KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's wholesale and retail trade recorded a monthly sales value of 136 billion ringgit (29.45 billion U.S. dollars) in April, growing 6.3 percent year-on-year, official data showed Monday.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that the growth was attributed to the retail trade sub-sector, which increased 12.9 percent to 60.5 billion ringgit, supported by retail sales in non-specialized stores.

PHNOM PENH, Jun 12 (NNN-AKP) – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Cambodia, today, donated seven million U.S. dollars’ worth of medical equipment for oxygen therapy to Cambodia, officials said.

The handover ceremony was held in Phnom Penh, between Will Parks, UNICEF representative in Cambodia, and Youk Sambath, secretary of state for Cambodia’s Ministry of Health.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Pakistani government on Monday welcomed the arrival of the first shipment of discounted crude from Russia under a key deal between Islamabad and Moscow.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif hailed it as a “fulfillment of promises” to the nation while Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb tweeted that it marked a “true service” for the people.

BENGALURU, June 12 (Reuters) - India's outsourcing giants are slashing hiring and getting projects done with existing workers, a rare pullback that could weigh on the economy and affect engineering students who have seen information technology as the sector of choice for decades.

The slowdown, triggered by global uncertainty in demand, is unprecedented in an industry that is one of the biggest hirers in India's services sector since the 1990s and provides an assured career path and prosperity to hundreds of thousands of students each year.

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin is certain that patriotism was bequeathed to Russians by their ancestors and is a sacrosanct heritage for today's generations.

ROME (AP) — Adored, scorned, impossible to ignore in life, former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi in death drew tributes even from his critics, and ever more lavish praise from admirers, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as prayers from Pope Francis.

Following word of Berlusconi’s death on Monday in a Milan hospital, where he was being treated for chronic leukemia, reaction poured in from around the world, from national leaders to announcers who burst into tears on one of his television networks, for the populist three-time premier and media mogul.

BEIRUT, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati Monday called on the UN peacekeeping forces to pressure Israel to stop violations of Lebanon's sovereignty and the bulldozing works within Lebanese territories.

Mikati made the appeal during a meeting with Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, chief of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), at the Grand Serail in Beirut, according to a statement by Lebanon's Council of Ministers.

WELLINGTON, Jun 12 (NNN-XINHUA) – Marine heatwaves have become longer, stronger, and more frequent across coastal New Zealand since 1982, especially over the last 10 years, according to a research today.

Different regions experienced more marine heatwaves in different seasons, with the greatest increases observed in the Chatham islands in winter, central New Zealand in autumn, north-eastern New Zealand in summer and autumn, and Bounty and Antipodes Islands in spring, according to the research published on the New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research.

Kurukshetra, Jun 12 (PTI) A large number of farmers gathered at Pipli in this district on Monday to attend a mahapanchayat being held to press for minimum support price for sunflower seed and other demands.

Apart from leaders of various khaps and Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait, Olympic medal-winning wrestler Bajrang Punia, one of the grapplers who have been demanding action against outgoing Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, were present at the mahapanchayat.

11 June 2023; MEMO: The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced Saturday that a new visa entry system has been initiated for Sudanese wishing to enter, Anadolu reports.

The decision came as the number of Sudanese fleeing ongoing fighting in Sudan has reached more than 200,000 since mid-April.

"These measures aim to set an organisational framework for that process after more than 50 days since the outbreak of the crisis," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement.

Thane, Jun 12 (PTI) Maharashtra's Thane police was on Monday granted transit remand by a local court to take Shahnawaz Khan, the prime accused in an Uttar Pradesh case allegedly involving religious conversion of youngsters through an online gaming app, to Ghaziabad, an official said.

Khan, who hails from Mumbra township here, was arrested from a relative's place in Alibag in Raigad district on Sunday, the official said.

"He is being taken to Ghaziabad from Thane by road," the police official said.

11 June 2023; MEMO: At least 28 people, including women and children, died after heavy rains battered parts of Pakistan on Saturday, local media reported, Anadolu reports.

At least 145 others were also injured due to the rains in some parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, according to Geo News broadcaster.

At least 69 houses were also partially damaged by the rain, it added.