Ex-Bangladesh leader Hasina applies for passport in signal she’s ready for homecoming

Kota Laksamana in Melaka could be developed into Malaysian state’s new capital if Umno-led Barisan Nasional wins the seat in Saturday’s poll, according to caretaker chief minister Ab Rauf Yusoh. He said the proposed transformation would be supported by the Straits of Melaka Waterfront Economic Zone, which would bring together tourism, commercial and industrial activities along the state’s waterfront. “Kota Laksamana will become the state capital of Melaka. That is what I hope for,” he said...

Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have all recorded rising numbers of child abuse cases in recent years, but child welfare advocates say this may be a sign of progress rather than worsening violence, as greater awareness and improved reporting bring more cases to the attention of authorities. “The good news is that more people are reporting,” said Hartini Zainuddin, a veteran advocate for abused children in Malaysia. Official figures show growing caseloads in all three countries, but differences...

In a Pakistani village nestled in rice fields, Abdul Hafeez Khoso remembers the vast industrial zones he saw in Germany when he visited to file a pioneering climate legal case. “They’re spreading pollution: up in the sky there are no borders, it can affect anywhere,” the 43-year-old said, describing areas far larger than his village of 800 people. “This is a problem for the whole world – that is why it should be resolved at the global level.” Khoso and 38 other farmers from Pakistan’s southern...

Global climate talks starting on Monday are unlikely to yield new targets on curbing greenhouse gases, but negotiators have plenty to do to implement measures already agreed, according to Singapore’s environment minister. “I think that we are not expecting a major upgrade in mitigation targets” at ‌the annual UN talks in Turkey, Grace Fu told reporters. “But we have enough, even within the Paris Agreement, with what we have already agreed on. There is enough to work on.” Delegations from nearly...

Artificial intelligence promises to make government bureaucracies leaner across Asia, but its biggest effect on public-sector employment may not come from the widely feared wave of lay-offs. Instead, analysts say the technology is more likely to reshape existing jobs and narrow opportunities for young graduates hoping to enter the civil service, even as governments seek to improve efficiency without sacrificing job security. Unlike the Netherlands, which aims to cut an estimated 25,000 full-time...

India’s top court decreed that only more environmentally friendly fireworks could be set off this weekend, citing air quality concerns. But environmental activists call it a “green wash.”

The Philippines wants to buy more of India’s BrahMos missiles and have them adapted to its terrain, in a move analysts say signals Manila’s search for alternative arms suppliers as the US remains entangled in its Middle East conflict. Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr told a security summit in New Delhi last week that his country hoped to expand on its 2022 purchase of the supersonic cruise arsenal to strengthen its external deterrence. Indian sources later told Reuters that...

Turning risk diversification into value creation under the U.S.-China rivalry.

More than 13,000 people visited South Korea’s Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, Gyeonggi province, over a 10-day period to catch a rare glimpse of a North Korean self-propelled howitzer visible from the observatory. Despite the heightened tensions between the two Koreas, a total of 13,243 people visited the park from October 26 to Wednesday, up 7.5 per cent from 12,321 during the same period last year, according to Gimpo city on Sunday. The increase came after images published by local media...

The board of US AI chip giant Nvidia has announced an independent investigation as chief executive Jensen Huang said in a memo to employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife. Huang admitted to an extramarital affair and apologised to his family and colleagues in the memo, which the company published on its website on Sunday. “I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry,” Huang wrote. He apologised and pledged to...

Indonesia has not executed anyone for over a decade, with its new Criminal Code designed to make capital punishment a “last resort” – yet the number of prisoners on death row continues to climb. A new report on the persistent use of capital punishment by the country’s courts has raised questions about such rulings, handed down despite an unofficial moratorium on executions. There were 639 people on death row as of April this year, an increase from 596 as of August 2025, according to a report by...