The high cost of visiting home: Filipino workers' dilemma in Lebanon

Indonesia is considering Chinese investment to help build a massive 2,772km (1,722 mile) railway network through the vast, resource-rich region of Kalimantan, following the completion of Southeast Asia’s first high-speed line between Jakarta and Bandung, state media and analysts said. However, analysts noted that any future commercial agreements were likely to be negotiated cautiously, given the financial strains that dogged the high-speed line and the challenges that stalled a proposed...

In a village on the outskirts of Kota Bharu, in Malaysia’s deeply conservative northeastern state of Kelantan, Rozi* has learned to ignore what people say about her daughter. She had known for years that Hana* was different. As a child, Hana preferred girls’ clothes and spent most of her time with girls. Later, after leaving Kelantan to study, she began transitioning and eventually returned home, living openly as a woman. Rozi, 58, struggled to accept it at first, but what troubled her more was...

After a decade of start-stop negotiations, the European Union and the Philippines have found their way to a “substantial agreement” on free trade – one that analysts say could pave the way for Brussels to lock in an Asean-wide pact. The breakthrough, announced on Tuesday, capped talks that began in 2016 and stalled a year later, only to resume again in 2024. “I am proud to say we have delivered a substantial agreement that reflects the ambition both sides brought to the table,” EU trade chief...

In his talks with President Trump, the Chinese leader used praise, warnings and wartime history to challenge American support for Taiwan and Japan.

Pakistani authorities have barricaded Islamabad with more than 1,500 shipping containers to stop opposition protesters, choking off access to the capital.

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a roadside police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 11 people and wounding about 30 others, officials said, in a sign of increasing violence in the region bordering Afghanistan. The attack occurred in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial emergency service. Local police chief Safdar Baloch said most of those killed and wounded were...

Entire Bangkok neighbourhoods were inundated on Saturday as the city government declared a flood disaster after the worst rains in years overwhelmed the Thai capital, submerging roads, cars and forcing thousands to leave their homes. Bangkok is flood-prone, especially during the monsoon season, but waters rarely linger for long. Nonetheless, the city’s drainage is notoriously ill-equipped to handle storm bursts as it struggles to cope with waters that have reached at least two feet (60cm) and...

China’s technology companies face a question that no pricing strategy can answer: what will their success do to their trading partners? In Europe, that question has become politically urgent. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warns of a “second China shock”, linking persistent trade imbalances to the erosion of Europe’s industrial base. Europe’s dispute carries a broader warning: affordable products can coexist with deep anxiety over the loss of productive capability. If...

Late last year, Zhang Xuan’s small beef noodle joint in Shanghai suddenly began seeing a dramatic surge in orders. Sales over the past few months have been 50 to 60 per cent higher than normal, he estimates. The driver? The new Street Stars feature on Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group Holding’s Amap mapping app, which listed Zhang’s eatery as the fourth best restaurant in Shanghai’s Changning district. Prominently displayed on Amap’s main page, the system uses artificial intelligence to rate...

For over two decades, Pakistan has waged countless counterterrorism campaigns against Taliban and Baloch insurgents in its western regions bordering Afghanistan and Iran, yet remains mired in a cycle of violence it cannot break. Scores of soldiers, policemen and civilians are killed every month in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces, where near-daily attacks on security personnel, government officials and other prominent figures are carried out by...

Pakistani authorities have barricaded Islamabad with more than 1,500 shipping containers to stop opposition protesters, choking off access to the capital.

Chinese biotech deal making is moving beyond the licensing of individual drug candidates, as the country transforms from a follower to a global innovation leader, according to analysts. The latest transaction underscores that shift. Beijing-based cancer drug developer InnoCare Pharma said on Thursday that it had entered into a strategic research collaboration and licensing agreement with US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly that could be worth up to US$3.35 billion. InnoCare said it would use its...