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
New clashes in Rakhine displace 26,000: UN
Renewed fighting this week between Myanmar’s military and an ethnic minority armed group has displaced more than 26,000 people in western Rakhine state, the United Nations said on Friday.
New clashes in Myanmar's Rakhine state displace 26,000: UN
Renewed fighting this week between Myanmar's military and an ethnic minority armed group has displaced more than 26,000 people in western Rakhine state, the United Nations said on Friday
UN says 75 civilians killed in recent Myanmar clashes
Seventy-five civilians have been killed in clashes in Myanmar after an alliance of ethnic minority groups launched an offensive against the military last month, the United Nations said on Wednesday
Rajapaksa brothers guilty
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court yesterday issued a symbolic ruling that the powerful Rajapaksa brothers -- including two ex-presidents -- were guilty of triggering the island’s worst financial crisis by mishandling the economy.
Over 2,000 Myanmar nationals flee to Mizoram
More than 2,000 Myanmar nationals entered India through the border in Mizoram state in the last 24 hours following a gun battle between that country's security forces and rebels in Chin province, an official said yesterday
Myanmar junta under attack on new fronts
Ethnic minority insurgent groups attacked security posts in Myanmar yesterday, residents, rebels and an official said, as fighting erupted on two new fronts, and thousands of people crossed into neighbouring India seeking safety.
Myanmar fighter jet crashes
A Myanmar fighter jet has crashed during clashes between the military and an insurgent group, both sides said, in another setback for a junta facing the biggest challenge to its rule since a coup in 2021.
50,000 civilians displaced
Almost 50,000 people have been displaced by fighting in northern Myanmar after an alliance of ethnic armed groups launched an offensive against the military two weeks ago, the United Nations said yesterday.
Northern Myanmar fighting displaces almost 50,000 civilians: UN
Fighting has raged for two weeks across northern Shan state near the Chinese border, in what analysts say poses the biggest military challenge to the junta since it seized power in 2021
UN ‘alarmed’
The United Nations expressed concern on Monday about “heavy fighting” between the army and an alliance of ethnic minority groups in northern Myanmar, which has left civilian casualties and displaced more than 30,000 people.