CANBERRA -- The Australian government has announced that it will not send a warship to the Red Sea but will deploy additional troops to the region.

Richard Marles, the minister for defence, on Thursday said the Australian government had denied a request from the United States for military hardware to help protect shipping lanes in the Red Sea following attacks from Yemen's Houthi militia on commercial vessels in the area. (Australia-US-Red Sea-Warship)

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HANOI -- Vietnam will lift regional minimum salary for laborers by 6 percent next year, local media reported on Wednesday.

The National Wage Council gave the green light to the increase and will submit it to the government for approval. If approved, the regional minimum wage increase will take effect on July 1, 2024. (Vietnam-Salary-Increase)

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MEXICO CITY -- Hurricane Otis has killed 52 and left 32 missing in Mexico, Governor of Guerrero state, Evelyn Salgado, said Wednesday.

The category 5 hurricane hit Mexico's southern Pacific coast on Oct. 25, inflicting severe damage to hotels and housing infrastructure of Acapulco and Coyuca de Benitez. (Mexico-Otis)

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SYDNEY -- Australia's Sydney said on Thursday it has awarded 1.5 million Australian dollars (1 million U.S. dollars) in grants to 12 organizations to help get food and essential items to struggling inner city residents over the next year.

"Local food relief organizations report that demand for food relief is now higher than during the pandemic, with people forgoing food to pay for housing and health services," Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore was quoted as saying in a media release. (Australia-Sydney-Food Relief)