HANOI -- Vietnam's GDP expanded 7.83 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, the National Statistics Office said Saturday.
The growth marked the highest first-quarter increase in the past 16 years, local daily VnExpress reported. (Vietnam-GDP)
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COLOMBO -- Sri Lanka will digitize the services in 21 cooperative-owned hospitals as part of a broader plan to modernize the country's healthcare system, according to a statement issued by the Department of Government Information on Saturday.
The statement said the main objective was to improve efficiency in patient care and streamline information management. (Sri Lanka-Health)
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JAKARTA -- Flooding in Demak regency, Indonesia's Central Java province, has forced around 3,000 residents to evacuate, with one person reported missing, the country's National Disaster Management Agency said on Saturday.
The disaster was triggered by heavy rainfall in upstream areas, which increased water discharge and caused embankments in Dukuh Solowere and Dukuh Selodoko to collapse, inundating nearby residential areas. (Indonesia- Flood)
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DHAKA -- A massive fire swept through a tin-shed factory manufacturing gas lighters in Keraniganj on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital Dhaka on Saturday afternoon, killing at least five people, an official said.
Anwarul Islam, an officer with the media wing of the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence, told journalists that "so far, five bodies have been recovered, burned beyond recognition." (Bangladesh-Fire) ■
