Can the Philippines lead Southeast Asia’s fight against child labour?

Malaysia plans to spend 460 billion ringgit (US$112.6 billion) under its 2027 budget, expanding welfare assistance and tax relief while retaining fuel subsidies as households contend with higher living costs. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also finance minister, presented the spending plan in parliament on Friday as his government faces pressure for an early election following a series of state poll defeats. Anwar said the budget should be judged on “whether more people can live with...

Despite police barricades and detentions, activists like Neha Bora say they are determined to keep up the pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chinese state funds are ramping up support for the country’s second-largest contract chipmaker, pouring billions of yuan into the parent of Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor and a new manufacturing facility to fuel Beijing’s drive for self-reliance in mature-node chips. The capital blitz, spanning Hua Hong’s Shanghai-based parent company and a fabrication plant in Wuxi, highlights how government-coordinated financing is doubling down on domestic foundries, as Washington tightens technology...

As Russian President Vladimir Putin watched the final stage of the massive Tsentr-2026 military exercise in the Urals recently, Chinese troops were training alongside forces from Russia, Belarus and other countries. More than 47,000 military personnel joined the exercise, which incorporated lessons from the war in Ukraine. The symbolism extends beyond Chelyabinsk. From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Chinese military exercises with Belarus – and now China’s participation alongside Russian and...

Grace often hears other Singapore mothers debating how much private tuition their children need. Some rush to enrol their offspring in multiple classes before they turn five, while others try to resist the pressure to add lessons outside school. She enrolled her two children, now aged four and seven, in Chinese tuition when they were three to give them greater exposure to their ancestral tongue. “Neither of their parents speaks fluent Mandarin at home … I guess there is some degree of pressure...

Malaysia’s government will boost spending on social welfare while maintaining subsidies to rein in the cost of living under its 2027 Budget unveiled on Friday, as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim seeks to shore up public support while under pressure to call for an early general election. Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) has suffered bruising defeats in a series of state elections since December, as voters expressed disapproval of his administration’s failure to deliver on promises of reforms, which had...

Renewed fears of potential US trade curbs on next-generation optical transceivers for data centres have sent shares of Chinese suppliers tumbling, deepening a sell-off across artificial intelligence supply chain stocks. Shares of Chinese optical chipmakers extended their losses for a second straight session on Friday despite reassurances from major suppliers, while China’s benchmark CSI 300 Index slid 1.3 per cent by the midday break to its lowest level since August last year. Upstream laser...

A senior Japanese government spokesperson said it was regrettable that the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office had requested that Dutch authorities extradite International Criminal Court president Tomoko Akane and eight other officials. “Time and again we have conveyed to the Russian side that measures targeting individuals connected to the ICC are unfair and unacceptable. We find it regrettable that the Russian side has nevertheless requested various nations to extradite these individuals,”...

The main challenge of the incoming administration will be to sustain the peace process with Manila while representing the interests of local residents.

Two years after the Philippines banned its notorious offshore gaming hubs, or Pogos, a recent crackdown on hundreds of foreigners has highlighted a worrying trend of embedded corruption that still enables the sector to thrive. In September, the National Bureau of Investigation raided a call centre-style facility in Makati City, arresting more than 120 Chinese nationals linked to an alleged illegal trading and “lust scam” that tricked local and foreign victims into sharing explicit videos, which...

An independent panel of experts said that the 81-year-old "has the capacity to understand the charges" and "the purpose and consequences" of the trial proceedings.