China’s factories leaping straight into agentic AI and taking it global: Black Lake CEO

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India has long succeeded in isolating and undermining opponents. The Gen Z protests pose a challenge unlike any he has faced before.

AirAsia co-founder Tony Fernandes met with officials from Malaysia’s finance ministry two weeks ago to discuss potential government support for Southeast Asia’s largest low-cost airline, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The talks reflect growing government concerns about the financial health of the country’s largest domestic carrier following a spike in jet fuel prices, the people said. Discussions centred on the prospect of the government backing AirAsia’s fundraising...

Indonesian authorities and conservation workers have successfully moved eight ⁠orangutans to a safe ⁠location after the endangered ⁠primates’ homes were destroyed by wildfires in the forests of Borneo. The Southeast Asian nation is battling its most intense wildfires in 11 years, mainly on Sumatra and Borneo islands, and the ‌government has warned the blazes could continue until November, aggravated by the El Nino weather pattern. Three mother-child pairs and two adolescent male orangutans were...

A South Korean container ship has returned from a trial voyage through the Arctic, testing an alternative route opened by melting sea ice as conflict in the Middle East disrupts global shipping. The PanStar Acro made the round trip to Europe in less time than the conventional route through the Suez Canal, officials said. The initiative has drawn concerns that increased traffic could accelerate Arctic ice loss. The Arctic route could also expose operators to sanctions-related risks because it...

North Korea on Monday fired multiple ballistic missiles off its east coast, Seoul’s military said, after weeks of mounting friction over a landmine explosion along the countries’ heavily fortified border. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed in a statement that it had detected several ballistic missiles launched from the Pyongyang area, adding that its military “has stepped up surveillance and vigilance against possible additional launches”. Japan’s Defence Ministry separately confirmed...

China’s top securities regulator has signalled fresh support for the domestic A-share market, convening a symposium over the weekend as authorities sought to shore up sentiment following a sharp sell-off in technology shares driven by concerns over US sanctions. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) brought together executives from listed companies and experts from securities firms and fund managers at a meeting in Beijing on Saturday to “discuss the country’s capital markets and...

China’s memory chip giant ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) has reported “key progress” in a new structure that rivals Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are also working on to boost memory density. CXMT planned to roll out a new server-memory product based on the structure by the end of 2026, president Cao Kanyu said at an industrial event in Shanghai over the weekend, according to a company statement. At the centre of the development is the “4F square” design, in which each memory cell...

On a recent Friday night in a Bangkok dive bar, a group of young Myanmar exiles sang softly along to a mournful ballad played on an acoustic guitar. None among the crowd had any plans to leave, either for their homeland or home for bed. They fled war, a broken economy and forced conscription into a military that seized power in the 2021 coup. While their future in Thailand is uncertain, their ties to home are kept alive by the hard currency they send back each month to parents and siblings left...

Chinese President Xi Jinping has met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi three times in the past three years. Indian pilgrims are back at Kailash, the Tibetan mountain sacred to Hindus and Buddhists. Air China has restarted flights to New Delhi. But can trust grow between two armies that meet only in a crisis? And why does the Pentagon now talk to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) more easily than India’s army does? In September, Xi made his first visit to India in nearly seven years; Beijing...

The leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party, an Indian youth movement, had been detained by the police on Saturday before they could lead protests over voting rights.

Pakistan’s president declared a state of emergency and suspended the provincial government of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Sunday, the president’s office said, following allegations it had failed to tackle Islamist militancy. The constitution allows the federal ‌government to take over some or all provincial government functions during an emergency. The provincial governor will take charge with an advisory council, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told a news conference in Islamabad,...

Apple executive chairman Tim Cook has begun his third visit to China this year, following the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro line-up and the iPhone Duo, the company’s first foldable device, in one of its biggest markets. Cook met Meng Fanli, governor of the southern province of Guangdong, on Sunday and said Apple was willing to expand its presence, including in smart manufacturing and sales channels. As an important manufacturing powerhouse, Guangdong had been essential to Apple’s growth in China,...