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
Death toll at Indonesia smelter fire rises to 18, operation halted
The death toll from a fire at an Indonesian nickel smelter has risen to 18 as of Tuesday from 13 on Sunday, local police said, while operations at the smelter remain suspended as authorities investigate the cause of the incident
13 dead, 38 injured in explosion at nickel plant in Indonesia
At least 13 people were killed and 38 injured in eastern Indonesia on Sunday in an explosion at a Chinese-funded nickel-processing plant, the owner of the industrial park that hosts the facility said
Thai MP jailed for six years on royal insult charges
A Thai court on Wednesday sentenced a lawmaker from the progressive Move Forward Party to six years in jail on royal insult charges, the party's leader said
'Bangladeshi man' among two arrested for selling fake permits in Malaysia
A foreign couple was arrested by the Johor Immigration Department for operating a fake working permit renewal syndicate at an apartment here
About 400 Rohingya land in Indonesia, adds to surge of recent arrivals
Dilapidated boats carrying an estimated 400 ethnic Rohingya arrived in Indonesia's Aceh province on Sunday, chief of a provincial fishing community has confirmed, adding to a recent surge of Myanmar's Muslim minority arriving in the country
Junta calls for political solution with rebel groups
Myanmar’s junta chief has called on ethnic armed groups battling the military across the country to find a political solution, state media reported yesterday.
Nepal urges Russia not to recruit its citizens into army
Nepal said it has asked Moscow not to recruit its citizens into the Russian army and immediately send back any Nepali soldier commissioned there back to Himalayan nation after revealing six soldiers serving Russia’s military had been killed.
14 killed as Thai bus smashes into tree
A double-decker coach smashed into a tree in southern Thailand, killing at least 14 people and injuring 32, police said Tuesday
Imran Khan replaced as PTI head
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, currently in jail facing myriad charges he says are rigged to keep him from contesting elections next year, was replaced yesterday as head of the party he founded, officials said.
139 Rohingya refugees land in Indonesia: officials
More than 100 Rohingya refugees including women and children landed in Indonesia's westernmost province on Saturday, officials said, but locals were threatening to push them back to sea