Malaysia’s shoppers love Chinese e-commerce. But is the bargain worth it?

When artificial intelligence agents first arrived, they came with a tantalising promise: autonomous “digital workers” that would finally free humans from corporate drudgery. As businesses across Asia are discovering, however, the reality is quite the opposite – more work, new friction and a whole new layer of management. When Xiao Mengjie, an AI product marketing manager at a Big Tech firm in Shanghai, recently assigned two AI agents what she described as a simple task, she expected efficiency....

Rahul Gandhi is the descendant of three prime ministers. A surge of protests could give him a springboard to take on the nation’s current leader.

Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars’s moons to retrieve samples that could help unlock the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth, in what aims to be the first round trip to the Martian region. The uncrewed Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe, a collaboration with US and European space agencies as well as numerous universities and tech companies, could also help lay the groundwork for eventual human exploration. The flagship H3 rocket carrying the MMX is set to blast-off...

When shoppers step into Rokid’s brand new flagship store in Hong Kong, they are greeted not by eager sales associates, but by glowing monitor screens and a robotic system waiting at the exit. In what the Chinese augmented reality (AR) gadget pioneer called an experiment in “no man’s land” retail, customers navigate the entire journey independently: testing artificial intelligence smart glasses, making payments on a screen and receiving their new devices directly from an automated system on their...

Such deadly crowd events are relatively common in India, and it was unclear what caused this one. The authorities detained the event’s organizer and others involved.

Pakistan’s counterterrorism campaign against Taliban insurgents risks being undermined by public resentment, following the dismissal of the opposition-led administration of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. According to a statement issued by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office after an emergency cabinet meeting last Sunday, the decision to impose temporary federal rule was necessitated by the “provincial government’s deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism”. The KP...

Toxic haze from wildfires burning in Indonesia has spiked a demand for oxygen tanks and air purifiers across the region, manufacturers say, as they work the clock on equipment providing life-saving clean air. The months-long haze has blanketed parts of Southeast Asia, forcing school closures and fuelling a rise in respiratory complaints. Families are now rushing to buy devices to keep indoor air clean. At AA Alive, a medical equipment company based just outside Kuala Lumpur, employees were...

Almost every year, Kevin Stewart flies to China to find stock for his Indonesian businesses. But increasingly, the factories he visits are selling to his customers too, sometimes for less than they charge him. A data science manager in the tech sector by day, the Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneur also helps run home-living and pet-supply companies that sell to other businesses and direct to consumers, including through e-commerce platforms. Yet Chinese companies listing directly on Indonesian...

Stored in a climate-controlled environment within what is commonly known as the “Fort Knox of Singapore” rests the skull of a triceratops which once roamed the Earth 66 million years ago. The jagged edges of its frill and horns are largely intact, and according to its owner, Chaw Wei Yang, 26, it is one of the most complete triceratops skull fossils ever found. Chaw, who runs Fine Art Storage Services (FASS) located inside Le Freeport, formerly known as Singapore Freeport, along with his...

US President Donald Trump is expected to drive hard bargains on tariffs and critical minerals in his return to the Asean summit in Manila next month, with Washington seeking greater economic and strategic concessions while remaining hawkish on China. The Philippines confirmed on Wednesday that Trump would fly in for the summit from November 16 to 18, before attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Shenzhen that same week. Trump’s second consecutive appearance at the forum...

At least 19 people were killed and two dozen more injured on Saturday in eastern India after a stampede that occurred during sudden rainfall at a Hindu religious gathering, officials and Indian media said. West Bengal’s Chief Minister Suvendhu Adhikari told reporters the fatalities included a seven-year-old girl, adding that 25 other people were injured outside a pavilion “in a stampede” at the Hindu festival of Durga Puja in the city of Kolkata. “Six bodies have so far been identified,”...

A teacher and 32 children were killed in northwest Pakistan in an episode has prompted safety inspections of schools across the region.