The US government’s latest ban on Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek could have a chilling effect on the wider American business community and deter companies from adopting low-cost Chinese AI models, industry experts say. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products and third-party services built on the Chinese AI model from their IT systems, according to a directive signed in July and published on Monday. The...

Behind the surge in EPFO numbers lies an uncomfortable question: is Delhi measuring new jobs or merely recording existing workers differently?

Amid deepening China-Russia ties, a Chinese delegation visited one of the disputed Southern Kuril Islands.

The storm reached sustained winds of nearly 185 miles per hour on Wednesday. It is expected to weaken later, and its path remains uncertain.

The 10-foot-long dusky shark, nicknamed “Bukangi,” was successfully guided back to the open ocean after a third rescue attempt.

The road has been officially inaugurated, but China and the Taliban have very different views of its function.

Army leadership has focused on developing tools to contribute to a potential fight against China, a fight in which space assets will be critical.

Dhaka says it learned of their execution only after it happened. Its diplomacy is under scrutiny

Much remains unclear about why a driver ran a car into Helen Haines, a lawmaker. Even so, fellow representatives, especially women, spoke of feeling threatened in a polarized atmosphere.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to India’s Jamnagar this week – home to the world’s largest oil refining complex – signals energy cooperation as the anchor for bilateral ties even as broader policy friction frays relations, according to analysts. On Tuesday, Rubio indicated that India’s largest private company, Reliance Industries, which owns the Jamnagar oil refinery complex, will buy more Venezuelan oil. “India is a refining superpower. They have the capability to refine heavy crude....

A Gen Z jet-setter in the Philippines has been named commissioner for the urban poor, raising eyebrows over her qualifications for a position dealing with issues such as food and housing insecurity. Zofia Canlas took her oath as commissioner for the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) on Monday, but drew widespread attention for social media photos depicting a fashion-forward lifestyle and lavish getaways, such as posing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and other trips around...

A boardroom fight, an attempted veto and government intervention have plunged the Tata Group, one of India’s most revered institutions, into a fight over its future.

When Mark Ifurung left his 18-year career as an IT professional in May, he was happy to ditch his two-hour commutes from his home in Cavite province south of Manila to his office in Makati City. So for his fresh start, the 40-year-old father of four wanted something that would allow him to work from home. “After being unemployed for five months, I decided to explore freelancing,” he said. “With my background in IT operations and application support, I realised I already have transferable skills...

The secretary of state will meet with Asia’s richest men in Mumbai as Washington continues negotiations over a trade deal with India.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) finance chiefs reached a consensus on economic policy coordination and cooperation on financing technology and artificial intelligence at a landmark two-day gathering in Hong Kong, according to China’s finance minister. Lan Foan said the outcomes achieved during the Apec Finance Ministers’ Meeting would help shape discussions at the leaders’ summit in Shenzhen next month. “China will work with all member economies to implement the important consensus...

All civil servants in Malaysia have been banned from using Waze, following a warning by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of security concerns over the Israeli government’s control of the mobile navigation app. The government announced the decision after a National Cyber Security Committee (NCSC) meeting chaired by Anwar on Tuesday, according to an official circular. “In this regard, all ministry secretaries-general and heads of department must make sure this decision is communicated to all officers...

South Korean social media posts displaying users’ running records to honour a local woman who died at a Seoul marathon have raised debate over the appropriateness of the gesture for mourning. Yoo Ji-won, a 25-year-old graduate student at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science Technology, collapsed just 500 metres (1,600 feet) from the finish line of the 2026 Seoul Race half-marathon on October 11, local media reported. The cause of her death has not been disclosed. Yoo was a running influencer,...

Singapore’s state investors Temasek and GIC have denied involvement in Indonesia’s looming MSCI reclassification, following accusations that the city state’s sovereign wealth funds were pulling strings behind the scenes for their own gain. On Wednesday, Fock Wai Hoong, head of Asia-Pacific at Temasek Global Investments, said the claims had “no basis” and were “patently untrue”. GIC also dismissed the allegations. Former Indonesian trade minister Muhammad Lutfi on Monday claimed that both firms...

Singapore has warned it will go after companies responsible for the forest fires in Indonesia causing the regional haze, but cross-border challenges remain stumbling blocks to solving a problem that has plagued the city state for decades. Analysts point to long-standing obstacles hampering the country’s decade-old haze legislation, such as complex corporate ownership and opaque transboundary supply chains. To date, no company has been prosecuted under the law. Beyond legal threats, greater...

A monthly trip to Costco has become routine this year for Kim Eun-young. The 42-year-old mother of two living in Seoul’s Gwangjin district used to pick up what she needed at a nearby supermarket, but rising prices prompted her to change her shopping habits. She said buying groceries and household essentials in bulk seemed more economical, at least for her family of four. “The bill is bigger each time, but buying in bulk works out cheaper for the same amount. I mainly buy food we eat regularly...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is set to take the stage in Berlin on Wednesday, as the world’s most valuable company faces heightened investor scrutiny over whether the massive artificial intelligence spending boom – the engine behind the chipmaker’s meteoric growth – can deliver long-term returns. The conference agenda focuses on sovereign AI, industrial automation and operational infrastructure – key sectors where Nvidia hopes to drive demand beyond the handful of US tech giants currently dominating...

Fresh from walking down red carpets laid out by his Southeast Asian neighbours, Myanmar’s ex-military chief Min Aung Hlaing appears to have a new diplomatic feather in his cap: re-engagement with the United States. Washington slapped sanctions on Min Aung Hlaing just 10 days after his February 1, 2021 coup and the ensuing bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. Waves of subsequent sanctions targeted military-linked companies and cronies. Yet since last month, two rounds of talks with US...

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has fully open-sourced an internally developed framework designed to run AI models efficiently, as a senior researcher at the company described the growing divide between open-source and closed-source AI as a battle between “light and darkness”. The company on Tuesday released DeepInfer, an inference framework tailored to support its DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash model on both Nvidia’s SM100 Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs) and Huawei...

Laddli Khatun pulled one document after another from a yellow bag, desperately hoping one would be enough to keep her name on India’s electoral rolls. As the world’s largest democracy overhauls its voter lists, millions like Khatun are scrambling to re-establish their credentials, despite having voted before. Critics and opposition parties say the exercise risks mass disenfranchisement, and those removed fear wider citizenship repercussions. More than 133 million names – including 28 million...

Malaysia’s border control chief pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to two charges of assaulting junior police officers at the country’s main international airport last month, after a video of the confrontation went viral. Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain, director general of the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency, was filmed confronting two men at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on September 28. He previously linked the incident to an operation against airport touts following complaints about...

Malaysia is negotiating with Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia to establish overland transit routes for fresh durian exports to China, according to Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu. The minister said the move would reduce transport costs and improve access to the lucrative Chinese market. “Durian is a favourite among Chinese consumers, but they sometimes find it difficult to get the fruit at a more affordable price,” he said during parliament’s question and answer time on...

The response came after Homeland Security ordered the removal and exclusion of products developed by the Chinese company.

A Singaporean couple who regularly abused their first child after he was born, resulting in his death at the age of eight months, were sentenced to jail on Wednesday. Chloe Gan Ci Xuan, 23, and Neo Jia Ming, 27, were sentenced respectively to 15 years and three months’ jail and 16 years’ jail for various charges over the death of their son, Trevor Neo Yu Hin. Gan pleaded guilty to three charges comprising causing the death of a child, ill-treating a child and permitting such ill-treatment. Neo...

Machines whirred around Siddiqui as her vision blurred and her heart hammered. The garment factory on the outskirts of Karachi was sweltering. The room was packed with sweating fellow workers and huge industrial equipment that radiated heat. The air felt thick with the humidity of this summer’s monsoon. Siddiqui, who asked to be identified only by surname, felt like she was suffocating. Concerned colleagues called over her supervisor. “The supervisor said, ‘Just complete this work,’” the...