NEW DELHI -- India on Thursday responded to Pakistan's decision to downgrade bilateral ties, saying the decision was "not supported by facts on the ground."

A press release issued by India's Ministry of External Affairs said "the government of India regrets the steps announced by Pakistan yesterday and would urge that country to review them so that normal channels for diplomatic communications are preserved." (India-Pakistan-Ties)

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MUMBAI -- Parts of western India, including Mahabaleshwar and Tamhini Ghats, received record rainfall over the past week, during which 16 people were killed and 140,000 people in five districts of the western state of Maharashtra were evacuated.

According to officials in India Meteorological Department, Tamhini Ghats recorded 5,939 mm of rainfall while Mahabaleshwar recorded 5,755 mm of rainfall from June 1 to Aug. 6. (India-Flood)

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KHOST, Afghanistan -- Two consecutive explosions injured at least nine people including two police personnel in Khost city, capital of Afghanistan's eastern Khost province on Thursday, provincial police spokesman Haider Adil said.

The first blast, with a magnetic mine, targeted a car at around 11:20 a.m. local time next to Spin Jumat locality. The second one went off a few minutes later, almost in the same area, injuring nine people including two police personnel, Adil said. (Afghanistan-Bomb)

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SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday that uncertainty would last over Japan's export curbs on South Korea despite Tokyo's first approval of a chip material to Seoul since its tighter export control of such materials in early July.

Moon said during a meeting of the presidential National Economic Advisory Council that despite the first approval by Japan, what was unchanged was a fact that "uncertainty is still alive." (S.Korea-Japan-Ties)

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KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia has benefited from the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and is looking forward to more cooperation in trade and investment, officials said here Thursday.

The BRI is an economic initiative formulated by China to enhance its connectivity with the world, Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said while addressing the Malaysia-China Belt and Road Economic Cooperation Forum. (Malaysia-China-BRI) Enditem

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