Leaner, Meaner, More Networked: The Royal Thai Air Force’s Modernization Drive

Japan’s government on Friday compiled a package of emergency measures to address a spate of recent personal data breaches caused by unauthorised access, amid growing public concerns over cybersecurity. Among the measures are promoting the use of artificial intelligence to identify vulnerabilities in computer systems and creating several teams of highly skilled experts. The package was announced at a meeting of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and relevant ministers on Friday. Takaichi instructed...

China’s stocks pared weekly gains and the benchmark 10-year bond hit a record low as the global artificial intelligence (AI) stock bubble burst following the US Democrats’ landslide win in midterm elections. The CSI 300 equity index fell 1.4 per cent, weighed down by AI-related shares. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.3 per cent. The yield on China’s 10-year sovereign bond touched an intraday low of 1.58 per cent, according to Bloomberg, spurred by investor demand for safe-haven assets and...

Malaysia’s hope for a shift in US trade policy is unlikely to be realised for some time, experts warn, as the new Democratic-led Congress will face strong opposition from US President Donald Trump in its attempt to reverse some of his tariff measures. Trump’s Republicans suffered their worst rout in recent times in the US midterm elections on Tuesday, losing control of both Congress and the Senate by wide margins as voters made clear their anger at Trump over surging living costs caused by the...

Indonesia’s climate ambitions are being undermined by devastating wildfires that contradict its emissions-cutting strategy, casting a shadow over Jakarta’s push for a greener economy ahead of the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (Cop31). However, Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat has doubled down, arguing that his country’s climate goals should not come at the expense of national development and that emissions reduction efforts must be fair. On Wednesday, he outlined six priority areas for...

A former Miss Thailand and well-known social activist was arrested on Friday alongside her husband, accused of siphoning off money from her charity to buy luxury homes as police examine an estimated 1 billion baht (US$30 million) in donations. Panadda “Boom” Wongphudee, 50, was detained at her Bangkok home early on Friday morning after the Criminal Court issued arrest warrants accusing the couple of public fraud and money laundering. Her husband, fitness influencer and businessman Atip...

The Democratic Party’s sweep of both houses of the US Congress could stabilise Washington’s commitment to the Philippines, bringing relief to allies rattled by President Donald Trump’s Iran war and his shifting foreign policy. Analysts expect bipartisan support for Manila to endure, with Democratic oversight set to rein in Trump’s unpredictability. But they warn that Washington could still turn inward to deal with domestic challenges, diverting attention from the Indo-Pacific. The rebuke of...

An EU funding crunch is threatening to stifle the bloc’s ambitions to expand its influence in Southeast Asia, as Brussels grapples with a budget deadlock that could slow infrastructure investments across the fast-growing region. The funding squeeze could hinder the green transition and regional connectivity goals of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, even as Brussels seeks greater strategic autonomy amid competition with Beijing’s economic clout. Analysts expect the European Union to...

The sweeping midterm election victory by US Democrats has triggered warnings from analysts that an impending regulatory clampdown could derail the nation’s multi-trillion-dollar artificial intelligence data centre buildout. Wall Street forecasters slashed their projections for Big Tech infrastructure spending hours after the vote, cautioning that a wave of proposed project moratoria and tighter oversight could stall up to 30 per cent of planned US facilities and force developers to downscale...

Hong Kong’s Exchange Fund, the war chest used to defend the local currency, reported a 74 per cent tumble in third-quarter earnings amid pervasive market uncertainty, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Friday. Earnings totalled HK$18.6 billion (US$2.4 billion) in the quarter, plunging from HK$70.8 billion a year earlier. For the first nine months of 2026, total earnings slid 39.6 per cent from a year earlier to HK$171.9 billion. The Exchange Fund’s Hong Kong equities portfolio...

Malaysia’s disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak left prison for house arrest after Umno on Friday paid a 50 million ringgit (US$12.3 million) fine required under the terms of his royal pardon. The clemency granted by King Sultan Ibrahim in September allows Najib to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until August 2028, after more than four years behind bars for corruption linked to the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund. His exit from prison may renew scrutiny of Prime Minister...

A summit could bolster Xi Jinping’s stature. But talks about Ukraine’s future and limits on nuclear weapons pose uncomfortable choices for China.

Malaysia’s Sarawak will hold a state election on December 12 as the incumbent government seeks a fresh mandate to press demands over autonomy and control of the territory’s natural resources. The filing of nominations will begin on November 28 and early voting will be on December 8, Election Commission chairman Ramlan Harun told reporters on Friday. The 14-day election campaign involving more than 2.05 million eligible voters choosing 82 members will end on December 11, the commission said in a...