TOKYO: The Japan Football Association (JFA) has been informally approached about the possibility of replacing China as hosts of next year's Asian Cup, chairman Kozo Tashima told Nikkan Sports.

NATO received formal membership bids from Finland and Sweden as Russia’s war in Ukraine reshapes European defence, but the Nordic nations must first overcome opposition from Turkey.

Thailand's industries sentiment index dropped to a five-month low in April, hit by higher production costs as Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushed up the price of energy and raw materials, an industries group said on Wednesday.

UK inflation rose to its highest level since Margaret Thatcher was prime minister 40 years ago, adding to pressure for action from the government and central bank.

ROME: Thirty years ago, the Sicilian mafia killed judge Giovanni Falcone with a bomb so powerful it was registered by experts monitoring volcanic tremors from Etna on the other side of the island.

TOKYO: Japanese giant Sony brought forward its deadline for reaching carbon neutrality by a decade on Wednesday, saying it is now targeting net-zero emissions across its business by 2040.

The number of confirmed new cases rose on Tuesday after five days of steady decreases, and the coronavirus-related death toll was also up, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported on Wednesday.

US President Joe Biden will launch a long-awaited economic initiative for increasing US involvement in Asia in the coming days during his trip to the region, according to one of the cabinet officials leading the initiative.

KHON KAEN: Four Cambodian monks were arrested at a temple in Muang district on Tuesday night and expelled from the monkhood after they were found to have entered the country illegally.

KYIV: Ukraine was seeking to evacuate the last soldiers holed up at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol on Wednesday, its president said, as the first war crimes trial of a Russian soldier since the invasion began was set to get under way in Kyiv.