Asia

The South Korean government said Nvidia’s existing partnership commitments to Seoul remain intact despite disgraced CEO Jensen Huang’s departure from the artificial intelligence giant. However, uncertainties linger as remarks by Elon Musk and others suggest that much of the cooperation may have relied on Huang’s personal verbal commitments. The Ministry of Science and ICT said it held a meeting with Nvidia officials on Friday, a day after Huang resigned as the company’s CEO, and confirmed that...

Malaysia’s plans to allow registered refugees to work legally have raised hopes among their communities that have long relied on precarious informal employment to survive, even as Thailand’s experience suggests that such a move is only part of the solution. Thailand has reportedly thousands of refugees taking up formal jobs under a scheme introduced last year. As for Malaysia’s initiative, refugee advocates say it will need clear registration procedures and workplace safeguards to make it...

Alina Radulescu, 38, has stayed in Italy, the United States and Thailand for months at a time. Now, the IT consultant from Romania shares a co-living space in Seoul with 11 other digital nomads – and says she’s never been happier. “There’s a certain vibe in Korea,” she said. “These days, I’m just so happy when I realise that I’m living here.” Her affinity for South Korea grew gradually through friends in Romania and dance classes where her teacher played K-pop. She first discovered Korean...

South Korean police said on Sunday they had launched an investigation after the top scorer in a national tax accountant exam confessed to using artificial intelligence to cheat. The test taker, who ranked first in both rounds of the national qualification exam held in April and July, submitted a written confession through his lawyer and acknowledged using AI to obtain answers during the tests. He scored 397.5 out of 400 points in the first round, getting just one of 160 questions wrong, sparking...

For some ⁠people, the blue, green and white striped socks hanging near the entrance of a FamilyMart convenience store may look more like an emergency purchase than a fashion statement. Yet the 390 yen (US$2.44) socks have become one of Japan’s best-known products at convenience stores, which are usually the go-to for snacks and drinks. With 40 million pairs sold since 2021, they have helped FamilyMart reinvent itself as a lifestyle brand in the competitive conbini market. Now, Japan’s...

World leaders converged in Manila for the Asean summit on Sunday, bringing attention to the 11-member bloc’s growing clout in a region with a population of 700 million and a US$4.4 trillion economy that is tipped to become the world’s fourth largest by 2030. Among top officials flying in are Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and US President Donald Trump, with the latter expected to attend on Tuesday . But questions...

Identity politics could very well decide the outcome of Malaysia’s next national election, experts say, after parties and voters dug in their heels along ethnic lines in recent polls that have undermined Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s multicultural ruling coalition. On Saturday, Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) suffered its third straight electoral defeat this year in Melaka state as the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and its new partner, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) federal opposition...

Talks at Cop31, the United Nations climate change conference being held in Antalya, Turkey, come at a critical moment for climate-vulnerable countries across the Global South. Bangladesh is among those bearing the brunt of climate change despite having negligible historical responsibility for global emissions. As delegations negotiate how to finance climate action, the “how” matters no less than the “how much”: support must arrive in time, reach those who need it and avoid deepening debt. The...

Filipino singer Carmelle won the first Asian edition of the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday with a fiery performance of her dance-pop song “Sobra-Sobra”. The 19-year-old beat 10 other acts in the grand final in Bangkok, with the winner chosen through votes from national juries in participating countries and viewers worldwide. After her victory, Carmelle said her song celebrated female empowerment and was intended as “a tribute to all Filipino women”. “I made history, since this was the first...

It sounds like a Bollywood thriller, but a spate of shootings and extortion threats targeting Mumbai’s stars has sent the industry scrambling for bodyguards, reviving memories of the underworld’s grip on cinema in the 1990s. From gunshots to cash demands, the incidents have unsettled the Indian industry, decades after police crackdowns weakened the criminal gangs once deeply embedded in the multibillion-dollar business. Police have linked the latest violence to the gang of Lawrence Bishnoi, a...

Indonesia has abandoned plans to make a powerful new state-owned enterprise the “sole exporter” of its palm oil, coal and ferroalloys, in a move that has reassured some businesses, even as questions over oversight and pricing remain. President Prabowo Subianto’s original proposal to tighten the government’s control over the three major commodities, put forward in May, had prompted speculation that state-linked companies could gain an unfair advantage through access to commercially sensitive data...

Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition was handed its third consecutive electoral defeat of the year on Saturday, as federal partner but state rival Umno retained control of Melaka in a lopsided contest driven by a Malay nationalist surge. An electoral alliance between the incumbent Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and the Perikatan Nasional (PN) opposition bloc secured a commanding supermajority of 24 out of the 28 seats in Melaka’s state legislative assembly. The remaining...

Outside the Grand Hyatt hotel in Manila earlier this year, five people were arrested as hundreds of activists chanting “Junk Pax Silica!” clashed with anti-riot police. Inside, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr hobnobbed with some 600 investors, industry leaders and officials at a US-sponsored forum, urging them to sink their money into the US-led scheme. The Philippines is planning to build a sprawling 1,620-hectare (4,000-acre) “Pax Silica” technology hub near a former American...

A head-on collision between a container truck and a passenger bus killed at least 23 people, including three children, in eastern India on Friday, a police official said The crash took place on a highway bordering Kaziranga National Park in the northeastern state of Assam. The road is a designated animal corridor, where strict speed limits are in place. “The total number of casualties is 23,” said Swapneel Deka, the local district police chief. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he...

Malaysia’s decision to pivot to Turkey for anti-ship missiles after Norway cancelled a procurement deal has offered it a way out of a costly setback, though analysts warn the episode has exposed its vulnerability to foreign export controls and highlighted the need for greater defence autonomy. The planned switch to Turkey’s Roketsan Atmaca missile system for the Malaysian navy’s littoral combat ships (LCS) reflects Kuala Lumpur’s growing defence ties with Ankara, even as questions remain over...

Indonesia’s upper house of parliament will pick the country’s new vice-president on December 2, its speaker said on Friday, after the dramatic resignation of Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the president’s deputy and the son of his predecessor. Gibran’s ‌resignation this week, which analysts say could widen the gulf between President Prabowo Subianto and former president Joko Widodo, followed a month of increasing political pressure from lawmakers after Indonesia’s top courts ruled that he had...

A scandal involving Nvidia founder Jensen Huang and an alleged Chinese spy is putting Malaysia’s booming data centre industry in Washington’s crosshairs, as US lawmakers demand tighter controls on advanced artificial intelligence chips. Malaysia is among the Southeast Asian economies facing potential fallout from the controversy surrounding Singapore-based Nvidia chip buyer Megaspeed and its Malaysian subsidiary Speedmatrix, amid concerns that American technology may have been diverted to...

Tech titan Jensen Huang, dressed in his signature leather jacket, has always carried the charisma of a rock star during his public appearances around the world. That allure runs deep in South Korea, where he has had viral dinners at local fried chicken joints as onlookers jostled for a glimpse of the AI chip visionary. But that admiration turned to dejection for some fans in the East Asian nation after Nvidia announced on Thursday that Huang had resigned as CEO amid reports of three extramarital...

US ambassador to Singapore Anjani Sinha was among dozens of individuals who allegedly “reaped immense benefits” after helping to fund President Donald Trump’s political operations and pet projects, according to an American think tank. Sinha donated US$1 million to Trump’s political action committee, Maga Inc, in February last year and was nominated as ambassador to Singapore the following month, according to the Centre for American Progress (CAP), citing the Campaign Legal Centre, a non-profit...

Drones could save Thai farmers fortunes in fertiliser and water management as a “super El Nino” withers harvests – while also mapping flood risks and safely scouring vast industrial sites, from oil rigs to solar farms, for damage. Yet across Southeast Asia, Thailand is still heavily reliant on Chinese hardware to bring the technology into its economy, creating a price gap that prevents the benefits of drone technology from being shared equally. Thailand is pushing hard on tech adoption to help...

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in China, Jessica Zhang chose to look for work in Japan. She is now studying Japanese at a language school in Kyoto on a student visa while working as a supermarket cashier. She plans to improve her Japanese to an upper-intermediate level, which many employers expect, before applying for a full-time job and switching to a work visa. “I’m working by the hour now, and the pay is quite good by Chinese standards, though prices for daily necessities in Japan...

The woman who conspired to abuse four-year-old Megan Khung, then later helped dispose of the child’s corpse, was sentenced to 13 years’ jail on Friday. Passing the sentence on Nouvelle Chua Ruoshi at the High Court, Justice S Mohan said the case arose from “a series of heinous and inhumane acts” committed against Megan Khung. The High Court judge said that it was “imperative that court sent the strongest signal” to the public that any person involved in cases where children suffer abuse will be...

Air India’s new CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, is drawing on his experience revitalising Ethiopian Airlines to turn around the unprofitable Indian carrier, as aviation analysts say replicating his success with a far more complex airline would be difficult. Barely a month into the job, the Ethiopian has set about cutting costs and rebalancing the airline’s international network, seeking to restore profitability while pursuing an ambitious expansion strategy. His plans include shifting more flights to...

A new tariff of up to 30 per cent on e-commerce goods entering Thailand may squeeze Chinese vendors, but intense price competition and their ability to keep costs low are likely to limit its impact, analysts said. Thailand’s cabinet on Monday authorised the finance ministry to impose duties of up to 30 per cent on goods ordered through foreign e-commerce platforms and delivered by express courier or international post, according to Thai media. The actual rate will vary by product. The new...

Less than half of households in Japan subscribe to a daily newspaper, a level not seen in about 60 years, according to a media tracking report, signalling further evidence of the decline of print as the favoured news medium in the country. While the report shows most Japanese no longer read newspapers, they still trust legacy media more than online media. “It is commonly said that two factors have reduced the number of people subscribing to print newspapers,” said Tetsuo Hatanaka, a professor at...

Macroeconomic issues are occupying the thoughts of leading Japanese multinationals as they adjust strategies in China, but few say they worry that diplomatic tensions will cost them opportunities in one of their largest overseas markets. Big names, from Panasonic to Hitachi, used a major trade show in Shanghai this week to highlight their commitment to China and parade their offerings. While nimbly navigating geopolitical headwinds, they are also looking forward to possible exchanges between...

The US administration of President Donald Trump has demanded Japan triple its spending on hosting American troops to more than 3 trillion yen (US$19 billion) over five years starting in the 2027 financial year, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Japan is considering substantially increasing the payment to its major security ally to roughly 1.5 trillion yen, they said. The coming host-nation support for US forces stationed in Japan is expected to include spending to boost...

Indonesia’s naval aviation drills on its first and only aircraft carrier this month have refocused attention on the issue of whether the costly, ageing vessel is being put to good strategic use. Analysts say the KRI Sriwijaya, commissioned two months ago, should be deployed for power projection and military operations far from Jakarta’s shores – warning that underutilisation risks turning the military asset into “a sitting duck”. The Indonesian navy conducted helicopter operation drills aboard...

Former Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, accused by the US of being a Chinese spy and linked to an extramarital affair with tech giant Nvidia’s co-founder Jensen Huang, has been barred from re-entering Singapore over inaccurate information provided to police. Alice Huang, a Hong Kong resident, was found to have downplayed her role in Megaspeed in investigations by Singapore police, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Thursday. The ministry’s announcement was soon followed by...

Pakistan released two of former prime minister Imran Khan’s sisters from prison on Thursday, after weeks in jail ahead of a planned anti-government march by their brother’s party, their lawyer said. Uzma Khan and Noreen ‌Niazi were freed from Kot Lakhpat Jail in the eastern city of Lahore after the government suspended their detention orders, lawyer Mudassar Umar said. Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said another of his sisters, Aleema Khan, remained in prison. Pakistan’s government said...