Vietnam’s National Assembly last month approved plans to hike taxes on alcohol from 65% to 90% by 2031, a major step in the government’s efforts to curb harmful consumption habits.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Taliban leaders, Haibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, for alleged persecution of girls and women in Afghanistan.

New World Bank data shows India’s Gini Index, a key measure of income inequality, improved from 28.8 in 2011–12 to 25.5 in 2022–23, ranking India fourth globally for income equality, ahead of the US and China.

China has strongly denounced President Trump’s threat to impose tariffs of up to 70 per cent on imports from key East Asian nations, including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia.

A suicide bomber attacked a military convoy near Gadani, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, close to the Indian border, killing six soldiers and injuring several others.

Air India has suspended select long-haul flights and reduced frequencies following a fatal crash involving a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, which killed 241 people on board and around 30 on the ground.