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The secretary of state will meet with Asia’s richest men as Washington continues negotiations over a trade deal with India.

The coming launch of India’s largest-ever initial public offering (IPO) will test investor confidence in the country’s leading telecoms operator, Jio Platforms, the digital arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries. Jio’s public share offer on Wednesday comes close on the heels of an escalating row between Ambani and Elon Musk. The SpaceX founder has accused the Indian industrialist of using monopolistic influence to block Starlink’s entry into India – a charge Reliance has denied,...

Yuki Chen, a prolific Chinese cybersecurity researcher, has joined leading Chinese artificial intelligence model company Z.ai as the country’s AI sector grapples with the technology’s growing impact on global cyberspace. Chen’s appointment comes amid growing concern over AI-assisted cyberattacks and autonomous agents acting beyond their instructions, including recent cases involving Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings as well as US start-ups OpenAI and Anthropic. “New journey, new mission!” Chen...

Helen Haines, an independent, remained in critical condition after she was struck by a vehicle. A 43-year-old man was charged and will appear in court on Wednesday.

As the threat of a reclassification by MSCI that could relegate Indonesia to an investment hinterland looms, the country’s financial regulators and stock exchange officials have vowed to address systemic concerns, including removing stocks with concentrated ownership. The global index provider announced on Friday it was launching a formal consultation to decide whether to downgrade Southeast Asia’s largest economy from “emerging market” to “stand-alone” status, similar to countries such as...

As haze from forest fires in Indonesia continues to shroud Southeast Asia, Malaysians have taken to social media to air their grievances, with a video of an elevated outdoor reading from an air purifier among viral content marking public frustration. The clip, posted by user syahierarafie, shows a device detecting an Air Pollutant Index (API) of up to 318 in Gelang Patah, a suburban town in western Johor Bahru which borders Singapore. The video has drawn over 990,000 views as of Tuesday. “Today,...

Malaysia’s main opposition coalition lost its registration on Tuesday, just 11 days before nominations for a state election, drawing accusations that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government is using state powers to cripple its rivals. The decision leaves Perikatan Nasional (PN) – already fractured by a bitter dispute between its Islamist anchor, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), and estranged partner Bersatu – fighting to preserve its electoral identity ahead of Melaka’s November 14...

Two Singaporean men lost their positions in the armed forces after they were convicted of having sex with a 15-year-old boy. Former army captain Chaw Chia Jun, 41, was sentenced to 17 months’ jail on Tuesday, while his co-accused Owen Toh Wei Song, a former navy cook, was jailed for 12 months on September 22, according to CNA. Singapore’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed that both were suspended after their arrest in 2024 and were no longer in the military. “The Singapore Armed Forces holds its...

A country need not run out of money to find itself in a debt crisis. It only has to run short of US dollars to pay for its energy. At the recent International Monetary Fund-World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, the IMF, which expects global economic growth of 3.1 per cent this year and 3.4 per cent the next, cautioned that energy-importing and lower-income economies face a harder road, even as those riding the artificial intelligence boom fare relatively well. According to the World Bank’s...

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘Forgive us’: Indonesians urge Singapore, Malaysia to sue Jakarta over haze Many Indonesians are urging foreign governments on social media, including those of neighbouring countries affected by the haze, to take action against Jakarta over its handling of the fires. 2....

Calls to boycott a Malaysian Chinese-owned coffee-shop chain over its omission of Malay text from its menu have reignited arguments over race and national identity, as political parties jostle to court the country’s majority ethnic group ahead of the next general election. The Oriental Kopi boycott marks the latest saga fuelling ethnic grievances that politicians have been seen to capitalise on by portraying themselves as defenders of Malay identity. It comes ahead of the November 14 election in...

Universiti Malaya student Ummi Umairah Bakhit, who went viral recently for questioning the donation of money to former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, has spoken out against what she described as cyberbullying, political obsession and emotional loyalty. The youth stood by her criticism of donating money to the former prime minister, saying she would not apologise for raising the issue. In a social media post, Ummi Umairah said the response to a question she raised at the International...