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This Week in Asia

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Vietnamese President To Lam before their talks at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Politics

Vietnam, India seek closer ties to hedge against dependence on superpowers

President To Lam’s agenda during his visit to New Delhi is expected to include a deal for Vietnam to buy India’s BrahMos missiles.

‘I started crying’: Indonesian captain’s wife in agony over pirate attack

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What the BJP’s historic West Bengal victory means for Modi’s India

Economics

Malaysia seeks to charge 2 over US$278 million Arm semiconductor deal

Ex-economy minister Rafizi Ramli, who is questioned by the MACC, previously pitched the deal as key to the Malaysian chip sector’s future.

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Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Rene Haas, CEO of chip tech provider Arm attend an event where Anwar announced the multi-million deal with Arm in Kuala Lumpur in March last year. Photo: Reuters
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Rene Haas, CEO of chip tech provider Arm attend an event where Anwar announced the multi-million deal with Arm in Kuala Lumpur in March last year. Photo: Reuters

Economics

Can Indonesia turn holiday island Bali into a global financial hub?

Having a financial centre on the island will help boost national economic competitiveness, officials say.

Lifestyle & Culture

Japan’s hikikomori recluses are growing old. So are their carers

What happens to more than 1 million social recluses in the world’s fastest-ageing society when the last person who cared for them is gone?

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Lifestyle & Culture

Art of the steal: Malaysia unveils recovered 1MDB masterpieces

A Picasso and a Miro are among four works on show, representing a fraction of the US$4.5 billion looted from Malaysia’s 1MDB fund.

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Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Azam Baki (second from right) inspects Joan Miro’s “Composition” (1953) at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya on Wednesday. Photo: Iman Muttaqin Yusof
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Azam Baki (second from right) inspects Joan Miro’s “Composition” (1953) at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya on Wednesday. Photo: Iman Muttaqin Yusof

Politics

Bound by anxiety: Japan and Australia deepen ties for an uneasy age

Shared concerns about trade coercion and energy shocks are driving the two middle powers to ‘institutionalise’ their partnership.

People

South Korean judge in Kim Keon-hee’s appeals trial found dead days after verdict

Shin Jong-oh, who was found with severe injuries on the ground near the Seoul High Court, had a suicide note in his pocket, police say.

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Politics

Hiding from the ICC? Philippine senator’s 6-month paid absence draws fire

Ronald Dela Rosa has not appeared for work since reports of him being targeted by the ICC as a co-perpetrator in Duterte’s deadly drug war.

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Philippine former national police chief and now Senator Ronald Dela Rosa tries a semi-automatic rifle during a defence and sporting show in Pasay City in 2023. Photo: AFP

Politics

Why Japanese politician’s goal to reset ties with Russia is ‘a long shot’

A proposed meeting of foreign ministers from Tokyo and Moscow is unlikely for now due to objections from the Japanese public and allies.

Honour guards hold the national flags of Japan and Russia before a welcome ceremony for then Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu in Tokyo in 2019. Photo: AFP
Honour guards hold the national flags of Japan and Russia before a welcome ceremony for then Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu in Tokyo in 2019. Photo: AFP

Economics

Lawrence Wong warned of ‘storm clouds’ for Singapore. Was it an understatement?

Wong and his team have to prove they are ‘more than equal’ to the task of helping Singapore navigate coming headwinds, analysts say.

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Politics

Philippine VP’s impeachment case heads to plenary vote amid coercion claims

Duterte-Carpio’s camp has accused administration allies of pressuring legislators to support the impeachment or risk withdrawal of funds.

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Economics

Course correction: Indonesia reshapes ride-hailing sector with state power

The new commission scheme shows the state’s support for ride-hailing drivers, but may not necessarily boost their incomes, observers say.

Gojek riders wait for their delivery orders at a distribution centre in Surabaya, Indonesia. Photo: AFP

Lifestyle & Culture

Japan army unit’s gun-toting AI-generated elephant logo gets trampled by critics

Officers created the logo using ChatGPT based on the ‘elephant’, ‘cool’, ‘blue flame’, and ‘mammoth’ keywords, a media report says.

A patch of Japan’s 1st Infantry Regiment was withdrawn after an uproar over its design deemed as out of place with the image of the country’s military. Photo: X
A patch of Japan’s 1st Infantry Regiment was withdrawn after an uproar over its design deemed as out of place with the image of the country’s military. Photo: X

Health & Environment

Knives out: sea robbery fears stalk Southeast Asia’s busiest straits

Opportunistic nighttime raids in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore are testing security in a vital maritime chokepoint.

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Health & Environment

Malaysia warns of health risks from heatwave, 2 deaths recorded this year

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has ordered cloud-seeding operations to be carried out in the worst-affected states.

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Politics

From Malaysia’s book bans to Iran war, Anwar’s reform agenda faces sternest test

Anwar’s government has tilted to the right in recent years in a move to win the support of Malay voters, analysts say.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim attends a bilateral meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Putrajaya earlier in April. Photo: Bianca De Marchi/AAP/dpa
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim attends a bilateral meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Putrajaya earlier in April. Photo: Bianca De Marchi/AAP/dpa

Economics

Mixed bag: Indonesia’s 8% growth dream hits a plastic ceiling

Soaring packaging costs amid the Iran war hint at a deeper malaise as the middle class contracts and growth hits a plateau.

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Health & Environment

Shock therapy: war forces oil-addicted Asia to finally go green

Burned by soaring energy prices, Southeast Asian nations are racing to future-proof themselves against the volatility of war.

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Politics

Japan’s Middle East oil habit gets an Iran war reality check

Almost all of Japan’s oil comes from the Middle East. A closed strait turned that dependence into a trap.

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Storage tanks are seen at an oil refinery in Yokohama, Japan’s Kanagawa prefecture, as Mount Fuji looms in the background. Photo: AFP
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LATEST Asia NEWS

Southeast Asia

Bus and oil tanker collide in Indonesia, killing at least 16 people

An intercity bus collided head-on with a tanker truck on a major highway in South Sumatra, Indonesia on Wednesday. Photo: Xinhua

Politics

Vietnam, India seek closer ties to hedge against dependence on superpowers

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Vietnamese President To Lam before their talks at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Southeast Asia

Thailand vows strict tourist oversight after public sex incidents

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A tourist does the traditional Thai greeting during his visit to the Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun) in Bangkok. Thailand expects about 33.5 million foreign tourists this year, up from nearly 33 million visitors in 2025. Photo: EPA

People

‘I started crying’: Indonesian captain’s wife in agony over pirate attack

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An armed Somali pirate along the coastline in northeastern Somalia. Photo: AFP

Economics

Malaysia seeks to charge 2 over US$278 million Arm semiconductor deal

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Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Rene Haas, CEO of chip tech provider Arm attend an event where Anwar announced the multi-million deal with Arm in Kuala Lumpur in March last year. Photo: Reuters
MORE Asia NEWS
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OPINION
Akio Takahara

Asian Angle | Why Japan-China ties can benefit from promoting people-to-people exchanges

Akio Takahara
Panarat Anamwathana

Asian Angle | A year after corporal punishment ban, Thailand needs to curb resurgence

Panarat Anamwathana
Wesley Morgan,Ben Newell

Opinion | Trump’s oil crisis is accelerating the end of the fossil fuel era

Wesley Morgan
Ben Newell
Michael Vatikiotis

Opinion | Blinding the world with lies makes peacemaking an impossible task

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Chandran Nair

Asian Angle | The Thucydides Trap is a lie created to justify a US-China war

Chandran Nair
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MULTIMEDIA
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Filipino fishermen worry about Chinese nature reserve in disputed waters

Filipino fishermen worry about Chinese nature reserve in disputed waters
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Centenarian becomes oldest person to climb Mount Fuji

Centenarian becomes oldest person to climb Mount Fuji
02:34
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Cambodia unveils new Chinese-built airport

Cambodia unveils new Chinese-built airport
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Ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra to serve 1 year in jail

Ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra to serve 1 year in jail
04:27
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