NEW DELHI -- The Indian government expelled a senior Canadian diplomat, asking him to leave the country within the next five days. The move came after Ottawa expelled an Indian diplomat for his alleged involvement in the killing of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar earlier this year.

An official statement issued by India's Ministry of External Affairs said that the decision reflected the Indian government's growing concern over the interference of Canadian diplomats in India's internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities. (India-Canada-Diplomat)

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BANGKOK -- Thailand received over 19 million foreign tourists between January and mid-September, representing a 271-percent year-on-year increase, official data showed.

As of last week, the Southeast Asian country earned more than 795 billion baht (about 22.08 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue from foreign visitors who were mainly from Malaysia, China, South Korea and India, according to data released by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. (Thailand-Tourism)

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NEW DELHI -- The Indian government introduced the legislation ensuring 33 percent reservation for women in the parliament's lower house Lok Sabha and all states' legislatures, local media reported.

The bill would mandate women's reservation for a period of 15 years after it becomes a law, with the parliament having the power to extend it further, and there would be 181 women lawmakers in Lok Sabha, out of the total 543 parliamentarians. (India-Parliament-Female Representation)

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KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia's exports were lower by 18.6 percent to 115.16 billion ringgit (24.54 billion U.S. dollars) in August on slower global demand and lower commodity prices, official data showed.

Malaysia's total trade for the month decreased by 19.8 percent to 213.01 billion ringgit, while its imports also edged down by 21.2 percent to 97.85 billion ringgit in August. For the January-August period, Malaysia's trade reduced by 8.1 percent to 1.72 trillion ringgit compared to the same period of last year. (Malaysia-Export-Trade)