U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the United States would not leave Australia alone in the face of economic coercion from China, and that such behavior toward U.S. allies would hamper improvement in U.S.-Sino relations.

Taiwan's state-owned electricity monopoly Taipower on Friday blamed human error during a test for a power cut that affected some 4 million homes the day before, and said it would offer discounts worth almost $18 million to affected customers.

A top official suspended from his leadership role in South Africa's ruling African National Congress has taken President Cyril Ramaphosa to court in the latest twist to a bitter power struggle, an aide said on Friday.

If you need cash in Myanmar, you have to get up early. Queues start forming outside banks at 4 a.m., where the first 15 or 30 customers are given a plastic token that will allow them to enter the bank when it opens at 9:30 a.m. and withdraw cash, according to more than a dozen people who spoke to Reuters. 

A herd of eighteen wild Asiatic elephants were found dead in India's eastern state of Assam, possibly because of a massive lightning strike, local officials said on Friday.

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Palestinian militants fired more rockets into Israel's commercial heartland on Thursday as Israel kept up a punishing bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip and massed tanks and troops on the enclave's border.

(Corrects to remove reference to "investigators" in paragraph 15)

Individuals involved in a new eruption of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed may be targeted by an International Criminal Court investigation now under way into alleged war crimes in earlier bouts of the conflict, its top prosecutor said in an interview.

Taiwan reported a record rise in domestic COVID-19 cases on Friday with 29 new cases, as community transmissions in part of central Taipei spread and the government called for people to be tested.

BEIRUT/ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkey's Karpowership, which provides electricity to Lebanon from two barges, said on Friday it was shutting down supplies over payment arrears and a legal threat to its vessels as the nation grapples with a deep economic crisis.