A fire tore through a slum in southern Bangladesh on Sunday killing at least 9 people and destroying hundreds of shanty homes, police said.

Boosted by growing demand from China, sales of Cuban cigars reached a record $537 million in 2018, a seven percent increase over the previous year despite global laws against tobacco, the partially state-owned Habanos said Monday.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a raft of investment deals Sunday worth up to $20 billion for the cash-strapped South Asian country, as Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman launched his Asia tour seeking to emerge from the Khashoggi affair.

Qatar wants to build a $20 billion sports industry by 2022 as it seeks to develop new markets amid regional political tensions, an economic official in the emirate said Sunday.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize last autumn after being requested to do so by Washington, a Japanese newspaper reported Sunday.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Friday he was "optimistic" about organising the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with 48 teams instead of 32 but warned that it would be "not easy".