Southeast Asia
Malaysia’s minimum wage to go up to 1,700 ringgit from Feb 1
The Malaysian government has agreed to increase the minimum wage rate from RM1,500 currently to RM1,700, with effect from February 1, 2025, said Anwar Ibrahim
Gunmen kill 7 in southwest Pakistan
Gunmen killed seven workers in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan late on Saturday, police said.
Vietnam jails journalist for seven years on 'propaganda' charge
A Vietnam court Tuesday sentenced a journalist who wrote about issues including corruption, land rights and the environment to seven years in jail, his sister said, the latest government critic to be put behind bars.
Malaysia charges ex-PM Muhyiddin with sedition over alleged remarks on royalty, lawyer says
Malaysia has charged opposition leader and former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin with sedition for allegedly insulting the country's former king, his lawyer said on Tuesday
PRESIDENTIAL POLLS / Lanka’s Rajapaksa scion enters race
Sri Lanka’s ruling party nominated a scion of the controversial Rajapaksa family yesterday to challenge the incumbent president in next month’s polls, the first since the country’s unprecedented economic meltdown.
Oli takes oath as Nepal’s fifth PM in five years
Veteran communist politician K P Sharma Oli was sworn in as Nepal’s prime minister yesterday, the fifth in five years, hoping to ensure political stability in the impoverished Himalayan nation that badly needs to woo investors and create jobs.
KP Sharma Oli Nepal’s new PM
Nepal’s president appointed Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli as prime minister for a fourth time yesterday, after his communist party forged a coalition government with the centre-left Nepali Congress.
Eleven dead in Vietnam after landslide buries van
A landslide triggered by heavy rains buried and killed at least 11 people who were travelling in a van in northern Vietnam, the country's disaster management authority said on Saturday
Pakistan's PM offers delayed congratulations to Modi
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday offered a brief congratulations to his counterpart Narendra Modi on his re-election in rival India, almost a week after the results came in
123 Bangladeshis among 214 illegal immigrants detained in Malaysia
A total of 214 illegal immigrants, including 123 Bangladeshis, have been arrested by the Malaysia's Johor Immigration Department during raids on workers' settlements
Crew error blamed for Malaysian deadly chopper crash
A mid-air collision between two Malaysian military helicopters that killed all 10 people onboard was caused by crew error, the country's navy said Thursday
Bangladeshis among 86 undocumented migrants arrested in Malaysia
More than 80 illegal immigrants, including a six-month-old baby, were arrested in a three-day operation involving three districts in Johor
US deeply troubled by reports of rising tensions in Rakhine
The US is deeply troubled by the reports of increased violence and intercommunal tension in Rakhine State of Myanmar, including reports of towns being burned and residents, including Rohingya, being displaced
Briton who died on SIA flight hit by turbulence was looking forward to ‘last big holiday’ with wife
The 73-year-old Briton that died on the turbulence-hit Singapore Airlines flight on May 21 was a beloved member of his local community who was headed for a "last big holiday" with his wife
'Thousands of Rohingyas' displaced by Arakan Army
Rohingya activists accused a Myanmar ethnic armed group on Wednesday of displacing thousands of the persecuted minority in western Rakhine state, after the United States said it was troubled by increasing violence
Shaken passengers arrive in Singapore after turbulence-hit flight
More than 140 passengers and crew from a Singapore Airlines flight hit by heavy turbulence that left dozens injured and one dead finally reached Singapore on a relief flight Wednesday morning after an emergency landing in Bangkok
Wife of ex-Pak PM moved to jail on her request
A court in Pakistan yesterday granted a request by the wife of former prime minister Imran Khan to be moved to jail, her lawyer said, instead of the house arrest ordered by the government.
Grid meeting half of power needs amid conflict: junta
Myanmar is producing about half of the electricity it needs each day, the junta has said, blaming scant rainfall for hydropower, lower natural gas yields and attacks by its opponents on infrastructure.