Here are a few stories from around Asia you may have missed this week.
Bangladesh's President Mohammed Shahabuddin administers the oath of office to Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus (right), as the head of Bangladesh's interim government, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. /CFP
Bangladesh's Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus was sworn in as the head of the country's caretaker government on Thursday, three days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country. Yunus, 84, returned to Dhaka earlier on Thursday from Paris, where he had been undergoing medical treatment. "The country has the possibility of becoming a very beautiful nation," Yunus told reporters at the airport. He will serve as the chief adviser in the interim government, tasked with holding fresh elections.
A modified Long March-6 carrier rocket carrying 18 satellites blasts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province, August 6, 2024. /CFP
China launched 18 satellites into space on Tuesday from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province. The satellites were launched at 2:42 p.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a modified Long March-6 carrier rocket and have entered their preset orbits. They represent the first batch of a series of satellites that will be used to establish China's "Thousand Sails Constellation" or "G60 Starlink," the nation's version of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet constellation. Upon completion, this constellation is expected to aid in disaster prevention and reduction, mobile technology development, and other sectors.
Media members observe the stock quotation board at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo, Japan, August 6, 2024. /Reuters
Japanese stocks collapsed on Monday in their biggest single-day rout since the infamous 1987 Black Monday sell-offs. The collapse on August 5 was driven by last week's plunge in global stock markets, economic concerns, and worries that investments funded by a cheap yen were being unwound. The Nikkei share average, the main stock market index for the Japanese stock market, plummeted by a devastating 12.4 percent, exacerbated by last Friday's disappointing job numbers from the U.S., heightening fears of a possible recession. This was the index's worst performance in percentage terms since the October 1987 crash. However, the Nikkei index managed to recover by Wednesday.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaks during a business lunchon at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on June 20, 2024. /CFP
Malaysian civil servants may receive up to a 42.7 percent pay hike, said Malaysia's Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil on Wednesday. "Starting next week, we will have a better general outlook of the salary increase, which is expected to be between 15 percent and 42.7 percent," he added. Fahmi said lower-grade civil servants will receive the highest increments. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had announced the hike in May.
Former Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, arrives at the Constitutional Court, Bangkok, Thailand. 2024 August 07. /CFP
Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of the opposition party Move Forward, ruling its campaign to amend a law that protects the monarchy from criticism risked undermining the democratic system. Move Forward was the largest force in parliament until the court dissolved the party on Wednesday. Hours after the ruling, Move Forward's leaders announced that the surviving 143 lawmakers would form a new party.
(Cover: Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus arriving to be sworn into office to lead Bangladesh's interim government as its chief adviser, in Dhaka on August 8, 2024. /CFP)