Asia

Malaysia will close all schools in Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Putrajaya on Tuesday, plus four districts of Selangor and two of Pahang, as unhealthy air returned to 23 monitoring stations. Our tables list the closures and the worst readings.

The IMF and World Bank annual meetings opened in Bangkok on Monday, the first in Thailand since 1991. Our day-by-day table shows what is coming, from the World Economic Outlook on Tuesday to Georgieva’s press conference and the Bangkok Blueprint on fraud.

Americans Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford won the 2026 economics Nobel “for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation”. We explain their work, and why it matters to Asian central banks such as the RBI, which raised rates last week.

India beat West Indies in Indore, the INDIA bloc marches to the Supreme Court, Tim Cook is back in China, Japan’s push on the UN “enemy state” clauses strains ties with Beijing, the IMF and World Bank meet in Bangkok, haze returns in Malaysia and a flash flood hits Nepal.

All 22 Indian crew of the tanker MT Gem No. 2 were rescued off Ras Al Khaimah on Sunday, India’s consulate in Dubai said. We list at least eight incidents at sea in eight days and the ships on which Indian sailors have been killed or hurt this year.

On his first China trip since handing over as Apple CEO, Tim Cook told Guangdong’s governor that Apple is willing to expand in the province. Our table compares China’s and India’s shares of iPhone production, which have shifted by nine points in a year.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is pressing to delete the World War II “enemy state” clauses from the UN Charter, and Kyodo says the campaign may deepen the rift with China. We explain what the clauses say, why they survive, and why any deletion needs China’s consent.

Twenty-seven years after Pervez Musharraf seized power, Islamabad has again taken over a province, this time under the Constitution. Our History Desk traces four coups, a string of emergencies and governor’s rule from 1958 to the 2026 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa emergency, with our own count of the years under military rule.

Schools under four district education offices in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor will be shut on Monday because of the haze, and all of Johor’s schools stay closed until Friday. Schools in the rest of Malaysia reopen. Our table shows how the closures have narrowed since October 9.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi wrapped up a six-day Asian tour in Jakarta on Sunday after visits to Seoul and Putrajaya. He launched trade-pact talks with South Korea, upgraded ties with Malaysia and signed four agreements with Indonesia. Our table compares the three legs.

Floods still affect more than 3.1 million people in 21 Thai provinces and Bangkok as the IMF and World Bank annual meetings open in the capital on Monday. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered agencies to prepare evacuations before new floods arrive. Our tables track the toll and the rain warnings.

President Asif Ali Zardari approved the federal cabinet’s advice to impose an emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution. PTI says Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has been arrested; officials have not confirmed it. What the Constitution requires next.