News Headlines

Min Aung Hlaing spent a decade jostling with civilian leaders before mounting a 2021 coup, jailing Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and triggering a vicious civil war that is still being fought.

South Korea imports about 70 per cent of its crude oil from the Middle East.

With limited job opportunities and low wages, young Pakistanis are increasingly looking to online gaming to make ends meet.

Fewer food deliveries, less focus in class. People in Southeast Asia have to find ways to adjust as the ongoing heatwave becomes harder to bear.

The Indonesian peacekeeper was killed when a projectile exploded at one of the UN's positions near the southern Lebanese village.

The move is another sign isolated North Korea is gradually opening up following the resumption of train services between the capitals.

Brent crude has gained 59 per cent this month, topping the jump that followed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Part of CNA’s series on the forces powering electric vehicles in Asia, this piece follows the mechanics, technicians and sales workers scrambling to keep pace with China’s EV boom.

Singapore's Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has described the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as an "Asian crisis".

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticised the police action, saying that denying entry to religious leaders "constitutes an offence not only to believers, but for every community that recognises religious freedom."

Reports of suspected extortion recently surfaced in articles by Singapore news outlet Mothership that featured accounts from various travellers arriving at the Batam Centre ferry terminal.

The test was “part of the national defence development plan in the period of the new five-year plan”, North Korean state media reported on Sunday (Mar 29).

Winter in Bhutan brings rare encounters: near-threatened black-necked cranes, textiles inspired by their calls, and cultural spaces reimagined for a new generation.

This instalment of CNA’s series on the forces powering electric vehicles (EVs) in Asia examines India’s growing presence in the development of rare-earth-free motors, and the speed bumps facing wider adoption.

As Thailand moves to shake up its massage industry by introducing stricter standards, training and regulation, industry players and workers tell CNA about their hopes and concerns.

Organisers say that more than 3,200 events are planned in all 50 states, with flagship rallies in New York, Los Angeles and Washington DC, for what they hope could be the largest single-day nonviolent protest in US history. 

The talks come after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a national energy emergency earlier this week, citing oil supply disruptions due to the Middle East conflict and announced efforts to diversify fuel imports, including sourcing from China.

North Korea has long been accused of widespread rights abuses, including running prison camps and severely restricting freedom of expression and access to information.

The new government will move quickly to deliver a policy statement to parliament so it can begin its work, said Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

Indonesian tankers Pertamina Pride and Gamsunoro, owned by a subsidiary of state energy firm Pertamina, remain in the Gulf, a company spokesperson said.

Noida International Airport is 75km from New Delhi and will serve 12 million passengers a year in its initial phase, with the potential to grow to as many as 70 million.

While major powers may have difficulties in their own relations, Singapore wants to remain friends with all of them and it should be possible to do so, says Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

"With this agreement in place, there is greater confidence that disruptions like those seen in early March will not recur," says Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

Malaysian activist Fadiah Nadwa Fikri – who was refused entry to Singapore on Mar 22 – had “incited” activists in Singapore to break the law and use violence, said Singapore’s Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam.

The restrictions began on Mar 28, making Indonesia the first country in Southeast Asia to ban children from having accounts on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox. 

The arrests of former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and ex-Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak come a day after PM Balendra Shah and his Cabinet were sworn in.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration has set a new sales target for domestically produced microchips, aiming for an eightfold increase by 2040 compared with 2020 levels.

Balendra Shah was sworn in a day after he released his first public statement since winning the Mar 5 elections, via a rap song posted on social media.

The leadership change comes just days before Myanmar's newly-convened parliament is due to meet to start the process to pick a new president. 

The Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA) urged the government to approve the hikes in fuel surcharge for both jet and propeller aircraft.

Speaking to CNA, the chairman of Indian conglomerate Piramal Group says artificial intelligence is opening access to credit and public services in underserved areas, but warns it could widen the gap between skilled and unskilled workers. 

In his special address on Thursday (Mar 26), Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also announced that the 300-litre monthly quota for subsidised RON95 petrol under the BUDI95 programme has been reduced to 200 litres as an interim measure.

"The ironclad South Korea-US alliance is an essential pillar of peace and stability on the peninsula but excessive dependence is not desirable," President Lee Jae Myung said.

From boosting tourism to generating billions in sales, Japan’s mascots have grown into a powerful industry – but only a few become stars.

China, alongside Russia, abstained from a Mar 11 United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Iran’s strikes on Gulf countries. It had previously backed four rounds of UN sanctions over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme between 2006 and 2010.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong says Singapore is looking at how it can participate in Hong Kong's new developments, such as its Northern Metropolis project.

Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, who received her PhD from the National University of Singapore in January, encouraged some youths in Singapore to adopt her brand of radical advocacy, said Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday (Mar 27). It called her an “undesirable visitor”.

Schools are prohibited from frequently organising examinations and increasing the "academic burden on students", China's Education Ministry said.

The suspected assailant also died after stabbing himself in the neck. 

Former UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin could help win back urban and younger Malay voters, while former Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein still wields influence in the party’s power networks, say observers.

A Singapore Airlines spokesperson said the fare hikes partially defray the higher fuel costs but do not fully cover the increase.

Washington and Manila have gaps to plug in integrated air and missile defence and weapons access policy, says a geopolitical analyst.

"My heart is full of courage, my red blood is boiling; my brothers stand with me, this time we will rise,” Nepal’s incoming Prime Minister Balendra Shah sung in his first post-election rap.

The top United States diplomat in Taiwan pledged continued support for the island's efforts to acquire "critical defence capabilities".