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Commentators abroad wondered what the president’s electoral losses might mean for oil prices, the war on Iran and the end of the Trump era.

A senior Indonesian diplomat said on Wednesday that dialogue “must not stop” among Asean members, amid a diplomatic row between Jakarta and Singapore over transboundary haze. Ties between the Southeast Asian neighbours have been tense after wildfires in Indonesia blanketed the city state in toxic smog for months. Complaints from Singapore over the air quality were met with sharp rebukes from Indonesian officials. Despite a visit to Jakarta by Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian...

Lawyers for Malaysia’s jailed former prime minister Najib Razak on Wednesday dismissed speculation about his imminent transfer to house arrest, as his former ruling party struggles to raise the 50 million ringgit (US$12.3 million) fine needed to bring him home. The rumours came as Najib’s United Malays National Organisation (Umno) seeks to build on recent electoral victories, with analysts saying his return to house arrest could give the party a boost among supporters ahead of the next general...

Indonesia has called on Russia to stop recruiting its citizens to fight in Ukraine, with analysts saying the appeal may only be ineffective if President Prabowo Subianto directly pressures his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the issue. On Sunday, Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Yvonne Mewengkang said: “The Indonesian government asked the Russian government to take all necessary steps to ensure that no Indonesians will be recruited into the Russian military or any other...

An Indonesian military helicopter carrying eight people on a firefighting mission crashed in waters off Borneo island on Wednesday, killing a crew member, the army said. The Southeast Asian archipelago has for months been struggling to control wildfires that have burned through large swathes of Sumatra, Borneo and Papua islands, causing choking haze that drifted to neighbouring Malaysia, East Timor and Singapore. The helicopter took off on Wednesday morning from Seruyan district in Borneo’s...

In a country where superstitions are as imaginative as they are many, physicians have come to fear a jinx involving Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday took aim at former UK leader Liz Truss and the thousands of British backpackers flocking to cities like Sydney, as the government seeks to tweak visa rules and ease pressure on the local job market. Truss, who lasted just 49 days in office before being forced to resign in 2022, called the travel arrangement “a major achievement of our trade deal with Australia and hard fought!” “Young Brits no longer have to do farm work as part of their...

Shanghai-listed Wingtech Technology has rejected a restructuring proposal under which it would lose control of Dutch chipmaker Nexperia’s assets outside China, condemning the plan as an “expropriation” driven by discrimination. The stand-off deepens a year-long dispute between Wingtech and Dutch authorities, as the company faces an impending delisting deadline at home, while Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten prepares for an official visit to Beijing in the spring. In a statement on Tuesday,...

China is becoming increasingly important to the Gulf’s economic future. Yet the Gulf remains capable of disrupting China’s own. That is the contradiction exposed by the US-Iran war. Beijing’s importance as an energy customer, investor and technology partner has grown, but its ability to guarantee the maritime routes connecting the Middle East to East Asia remains limited. The next contest in global energy will concern not only who produces and consumes it, but who can preserve access when...

In one of the biggest scandals to hit the Indonesian National Police (Polri), President Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday sacked his chief of staff, former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, after his arrest for allegedly wiretapping the president, cabinet ministers, politicians and journalists. The government raised the stakes on Wednesday when presidential spokesman Prasetyo Hadi addressed reporters in Jakarta, warning that the surveillance could amount to “treason” and endanger state...

Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings has rolled out its latest flagship artificial intelligence model, Hy4, seeking to challenge top open-weight rivals with enhanced agentic capabilities built to power its enterprise software ecosystem. Released on Wednesday, the large language model (LLM) introduced visual understanding for the first time. Hy4 could process images, analyse complex charts and conduct visual mathematical reasoning, according to the Shenzhen-based company. Tencent said the release...

Organisers of Malaysia’s first Hyrox fitness competition agreed on Wednesday to exclude the event from a partnership with beer brand Carlsberg after Muslim entrants threatened to pull out and authorities warned they would withhold approval over the alcohol sponsorship. The tie-up had angered some participants who said it conflicted with both their faith and the event’s promotion of fitness, highlighting tensions over alcohol marketing in Muslim-majority Malaysia. “We understand why this has...