Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and food delivery firm Grab has called off plans to acquire a Singapore taxi company, the city-state's competition watchdog said Thursday.

A passenger plane crashed on takeoff in Kathmandu on Wednesday, with the pilot rescued from the flaming wreckage but all 18 others aboard killed, police in the Nepali capital told AFP.

Stock markets were mixed Tuesday as investors struggled to extend a surge on Wall Street, where the tech sector bounced back after last week's losses, while attention turned to the upcoming release of key US inflation data.

More than 500 people, including some opposition leaders, have been arrested in Dhaka over violence that has wracked Bangladesh and killed 163 people since students started protesting against civil service hiring rules, police said Monday.

Thousands flocked to a coastal town in western Indonesia Sunday to watch a clash between ornate mythical effigies before they are cast into the sea, in a centuries-old ritual born from a Shiite holy day of mourning.

Flash floods in northern and southwest China have killed at least 20 people and left dozens missing, state media said Saturday, after a week of deadly downpours across the country.