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People
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Lifestyle & Culture
Ramanan Ramakrishnan is Malaysia’s human resource minister and vice-president of the ruling People’s Justice Party. Photo: Handout

People

Minister denies link to Malaysia’s ‘corporate mafia’ saga

Ramanan Ramakrishnan has challenged businessman Victor Chin to identify the politician ‘Mr R’ said to be at the centre of the controversy.

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Sri Lanka’s refusal to host US warplanes before Iran war risks trade backlash

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Man extradited from Singapore to New Zealand faces rape, home invasion charges

Health & Environment

Malaysia’s weather is so hot that it can warp a payment card

Rice fields are drying out in the northern region, while heat-related health cases are rising across the country.

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A Malaysian from Perak shows a toll payment card warped by the extreme heat affecting the country’s northern region. Photo: Threads/lltlps
A Malaysian from Perak shows a toll payment card warped by the extreme heat affecting the country’s northern region. Photo: Threads/lltlps

People

South Korean ‘sugar cane killer’ extradited from Philippines over drug empire

Accused of running a drug ring from his Philippine prison cell, ‘VIP’ inmate Park Wang-yeol was extradited after a nine-year legal impasse.

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Lifestyle & Culture

Sacred deer have been a fixture of Japan’s Nara. Now they’re wandering away

More green spaces in nearby cities and the deer’s adaptable nature have led to them straying as far as 40km away from their habitat.

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People

How North Korea makes US$500 million yearly – at its own people’s expense

The report details the ‘brutal’ conditions North Korean workers endure in Russia that reveal a pattern of ‘control, coercion and abuse’.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un greets people during a visit to a coal mine run by young workers on March 15. Photo: KCNA via Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un greets people during a visit to a coal mine run by young workers on March 15. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

Lifestyle & Culture

DarkSword threatens Malaysian iOS users, exposing spread of elite spyware

DarkSword can compromise vulnerable iPhones through hacked legitimate websites and siphon off highly sensitive data, researchers warn.

Economics

Why Vietnam is leaning on Russia to weather energy turmoil

The energy shortage is ‘seriously threatening’ Vietnam’s growth objective and could dent the new leadership’s legitimacy, analysts say.

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Politics

Trump’s ‘wind-up doll’? Japan’s PM faces backlash over White House fawning

White House imagery showing Sanae Takaichi cheering for a rock song and laughing at a jibe at Joe Biden left some in Japan feeling ‘ashamed’.

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A photograph published by the White House shows Takaichi arriving at an official dinner with her fists raised, handbag over one arm, apparently shouting with delight. Photo: White House

Politics

North Korea’s Kim slams US ‘state terror’ but spares Trump in third-term address

Mindful of the fate of Iran and Venezuela’s leaders, Kim Jong-un used his speech to cast nuclear weapons as a non-negotiable shield.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivers a policy speech during the second and final day of the first session of the Supreme People’s Assembly in Pyongyang on Monday. Photo: KCNA/Yonhap/dpa
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivers a policy speech during the second and final day of the first session of the Supreme People’s Assembly in Pyongyang on Monday. Photo: KCNA/Yonhap/dpa

Health & Environment

A dog killer in the Philippines was fined US$17. New bills seek reform

Dedicated police units and a national watchdog. Two new bills aim to ensure animal abusers face justice, not just a US$17 fine.

Economics

Malaysia battles fuel subsidy misuse after viral 71-litre petrol grab

The government blocked a customer from the subsidy scheme to ensure fair access amid rising oil prices and supply fears.

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Lifestyle & Culture

Philippines scores poorly on work-life balance. Filipinos are not surprised

Low wages, poor workplace culture and heavy traffic are among the factors hampering Filipinos from enjoying a good work-life balance.

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Heavy traffic on the streets of Manila. Photo: Shutterstock

Health & Environment

In Japan, trains will get an extra 20 seconds to avert catastrophe from quakes

Tokyo has predicted an 80 per cent chance of a magnitude-9 quake in the next 30 years, that could cause 300,000 deaths.

Tsunami waves hit a residential area after a powerful earthquake in Natori, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, in 2012. Photo: AP/Kyodo News
Tsunami waves hit a residential area after a powerful earthquake in Natori, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, in 2012. Photo: AP/Kyodo News

Economics

‘Getting worse each day’: why Southeast Asia is vulnerable to the fuel crisis

From Laos to Thailand, long queues are forming at petrol stations while residents are reeling from surging fuel prices.

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People

‘I’ve never held my son’: the Rohingya families Malaysia keeps apart

More than 5,000 Rohingya languish in detention in Malaysia, leaving fathers like Farouk to watch their children grow through a screen.

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Health & Environment

Mortal combat: Southeast Asia fights fears of death to plan for the end

Birth rates are falling. Populations are ageing. In Southeast Asia, the business of dying has never been bigger.

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Illustration: Huy Truong
Illustration: Huy Truong

Politics

Graft and gridlock: in Anwar’s Malaysia, reformist cracks widen

Malaysia’s prime minister can’t pass his own reform bills. His coalition appears to be cracking – and time is running out.

People

‘It’s inevitable’: Singapore’s workers brace for AI disruption

The city state wants 100,000 workers to become ‘AI bilingual’. But with entry-level roles already vanishing, time may not be on its side.

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Politics

Build fast, grow rich: To Lam’s blueprint for a rising Vietnam

Vietnam’s Communist Party chief is staking his legacy on 10 per cent growth, domestic megaprojects and an overseas charm offensive.

Illustration: Huy Truong
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LATEST Asia NEWS

People

Minister denies link to Malaysia’s ‘corporate mafia’ saga

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Ramanan Ramakrishnan is Malaysia’s human resource minister and vice-president of the ruling People’s Justice Party. Photo: Handout

Health & Environment

Malaysia’s weather is so hot that it can warp a payment card

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A Malaysian from Perak shows a toll payment card warped by the extreme heat affecting the country’s northern region. Photo: Threads/lltlps

Politics

Sri Lanka’s refusal to host US warplanes before Iran war risks trade backlash

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A US F-35C Lightning II prepares to land on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on March 3. It is not clear which warplanes the US asked Sri Lanka to host. Photo: US Navy/AFP

People

Man extradited from Singapore to New Zealand faces rape, home invasion charges

Zhang Xuesong, who is accused of raping and strangling a woman during a violent home invasion, pleaded not guilty in the Auckland High Court. Photo: Shutterstock

East Asia

‘A shame’: why Jin was left off official credits for BTS’ latest album

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BTS member Jin in a scene from the 2026 Netflix documentary BTS: The Return. Photo: AP
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OPINION
Ian Storey

Opinion | Indonesia’s new aircraft carrier is more vanity project than war machine

Ian Storey
Syaza Shukri

Asian Angle | Malaysia’s LGBTQ crackdowns aren’t hypocrisy, they’re politics

Syaza Shukri
Barbora Valockova

Opinion | Underwater and unprotected: why Asean and the EU must secure subsea lifelines

Barbora Valockova
Ben Dunant

Opinion | Myanmar’s junta staged an election. It couldn’t stage legitimacy

Ben Dunant
Napon Jatusripitak,Duncan McCargo

Asian Angle | How to win an election in Thailand: stage a rebrand, rely on rural votes

Napon Jatusripitak
Duncan McCargo
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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
02:02
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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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