Here are a few stories from around Asia you may have missed this week.

Scientists find possible artefacts of oldest known prehistoric humans in Indonesia

Scientists on Indonesia's Sulawesi island this week discovered a series of stone tools that could be evidence of humans living 1.5 million years ago on islands between Asia and Australia, making them the earliest known humans in the Wallacea region. Wallacea is a part of Eastern Indonesia that includes several islands such as Sulawesi, Lombok, Flores, Timor and Sumbawa, located between Borneo, Java, Australia and New Guinea. 

Archaeologists from Australia and Indonesia uncovered small, chipped tools used for cutting small animals and carving rocks, buried in the soil around Soppeng in South Sulawesi. Radioactive dating of these tools and the teeth of animals found nearby suggests they are as old as 1.48 million years.

Bangladesh dengue deaths top 100, outbreak could be worse in August

Bangladesh is seeing a surge in dengue cases and deaths, with health experts warning that August could bring an even worse outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease if urgent action isn't taken. 

Dengue has killed 101 people and infected 24,183 so far in 2025, official data shows, putting a heavy load on the country's already overstretched healthcare system. A sharp increase in fatalities has come with the rise in cases. Nineteen people have already died of dengue so far in August, after 41 deaths in July.

DPRK 'not willing' to remove border loudspeakers

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has never removed loudspeakers along the border with the Republic of Korea and is not willing to do so, according to a report from the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday, citing a senior official. 

The statement was made by Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It criticized Seoul for spreading misleading public narratives claiming that the DPRK has removed the loudspeakers installed in the southern border area and for creating an impression that relations are being "restored."

(Cover: Stone tools are pictured at the site where archaeologists from Australia and Indonesia found small, chipped tools, used to cut little animals and carve rocks, which scientists say may be evidence of humans living there 1.5 million years ago, in Soppeng, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia, August 6, 2025. /Reuters)