Seoul's top diplomat on Wednesday urged the need for democratic and advanced countries like South Korea and Australia to support and cooperate with the G7 economic powers. Foreign Minister Park Jin made the remarks at a conference hosted by the NEAR Foundation, an independent think-tank specialising in Northeast Asia, calling on "advanced democratic countries" to play their roles so that the international society moves toward the path of freedom, democracy and other universal values.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday that it has approved a $250 million loan to improve Indonesia's flood management capacity. The Manila-based bank said the financial project will help reduce flood risk in the northern coastal area of Java island and strengthen the local community's socio-economic resilience.

Amid El Nino-induced drought, Zimbabwe's capital city Harare has shut down a water treatment plant because of depleted water supply in reservoirs, an official of the city council said. The Prince Edward Water Treatment Plant has been shut due to depleted raw water in the supply dams of Harava and Seke," said the Harare council.

A 5.2 magnitude earthquake jolted Mindanao island in Philippines on Wednesday, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said. The quake that hit the island at 0155 GMT was epicentreed 8.67 degrees north latitude and 126.69 degrees east longitude.

A Japanese taxi driver has been arrested on suspicion of violating the country's wildlife protection law for running over and killing a pigeon on a street in Tokyo, police said on Tuesday. The 50-year-old male driver was taken into custody on suspicion of driving into a flock of pigeons in November and killing one of the birds in Shinjuku Ward, quoted the Metropolitan Police Department as saying.

At least six people, including four children, were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion near a school in Pakistan's Peshawar city on Tuesday, officials said. Naveed Akhtar, district emergency officer of the state-run Rescue 1122, told that the IED went off on the roadside near the Peshawar Public School at around 9.10 a.m.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday decided to keep the cash rate target on hold at 4.35 per cent, after raising the rate by 25 basis points last month. Following a monetary policy meeting, RBA Governor Michele Bullock said in a statement that holding the cash rate steady at this meeting would allow time to assess the impact of the increases in interest rates on demand, inflation and the labour market.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday said that year-on-year inflation in the country further eased to 4.1 per cent in November, the lowest since March 2022, mainly due to lower food prices. The November inflation rate, down from 4.9 per cent in October, brought the national average inflation from January to November this year to 6.2 per cent. In November 2022, the inflation rate was higher at 8 per cent.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday said that year-on-year inflation in the country further eased to 4.1 per cent in November, the lowest since March 2022, mainly due to lower food prices. The November inflation rate, down from 4.9 per cent in October, brought the national average inflation from January to November this year to 6.2 per cent. In November 2022, the inflation rate was higher at 8 per cent.

Eight people have been hospitalised after being exposed to chemicals at a facility in US state of Texas, authorities said. A shelter-in-place order was issued for residents in the city of La Porte on Monday following reports of a chemical emergency at the Altivia Chemicals' plant. The city's Office of Emergency Management reported no detectable amounts of hazardous products near or downwind of the Altivia facility.