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
6 killed in mosque attack
A gunman stormed a mosque in western Afghanistan and killed six people, a government spokesman said yesterday, with local residents claiming the minority Shia community had been targeted.
Myanmar records hottest ever April temperature of 48.2°C: weather department
Myanmar recorded its hottest ever April temperature of 48.2 degrees Celsius (118.76 Fahrenheit), its weather department said on Monday, as the Southeast Asian nation bakes in a heatwave
Myanmar conflict: Senior NUG ministers, security experts seek Dhaka’s intervention
An international dialogue titled "Building Bridges of Harmony: A Holistic Strategy for Social Cohesion, Peace and Stability in Post-Civil War Arakan/Rakhine" was held at the EMK Center in Dhaka’s Gulshan on Saturday
20 Cambodian soldiers killed in ammunition base explosion
Twenty Cambodian soldiers have been killed in an ammunition explosion at an army base, Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday.
Singapore Airlines ordered to pay $3,580 to couple after recliner seats failed to work
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has been ordered to pay two of its passengers 200,000 rupees (S$3,300) plus other costs after they filed a complaint concerning recliner seats on a flight from Hyderabad to Australia
Heat stroke kills 30 in Thailand this year as kingdom bakes
Thailand issued fresh warnings about scorching hot weather on Thursday as the government said heatstroke has already killed at least 30 people this year
Extreme heat scorches SE Asia
Extreme heat scorched parts of South and Southeast Asia yesterday, prompting schools across the Philippines to suspend classes and heat warnings in the Thai capital.
Maldives vows China-backed building boom, Indians out
The Maldives will press on with Chinese-backed construction and evict Indian troops from the strategically placed atoll nation, President Mohamed Muizzu’s office said yesterday, two days after his party’s stunning parliamentary victory.
Troops back in border trade hub
Myanmar junta troops have moved back into a vital border town they were ousted from by an alliance of ethnic rebels and anti-junta fighters this month, military sources told AFP yesterday.
Gunmen kill 7 customs officials in two attacks
Unknown gunmen killed two customs officers in western Pakistan, officials said yesterday, following the killing of five other customs officials in the area in recent days.