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
Top US, Chinese diplomats meet at Asean talks
US Secretary of State top Antony Blinken held “candid and constructive” talks with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi yesterday in Indonesia’s capital, an official said, the latest in a series of interactions Washington says are aimed at managing competition between the rival superpowers.
Asean chair urges political solution to Myanmar crisis
Asean chair Indonesia yesterday urged a political solution to the Myanmar crisis at regional talks where Thailand’s envoy announced he met the country’s deposed democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week. Myanmar has
Double blow for Thailand’s PM-hopeful
Thai prime ministerial hopeful Pita Limjaroenrat was dealt a major setback yesterday when two separate complaints against him gained momentum, threatening to derail his leadership bid on the eve of a crucial vote on the premiership.
Thai FM says met Suu Kyi in first foreign envoy meeting since coup
Thailand's foreign minister met with ousted Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week, he told reporters Wednesday, her first known meeting with a foreign envoy since she was detained following a 2021 coup
7 bodies found after family of 10 swept away in Malaysia river
Ten members of a single family were swept away in a river surge in Malaysia, with seven bodies found just under 25 kilometres from where they had been swimming, a senior police official said Tuesday
‘Rebels attack China convoy’ in Myanmar
The Myanmar junta yesterday accused an armed ethnic group of attacking a vehicle convoy containing Chinese military personnel who were travelling to a meeting on border security, a claim the rebels denied.
Two Pakistani civilians killed after Indian forces open fire
Two Pakistani civilians were killed yesterday while one other was “critically injured” as the Indian Army opened “indiscriminate fire” at a group of shepherds at the Line of Control, the army’s media relations wing said.
Nepal capital bans Indian films
The mayor of Nepal’s capital yesterday launched a ban on the screening of hugely popular Indian films after a movie inspired by the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana sparked controversy.
Ex-Pakistan PM gets bail extended again
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s bail on corruption charges was extended again yesterday, after he urged supporters to take to the streets if he is re-arrested.
Junta-backed media slams ‘rotten’ UN
Myanmar state media condemned the United Nations as “rotten” yesterday, days after the UN special envoy for the country stepped down and the world body slammed curbs on aid for cyclone survivors.