Texas is the Hot Bed for Government Contracting

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday proposed a new US-Asean defence framework to guide cooperation over what he called “critically important years” ahead, but offered few details on what it would entail. The proposal faces questions over whether members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will embrace a bloc-wide initiative, with analysts suggesting they would prefer bilateral arrangements that preserve their flexibility as they navigate ties with Washington and...

In a rare move, Singapore on Wednesday summoned top executives from 10 locally registered companies potentially linked to haze-causing fires in Indonesia to a meeting with three ministers. The executives all agreed to cooperate fully in an investigation by the city state into the regional environmental crisis that has caused air quality to dip to “very unhealthy” levels earlier this month. Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, Senior Minister K Shanmugam and Minister for Sustainability and the...

Jio Platforms shares surged on their first day of trading, even as questions mount about the telecom firm’s growth prospects and a new generation takes charge.

The move will block shipments from BGI, a major Chinese firm that U.S. officials allege is associated with forced labor and the abuse of minority groups.

Leading Chinese robotics company Unitree Robotics on Wednesday reported a 69.93 per cent year-on-year increase in quarterly revenue to 665 million yuan (US$99.7 million), though net profits excluding non-recurring items fell 17.42 per cent to 105 million yuan, as the company released its first earnings since going public. The results for the three months ending September 30 showed a continued surge in research and development spending by the Hangzhou-based company, which jumped 249.58 per cent...

As investor anxiety over an artificial intelligence bubble mounts, SpaceX’s Elon Musk and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang have offered starkly divergent outlooks on whether the specialist cloud providers powering the boom can survive their mounting debts. While Musk has warned of impending collapses and consolidation among the more than 200 dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) rental ventures known as “neoclouds”, Huang remains bullish, insisting that robust market demand will unlock the capital...

Hundreds of people permanently living aboard a touring cruise ship were forced to disembark in Cambodia this week after the vessel’s operator said fuel price increases from the Iran war had made operations prohibitively expensive. The Villa Vie Odyssey had been cruising the world for at least ‌755 days as one of only a handful of ships that offered passengers the opportunity to rent or buy long-term or even permanent residences on board. On Tuesday, the ship’s owner, Villa Vie Residences,...

Rising ketamine abuse and a series of major drug seizures in Indonesia have fuelled calls for tighter controls on the substance, but a proposed reclassification has raised concerns that tougher penalties could further strain the country’s overcrowded prisons. Last week, Indonesian police and customs officials intercepted the Mongolian-flagged vessel MT Global 168 in the Malacca Strait, seizing 1.16 tonnes of ketamine hydrochloride packed in 58 sacks. National police chief Suyudi Ario Seto said...

Huawei Technologies is already integrating elements of the Tau Scaling Law – a new chip design principle that helps the company overcome US export controls – into its wireless communications network, as it pushes for broader adoption across its products. The Chinese tech giant is using the “time compression” concept based on its Tau Scaling Law in its next-generation wireless base stations, according to a company statement released on Wednesday, and the new design is already delivering tangible...

The Philippines is in talks with Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States to store oil in the fuel-import-dependent nation, in a bid to hedge against fuel price spikes driven by the Iran war. The Southeast Asian nation, which imports nearly all ‌its energy needs, also planned to increase diesel and gas-fired power output to make up for an estimated 60 per cent decline in hydropower and 20 per cent fall in solar output in the first half of 2027 due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, Energy...

Japan’s push to expand industrial and port cooperation with Bangladesh could transform the South Asian country into a regional trade gateway, analysts say, connecting markets in Southeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific while diversifying Dhaka’s economic ties. The plan was announced during Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s official visit to Japan this week. Rahman welcomed Tokyo’s pledge of US$6 billion in investment over the next five years, which could help revive an economy hit by...

China said it would seek India’s help to “maintain peace and stability in the border areas” after new stand-offs in a long-disputed region threatened to undermine improved relations. “We hope that India will work with China in the same direction by jointly implementing the common understandings between the two sides,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a daily media briefing on Monday. China “strictly abides by the relevant agreements”, he said. Guo also said that China...