International Re Hires Nate Reznick as Head of US Distribution

Thailand’s government said on Thursday it had revoked the citizenship of a prominent head rabbi who was a naturalised Thai, as the country tightens enforcement of its immigration laws. Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor’s Thai citizenship was stripped over his repeated use of his US passport after naturalisation in 2013, according to an interior ministry statement. The order was signed by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who is also interior minister. Thai law prohibits naturalised citizens from...

Singapore’s decision to send its top diplomat to Indonesia on a surprise visit, following days of terse exchanges over a regional haze, underscores a bid to defuse growing tensions and seek a direct channel to President Prabowo Subianto. Analysts say Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan’s trip reflected his country’s preference for measured diplomacy amid rising nationalistic rhetoric in Indonesia, with the city state also mindful of containing any “negative fallout” as Jakarta grapples with...

The former prime minister who helped bring down Anwar Ibrahim’s political alliance six years ago has now agreed to back his government in parliament, in a surprise deal struck just before the passage of Malaysia’s 2027 budget at its first voting stage on Thursday. Muhyiddin Yassin, who governed Malaysia from 2020 to 2021, joined 12 other opposition and independent lawmakers in pledging support for Anwar’s administration, hours before parliament approved the government’s 459.8 billion ringgit...

Xi Jinping has enforced loyalty as he prepares to claim a fourth term as leader. Among those removed was a prominent former diplomat, Liu Jianchao.

Karl Bushby has walked 31,000 miles, crossing some of the world’s harshest landscapes. He plans to reach his mother’s house in England next week.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s re-election should provide continuity for the country’s trade push into Southeast Asia, analysts say, as Vietnam and Indonesia pursue preferential trade agreements with Mercosur, the South American bloc in which Brazil is the largest economy. But better access to Brazil and other Mercosur markets is far from assured, with trade experts pointing to difficult negotiations over tariffs and agricultural access, as well as political differences within...

John Lee, the city’s chief executive, said his housing secretary would step down, but he vehemently defended the government.

Japan wants a more united and proactive Southeast Asia as it sees Asean as a bulwark against an intensifying great-power rivalry, analysts say, while uncertainty over Washington’s long-term Indo-Pacific strategy has deepened Tokyo’s concerns about the region’s future. Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Wednesday urged Southeast Asian nations to strengthen their collective response to emerging security threats, warning of a “rapidly deteriorating” security environment and shifts in the...

Smoke from this year’s Indonesian forest and peatland fires has inflicted an estimated 8 billion ringgit (US$1.97 billion) in welfare losses on Malaysia, contributing to an estimated 1,700 deaths and severely disrupting manufacturing, according to a report commissioned by the country’s leading industrial group. The study, “The 2026 Fire Season and Transboundary Haze in Malaysia”, was conducted for the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), as reported by the Malay Mail. Drawing on...

A flurry of meat seizures across Thailand and Vietnam has raised fears of animal-borne diseases devastating regional livestock populations and unsafe food ending up on consumers’ plates. Driven by rising energy and logistics costs, unscrupulous suppliers have targeted restaurants and wet markets desperate to protect margins by sourcing cheap, unregulated cuts – even those past their expiry date or tainted with disease. On October 21, police in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai dismantled a...

A South Korean special prosecutor on Thursday demanded the death penalty for ousted president Yoon Suk-yeol, ahead of an appeal court verdict on rebellion charges over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024. The Seoul High Court has yet to set a date for a verdict on Yoon’s appeal of a life sentence handed down in February by the Seoul Central District Court. The court found that he illegally mobilised troops and police to seize the legislature, arrest political opponents and...

Indonesia’s communications minister has urged calm after a former Singaporean nominated member of parliament (NMP) suggested the city state could disrupt its neighbour’s internet access, arguing that any outage would cripple connectivity on both sides. Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said the government and public “need not be irritated” by comments from ex-NMP Calvin Cheng. In Singapore, NMPs are appointed to bring non-partisan perspectives to the legislature; they do...