China’s state planner has told Japanese investor SoftBank it will not allow the US$5.4 billion acquisition ‌of the robotics segment of engineering group ABB to go ahead, the Swiss firm said on Thursday. The case marks the second major deal blocked by China this year after Meta Platforms was ordered to unwind its US$2 billion-plus acquisition of artificial intelligence start-up Manus. The news comes as Beijing tightens scrutiny of foreign investment in domestic start-ups that are developing...

Labels exert extraordinary control over performers because only a few acts turn a profit.

A young Malaysian Muslim who took part in Hindu rituals to pray for his ailing mother publicly repented on Thursday in a ceremony live-streamed by state religious authorities, a day after a sharia court ordered him to undergo three months of faith rehabilitation. The spectacle has raised questions about the enforcement of Islamic orthodoxy in Muslim-majority Malaysia, where state religious departments wield significant influence to police the personal conduct and religious beliefs of...

For Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, imagining the life of North Korea’s leader was a risk worth taking, despite the backlash.

Thailand has banned a textbook about the country on national security grounds, with the tome’s exiled editor saying on Thursday it was outlawed over its content on the Thai monarchy. The royal family holds revered status in Thai society and is shielded from criticism by a strict defamation law that critics say is used to muzzle dissent. The book, a second edition of the Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Thailand published in English in August, was edited by Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a prominent...

Thai conservationists are sleuthing for clues to help save the country’s last herd of dugongs by testing the mammal’s poop for stress hormones, its microbiome and other health indicators to prevent the extinction of this beloved yet critically endangered sea creature. But first they have to find the faeces – a green fist-sized ball consisting of the seagrass the gentle dugongs graze on daily in the coastal shallows of the Andaman Sea. It is literally drop-in-the-ocean work for the teams using...

Philippine investigators are examining whether Thomas Markle Jnr, the half-brother of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was involved in alleged child sexual abuse offences as an investigation into their father widens, according to the country’s interior secretary on Thursday. Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla said witnesses had alleged that underage girls were brought to the younger Markle’s home. Markle Jnr was being treated as a “person of interest”, not a suspect, Remulla told reporters...

Support for the major parties — led by two men called Chris — is cratering, thanks to dissatisfaction with the economy. Minor parties stand to benefit from a desire among voters for change.

The Philippines on Thursday voiced optimism that the Democratic Party’s resounding midterm election win would prompt the United States to adopt “a different approach” to President Donald Trump’s hardening immigration crackdown that has ensnared many Filipinos. Trump’s Republican Party was routed in Tuesday’s polls, with the Democrats taking control of both houses of the US Congress and gaining legislative power to check his policies. The drubbing has given hope to Jose Manuel Romualdez, Manila’s...

A man was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday for murder after being part of a group that abused his 19-year-old younger sister until she died. Huang Bocan, who joined his girlfriend and another man in starving the victim and chaining her to a toilet, was first charged in 2021 with common intention of committing murder by causing bodily injury to Huang Baoying. Huang, a 34-year-old Singaporean, was convicted on Thursday of committing murder by causing his younger sister’s death. The...

Dong Mingzhu chairs Gree Electric Appliances, a home-appliance giant based in southern China’s Guangdong province. Having worked her way up from a frontline sales job, she is one of China’s best-known figures in manufacturing. As a deputy to the National People’s Congress, she has long advocated for manufacturing innovation, higher incomes and greener consumption. In this interview, conducted when she was named an inaugural “Cool Leader” at an assembly of the UN Environment Programme’s Cool...

North Korea is bracing for a prolonged confrontation with the United States, analysts say, after sweeping Democratic gains in the US midterm elections diminished the likelihood of renewed diplomacy between Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump. As Americans cast their ballots on Tuesday, Pyongyang test-fired a new surface-to-air missile system and carried out a strike drill with long-range strategic cruise missiles early on Wednesday, Korean time – its fourth weapons test in a week. The...

South Korea is investigating hundreds of financial institutions after more than 470,000 data records were leaked from 37 firms over the past month, according to the country’s financial regulator. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) revealed the scale of the breaches on Thursday as authorities vowed to strengthen cybersecurity measures following a string of similar cases affecting the financial sector and government agencies. The FSC detailed the incidents at a meeting with officials from...

Mr. Wong, one of the most high-profile members of a movement that was quashed in 2020, was accused of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, a national security offense.

Cost of living issues are set to dominate Saturday’s election in New Zealand, but the outcome may also determine whether Wellington maintains its cautious approach to US President Donald Trump or pursues a more independent foreign policy. With the major parties locked in a close contest ahead of the vote, analysts say the next government’s defence priorities and its approach to Washington are likely to hinge on the minor coalition partners. Robert Patman, a professor of international relations...

A man who allegedly hid a camera in a toilet on a Scoot flight from Japan to Singapore was charged on Thursday. Hugh Lutley, a 52-year-old British national, was handed one charge each of voyeurism and obstruction of justice by deleting evidence. He is accused of operating a camera at about 5.10pm on October 7 with the intention of observing passengers performing a private act. The alleged offence took place on board Scoot flight TR821, which was travelling from Osaka, Japan, to Singapore,...

A boat in Micronesia went missing in July. This weekend, five of its passengers landed, unclothed and emaciated, on an island in Kiribati — more than 3,000 miles away.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s push for a centralised cybersecurity agency risks hitting a wall of indifference, despite his insistence that the move is a national security priority following a leak of his passport details. Tech experts warn that creating a new organisation will do little to address the deeper problem of complacency on its own, with businesses and government agencies viewing tighter cybersecurity as an unnecessary expense until a serious breach occurs. Lee’s proposal...

Commentators abroad wondered what President Trump’s electoral losses might mean for oil prices, the war on Iran and the future of American politics.

Where does North Korea’s involvement in the war stand today – and where might it be headed?

A deal with China hasn’t been settled yet but still, Astana hopes to complete both its first and second nuclear power plants within a decade.

In books and essays, he captured the unease beneath Japan’s economic miracle and wrote about everyday people who might never appear in headlines.