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Malaysia’s oil-rich Sarawak state will dissolve its assembly on Monday in a test of political strength for a powerful regional coalition whose support has become crucial to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government. Anwar is facing growing pressure following electoral setbacks for his own coalition in Peninsular Malaysia, while over in Borneo, ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) continues to press for greater autonomy and control over the state’s vast oil and gas resources. Sarawak Premier Abang...

Dozens were injured and more than 300 homes were toppled by the 7.0-magnitude quake, which sent residents fleeing into the cold night air, state media said.

The storm has caused at least one death and dozens of injuries, officials said. Schools have closed on the island and hundreds of flights have been canceled.

The world’s oldest cave paintings on the Indonesian island ⁠of Sulawesi are under threat ⁠as heat and smoke from the ⁠country’s worst wildfires in more than a decade risk accelerating the deterioration of the more than 67,000-year-old works of art, according to researchers. Indonesia is battling its most intense forest and land fires since 2015 as a severe El Nino drives up temperatures and reduces ‌rainfall, leaving its forest and peatland vulnerable to fire. While the islands of Sumatra and...

Chinese artificial intelligence model developers DeepSeek and MiniMax have completed export registration procedures and proceeded with open-source releases and overseas licensing activities, according to Chinese state media, days after Beijing moved to tighten oversight on AI tech transfers. Yuyuan Tantian, an influential social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV, reported on Thursday evening that the two AI companies had completed the required registrations after Beijing...

US and South Korean officials see the chances fading of ⁠a meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this year, according to five people with knowledge of the situation. Trump, the only US president to have met a North Korean leader, has been eager to jump-start talks with North Korea, but Pyongyang has shown little interest in diplomacy aimed at containing its nuclear programme. The US has received no response from North Korea on holding a Trump-Kim meeting, and...

A rare escalation this month exposed the increasingly lethal arsenals the two Koreas are building up across the world’s most heavily fortified border.

Japan’s communications ministry on Friday unveiled draft guidelines outlining measures for 13 major social media operators to help reduce the impact of misinformation and disinformation that could undermine fairness during elections. The guidelines also include measures such as requiring operators to establish eligibility requirements and strict screening procedures for users of monetisation features, suspend monetisation when content that harms the fairness of elections is posted, and add...

Embattled Negeri Sembilan chief minister Ismail Lasim has denied claims that he has resigned, as a constitutional crisis in the Malaysian state spiralled further following a move by his executive council to challenge their sacking by the state’s ruler in court. The state has been all but paralysed by a dispute that began in April over who has the right to sit on Negeri Sembilan’s throne, bringing down a state government aligned with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH)...

The artificial intelligence agent software market across Asia, Australia and New Zealand is set to expand more than 14-fold by 2030, according to research firm Omdia, as Chinese tech companies increasingly deploy automated tools across office and industrial operations. During its annual event in Beijing on Thursday, Omdia forecast that regional market revenue, which included mainland China and Hong Kong, would reach US$11.2 billion in 2030, up from an estimated US$782 million this year. Over the...

Australia said on Friday it had sanctioned two North Korean individuals and companies over the use of “fraudulent” IT workers and cybercrime to earn cash for the isolated nuclear-armed state. The two men are alleged to be key operators in Pyongyang’s cybercriminal activities overseas, estimated by analysts to bring in billions for the country’s weapons programme. “The North Korean entities and individuals sanctioned today facilitate North Korea’s use of fraudulent IT workers to raise revenue for...

The son of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi said she sounded “fairly healthy” after speaking to the detained ex-democratic leader on Thursday for the first time in more than five years. Suu Kyi, 81, is under house arrest in the capital, Naypyidaw, according to Myanmar authorities, where she has been sequestered since being unseated in a 2021 military coup. “She was sounding fairly healthy,” Kim Aris, who lives in the UK, said after the telephone conversation. It was the first time he had spoken to his...