SYDNEY -- Asian stocks sagged to one-month lows on Tuesday with the heaviest selling in Japan and South Korea's tech-driven markets as earnings at chipmaker Nvidia loom later in the week as a test for valuations across the sector.

PARIS -- France's Louvre Museum on Monday closed a gallery hosting Greek vases and office spaces as its structures designed in the 1930s are in a dire state, the world's most visited museum said, less than a month after a daring heist exposed its vulnerabilities.

TOKYO -- The Japan National Tourism Organization said Tuesday that the estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan in October surged 17.6 pct from a year earlier to 3,896,300, marking a record high for the month.

Bridget Jones has joined the likes of Mary Poppins, Harry Potter and other beloved film characters with her own statue in London's Leicester Square.

Dulux paint maker AkzoNobel said on Tuesday that it plans to merge with paintmaker Axalta Coating Systems in a deal that will create a combined company with an enterprise value of $25 billion.

Shares of South Korean entertainment firm The Pinkfong Company, producer of the popular children's song «Baby Shark,» surged more than 60% in their market debut on Tuesday.

A delegation of senior leaders from 26 Chinese corporations and companies, all headed by members of the Pei (Bui in Vietnamese) family clan, has proposed a wide range of cooperation projects with Ho Chi Minh City, from a China-Vietnam industrial park specializing in green construction materials to waste treatment, tourism, and healthcare.

Highlands Coffee, the largest coffee chain in Vietnam by store count, reported its strongest third-quarter profit in two years thanks to rising same-store sales and prepares for a future initial public offering (IPO).

SEOUL -- South Korea pledged Monday to phase out coal power plants that lack emission-reducing measures, an ambitious step for a country that generates a third of its electricity from the fossil fuel.

WASHINGTON - The United States will expedite visas for foreign visitors with tickets to FIFA World Cup matches taking place next year in 11 U.S. cities, President Donald Trump said on Monday.

Vietnam and Kuwait agreed to upgrade their 49-year relationship to a strategic partnership and aim for two-way trade of up to US$15 billion by 2030 during talks between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah in Kuwait City on Monday.

New Zealand’s highest court sided on Monday with a lower court’s ruling that drivers of Uber who brought a case against the rideshare company should be treated as employees, a decision that could pave the way for collective bargaining.

Samsung Electronics this month raised prices of certain memory chips - now in short supply due to the global race to build AI data centres - by as much as 60% compared to September, two people with knowledge of the hikes said.

The Ministry of Public Security has filed criminal charges against Le Trung Khoa and an accomplice for allegedly producing, storing, and disseminating information, documents, and materials deemed to oppose the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Charoen Pokphand Foods, or CP Foods (CPF), the Thai agricultural and food conglomerate and parent company of C.P. Vietnam, has reported its third-quarter and nine-month business results for 2025, recording revenue from Vietnam at only 22.8 billion baht (US$703 million) in the quarter, a steep 20-percent year-on-year drop.

In a gym in Ho Chi Minh City, the sight has become familiar: a young man balancing on one leg as he deadlifts, runs, and performs pull-ups with remarkable precision.

SINGAPORE -- The derivatives arm of Singapore Exchange (SGX) (SGXL.SI) said on Monday that it would launch bitcoin and ether cryptocurrency perpetual futures trading on its platform.

A project developing oversized crabs, known as ‘sumo’ crabs, drew strong attention at the 2025 Ca Mau Startup Competition in Ca Mau, the southernmost province of Vietnam, as it aims to reverse broodstock decline and boost the size of local farmed crabs.

Central Vietnam is experiencing continuous heavy rains, with total rainfall from late Sunday through Wednesday likely to exceed 850mm, while river levels in Hue City continue rising, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

International flights to Da Nang City, central Vietnam are expected to surge over the next three months, with services from South Korea projected to account for some 35 percent of total arrivals, according to Da Nang International Airport.

Japan's economy shrank almost 2% in the three months through September, as a drop in exports in the face of U.S. tariffs resulted in the first contraction in six quarters, government data showed on Monday.

Torrential downpours have caused severe flooding at Du Long Industrial Park in Thuan Bac Commune in Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam, sidelining over 6,000 workers.

MILAN, Italy -- Norway qualified for the 2026 World Cup on Sunday after a 4-1 win away to Italy in their final qualifying match, condemning the hosts, who have missed out on the last two editions of the tournament, to the playoffs.

Truong Hai Group Corporation (THACO) has submitted an updated capital structure to Vietnam's business registration management agency, revealing that more than 100 foreign investors hold stakes in the company.

Heavy rain caused severe flooding in mountainous parts of Hue City in central Vietnam on Sunday afternoon, blocking sections of the Ho Chi Minh Highway and triggering landslides that cut off several villages and raised the risk of further slope failures.

TOKYO -- The opening ceremony for the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics was held Saturday in the capital of Japan, which hosts the quadrennial international sporting event for people with hearing difficulties for the first time.

Good morning from Vietnam!

A growing wave of international airlines is expanding routes and upgrading services in Vietnam, creating both cooperation opportunities and competitive pressure for local carriers as the global aviation market accelerates after the pandemic recovery.

A Japanese team secured second place in Category A of the 2025 Cybersecurity Student Competition held in Vietnam on Saturday, behind the Vietnamese champions, while an Indonesian squad received a consolation award in Category B, according to results announced the same evening.

Bi Rain ignited the opening night of the 'Waterbomb' water music festival in Ho Chi Minh City with a high-energy 30-minute set, thrilling thousands of fans as he danced powerfully under water effects and surprised the crowd by taking off his shirt to reveal a remarkably toned physique at age 43.

The 2025 Green Vietnam Festival opened in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday, drawing thousands of participants who brought used cartons, plastic bottles, and small batteries for recycling, in a sign that more consumers are gradually adopting greener daily habits.

The U.S. has pledged an additional US$500,000 in emergency aid to help Vietnam recover from storms Fengshen and Kalmaegi, which recently hit the country's central provinces, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi said on Thursday.

Vietnam and the United States made significant headway on multiple technical issues during the fifth round of in-person negotiations on a bilateral reciprocal trade agreement held in Washington, D.C., from November 12 to 14, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.

GSM and VinBus, part of billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong's Vingroup ecosystem, launched School Bus as Vietnam's first specialized electric school transport service this week.

Crowds drifted between booths piled with recycled gifts, green products, and interactive games at the 2025 Green Vietnam Festival, which commenced at Ho Chi Minh City’s Youth Culture House on Saturday, proving that the fair has quickly become a trusted destination for residents eager to practice sustainable living.