information-gathering satellite on Thursday after two postponements due to bad weather.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said the rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Centre in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima at 02:24 p.m. local time, and the satellite was placed into its planned orbit.

The satellite is tasked to gather information concerning national security and assess damage during disasters, news agency reported.

The rocket carrying the Japanese government's eighth information-gathering radar satellite was initially planned to depart earlier this month but was postponed two times due to bad weather.

Indonesia's Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has captured four Philippine-flagged vessels and one Malaysian-flagged vessel with fishermen on board for allegedly fishing within the country's waters in the Pacific Ocean and the Malacca Strait, a senior official at the ministry reported on Thursday.

In a statement, the ministry's Director General of Marine Resources and Fisheries Supervision Pung Nugroho Saksono noted that the four Philippine-flagged vessels were seized separately on Friday and Saturday in the Pacific Ocean.

Over 30 individuals, including captains and crew members, were aboard these vessels when they were apprehended by the ministry's patrol boat in Indonesia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the official added, according to news agency.

The most important lesson from the China-US relationship is that the two countries should be partners, not rivals, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when meeting US representatives from the National Committee on United States-China Relations, the US-China Business Council, the US Chamber of Commerce, the Aspen Institute, the Asia Society, and the Council on Foreign Relations on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The US side needs to recognise that China also has the right to develop, Wang said, adding that China's development is an opportunity, not a challenge, for the United States and the world, news agency reported.

Despite persistent opposition at home and abroad, Japan on Thursday started its ninth round of release of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean.

The same as the previous rounds, about 7,800 tons of wastewater will be discharged from about a kilometer off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture via an underwater tunnel until October 14.

Hit by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and an ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima nuclear plant suffered core meltdowns that released radiation, resulting in a level-7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.

French President Emmanuel Macron has voiced strong support for India's inclusion as a permanent member of a reformed United Nations Security Council (UNSC), along with Germany, Japan, Brazil, and two African nations.

"Germany, Japan, India and Brazil should be permanent members, as well as two countries that Africa would designate to represent it. New elected members should also be admitted," Macron said while addressing the general debate at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York early Thursday, India time.

The French President stressed the need for reforms within the UN to make it more effective and representative, particularly in light of the challenges posed by the current structure of the Security Council.

The death toll from the record-breaking rainfall in Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture last weekend has risen to 11 after three more deaths were confirmed on Wednesday, local media reported.

A woman was confirmed dead on Wednesday after being found near a river, and two men were found dead along the coast in Wajima city later on the day, reports news agency, quoting public broadcaster NHK.

This brings the total number of deaths confirmed as a result of the heavy rain to 11, nine in Wajima city and two in Suzu city.

Authorities have also reported that two people in Suzu and Noto were still missing, while several others in Wajima remained unreachable.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared that Russia will achieve victory in the conflict with Ukraine, which he claims has been provoked by the West.

In an interview, Lavrov stressed that the West only responds to force, and Russia is unified in the face of this proxy war.

"The victory is necessary. They do not understand any other language. This victory will be ours, there is no doubt. We have truly united against the war the West has unleashed through Ukraine," Lavrov stated.

Lavrov also criticised the United States, accusing it of worsening global conflicts, including in Ukraine and Gaza.

The US, France and other allies have jointly called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire to facilitate negotiations in the intensifying conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which has claimed over 600 lives in Lebanon in recent days.

The appeal was made on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday by the US, Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and Qatar.

"The situation between Lebanon and Israel since October 8, 2023, is intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of broader regional escalation. This is in no one's interest, neither the people of Israel nor Lebanon," according to a joint statement of the countries.

Iraqi Shiite militia Kata'ib Hezbollah threatened to attack the presence of US forces if Israel assaults Iraq.

Abu Ali al-Askar, security leader of the Iranian-backed Shiite militia, said in a statement on Wednesday that the Iraqi airspace is witnessing intense activity by the United States and Israel, indicating "the possibility of a Zionist (Israeli) aggression against Iraq."

"Accordingly, the Kata'ib Hezbollah renews its warning that its response will not be limited to Israel only, but will include the entire US presence," the statement said.

Al-Askar also called on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a Shiite militia group, to increase the number and scale of their operations and the level of threat to Israel, reports news agency.