17 h. ago Trump threatens tariffs on chip imports from firms not producing in US

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday his administration would impose tariffs on semiconductor imports from companies not shifting production to the US, speaking ahead of a dinner with major technology company CEOs. Since returning to office in January, Trump’s threat of tariffs has alienated trading partners, stirred volatility in financial markets and fuelled global economic uncertainty. “Yeah, I have discussed it with the people here. Chips and semiconductors – we will be putting tariffs...

Politics

40 h. ago How 2 colours are fuelling Indonesia’s revolt against widening inequality

“RESET SYSTEM” reads graffiti above an intersection in the Javanese city of Yogyakarta, painted hastily in vibrant green and pink after deadly protests swept Indonesia last week. Pink and green have quickly come to symbolise a solidarity movement after violent protests, sparked by discontent over economic inequality and lavish perks for lawmakers, rocked Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. In the capital Jakarta, office worker Dila paused at her desk to apply a bright green and pink filter to her...

Politics

42 h. ago China starts aviation training for Southeast Asia amid C919, home

China is training representatives from Southeast Asia this month in an effort to promote its home-grown civilian aircraft, as the region leads the world in accepting Chinese deliveries despite Airbus and Boeing’s dominance. Twenty participants from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are taking part in the 2025 China-Asean Civil Aviation Management Capacity Enhancement Workshop in Beijing, which started Monday. Organised by the Civil Aviation...

Politics

42 h. ago ‘Stay vigilant’: Singapore elevates turbulence to top aviation safety risk

Singapore has pledged to strengthen aviation safety practices around in-flight turbulence after two accidents last year that resulted in one fatality and multiple injuries. Severe turbulence will now be classified as a state-level operational safety risk, alongside runway incursions, mid-air collisions and system failures, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said in its Singapore National Aviation Safety Plan for 2025-2027, released on Wednesday. The report identified 45 actions to...

Events

54 h. ago Missing Malaysian airman found at girlfriend’s home after 10 days

A Royal Malaysian Air Force personnel member who was reported missing since August 24 was found at a condominium on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. According to police, Muhammad Ammar Mohd Ariffin, 27, was discovered at his girlfriend’s residence. “The airman, who had earlier been reported missing, was found together with his girlfriend at her unit,” Serdang police chief Muhamad Farid Ahmad said. The discovery was made by an investigative team from the Serdang police headquarters....

Society

54 h. ago Missing Malaysian airman was hiding at girlfriend’s home for 10 days

A Royal Malaysian Air Force personnel member who was reported missing since August 24 was found at a condominium on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. According to police, Muhammad Ammar Mohd Ariffin, 27, was discovered at his girlfriend’s residence. “The airman, who had earlier been reported missing, was found together with his girlfriend at her unit,” Serdang police chief Muhamad Farid Ahmad said. The discovery was made by an investigative team from the Serdang police headquarters....

Society

57 h. ago Thai Airways defies Chinese tourist slump with global growth

Thai Airways International’s diversified global markets are buffering Thailand’s national carrier from decreasing Chinese tourists to the Southeast Asian country, according to Chief Executive Officer Chai Eamsiri. “It is a different picture between Thailand and Thai Airways,” Chai said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Lingering safety concerns stemming from news of a failed kidnapping near Thailand’s border with Myanmar of Chinese actor Wang Xing early this year continue to weigh on...

Society

62 h. ago Hungry for justice: Southeast Asia sends Indonesia’s protesters food, solidarity

It began with a few Malaysians buying meals on Grab for strangers across the Java Sea. Within days, thousands were taking part, from Manila to Bangkok, sending food to Indonesian delivery riders caught in the turmoil of mass protest. Struggling food delivery riders, emblematic of Indonesia’s urban underclass, have become the focus of sympathy, solidarity and support from across Southeast Asia. Starting last week, thousands of social media users from around the region began ordering meals via the...

Society

65 h. ago Thailand acting leader moves to dissolve parliament to block rival’s PM bid

Thailand’s acting prime minister has moved to dissolve parliament, his party said on Wednesday, after the largest opposition party backed a rival candidate for prime minister. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was ousted last week by the Constitutional Court, leaving a power vacuum in the kingdom’s top office. Her Pheu Thai party – still governing in a caretaker capacity – was jostling for support from the largest opposition bloc, the People’s Party, to confirm a new candidate for prime...

Politics

65 h. ago Thailand’s acting leader moves to dissolve parliament to block rival’s PM bid

Thailand’s acting prime minister has moved to dissolve parliament, his party said on Wednesday, after the largest opposition party backed a rival candidate to lead the country. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was ousted last week by the Constitutional Court over her handling of a border row with Cambodia, leaving a power vacuum in the kingdom’s top office as rival factions jostled to replace her. Her Pheu Thai party – still governing in a caretaker capacity – was jostling for support from...

Politics

3 d. ago Indonesia’s Prabowo visits China after initially cancelling trip over protests

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will visit China for a military parade commemorating 80 years since the end of World War II on Wednesday, a minister said, after earlier cancelling his trip over deadly protests last week stoked by the death of a young delivery driver. “Tonight, President Prabowo Subianto departed for Beijing, China, at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. He monitored the situation and received reports from all relevant officials that public life was gradually returning...

Events

3 d. ago 400 Indonesian children ill after eating Prabowo’s free school meals

Around 400 children have fallen ill after eating free school meals in Indonesia’s western Bengkulu Province in the worst case of mass food poisoning to date linked to President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship food programme. Prabowo launched the programme of free meals for children and pregnant women in January, but the initiative has been marred by mass food poisoning across the archipelago, affecting hundreds of people. Last month, 365 people fell ill from free school meals in Central Java....

Politics

3 d. ago Malaysia summons TikTok, Meta over slow response to fake news, immoral content

Malaysian authorities have summoned TikTok’s top management over the social media company’s alleged delays in tackling fake news on its platform, state news agency Bernama reported on Tuesday, citing Malaysia’s communications minister. Minister Fahmi Fadzil said TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, had been too slow in responding to requests for help in police investigations, prompting him to ask the firm’s chief executive for help, Bernama reported. Fahmi cited a recent case where a man had...

Politics

3 d. ago Sinking fund: Philippines lost up to US$2 billion in 2 years to flood corruption

The Philippines loses up to 70 per cent of government funds for flood-control projects to corruption, with losses as much as US$2 billion crimping economic growth in the past two years, according to a top official. Average economic losses from corruption in flood control projects under the Public Works Department reached about 42.3 billion pesos (US$738 million) to 118.5 billion pesos from 2023 to 2025, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said at a Senate budget hearing on Tuesday. The estimate was...

Events

3 d. ago 8 dead, 20 missing as Indonesia’s unrest escalates, more protests expected

At least 20 people were missing after violent protests sparked in Indonesia by lavish perks for lawmakers that had come to include anger against police, a rights group said on Tuesday. At least eight people had been killed since protests rocked Southeast Asia’s biggest economy last week, a senior minister said on Monday. The protests escalated after footage spread of the killing of a young delivery driver by a paramilitary police unit on Thursday night. “As of September 1, there were 23 reports...

Events

3 d. ago Indonesian students defy police, face tear gas as deadly protests spread

Indonesian police fired tear gas into crowds of protesters near two universities in the major regional city of Bandung, student groups and authorities said on Tuesday, raising tensions around demonstrations that have killed eight since last week. The protests began in the capital Jakarta, targeting government spending such as enhanced perks for lawmakers, and have since spread nationwide. They escalated into rioting and looting after a police vehicle hit and killed a motorcycle taxi driver,...

Events

3 d. ago Hong Kong exporters warn US tariffs to hurt sales during coming holiday season

The latest round of “reciprocal” tariffs imposed by the United States has taken a toll on American importer confidence, prompting Hong Kong exporters to warn of weak sales and price inflation in two of the country’s most important spending seasons, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Tariffs ranging from 10 to 41 per cent took effect on August 1 in 70 jurisdictions, including many in Southeast Asia where Hong Kong exporters produce goods for the US. Washington had a deal to extend the tariff truce with...

Events

3 d. ago What Southeast Asia needs to succeed in building local AI models

At Asean’s first ever artificial intelligence summit in Kuala Lumpur recently, YTL AI Labs, in partnership with the University of Malaya, launched a large language model (LLM) called ILMU – which translates from Malay into English as “knowledge” but is used in this instance by the developers as a Malay acronym. Billed as Malaysia’s first, fully sovereign AI model with data locally hosted, managed and governed, ILMU has been trained on local, contextualised data and outperforms global...

Politics

4 d. ago Singapore issues correction order to US comedian over censorship claims

A correction order under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) has been issued to US comedian Sammy Obeid after a row over his cancelled Singapore show. “Mr Obeid’s account of protracted back-and-forth interactions with the government is inaccurate,” the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) said on Monday. “In his posts, he claims that the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) requested edits, told him to ‘completely remove’ portions of his...

Politics

4 d. ago French influence in Vietnam declines as Chinese language, culture gain ground

As Vietnam celebrates the 80th anniversary of its declaration of independence from colonial rule this week, French cultural influence remains ubiquitous, but not many people in the Southeast Asian nation are aware of its prevalence. A massive military parade will herald on Tuesday the independence proclaimed by revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh on September 2, 1945, which was meant to end nearly a century of French rule but instead started a decade-long war until the defeated French eventually...

Politics