Tag - asia

 
 

ASIA

A train passes over downtown Kuala Lumpur
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2024
ASEAN's second renaissance is now
The bloc’s economies, despite varying political landscapes, rank among the world’s most dynamic.
Workers retrieves tsunami buoy Thai 23461 in the Andaman Sea on Nov. 28.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 25, 2024
The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
They form part of a warning system intended to ensure no disaster is as deadly as a huge December 2004 tsunami caused by an earthquake under the Indian Ocean.
Christians take selfies after a Christmas Eve Mass at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, on Tuesday, ahead of the 20th anniversary of a magnitude 9.1 earthquake that struck the coast of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, triggering a huge tsunami across the Indian Ocean.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 25, 2024
Blogs to Bluesky: Social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
In two decades, the online social media landscape has experienced a vast change, allowing information — as well as rumor and misinformation — to flow in real time.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet speaks during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 22, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 24, 2024
Under Cambodia’s new leader, room for dissent narrows
While Prime Minister Hun Manet has often spoken of the need for independent media and civil society in Cambodia, his government has moved in the opposite direction.
Singapore's central business district in January 2023. The city-state’s supportive digital-asset environment has been credited with making it a "safe, long-term choice” for a regional hub.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 24, 2024
Singapore pulls ahead of Hong Kong in race to be crypto hub
The Southeast Asian city-state doled out 13 cryptocurrency licenses in 2024 to a range of operators, more than double its awards in 2023.
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Dec 21, 2024
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
Flowing more than 4,300 kilometers from the Tibetan Plateau to Vietnam, the Mekong River is the lifeblood of the region. It also faces a spiraling problem with plastic.
A vendor sells a box of cigarettes across rolls of barbed wire, separating Thailand and Myanmar, in Mae Sot, Thailand, on Aug. 18, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2024
Myanmar’s war has forced doctors and nurses into prostitution
The rise in prostitution is another blow to the status of women in Myanmar.
Just over a year ago, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden celebrated their historic summit at Camp David, but Yoon's controversial policies and martial law attempt have undermined that progress.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2024
Yoon's impeachment widens East Asia fault lines
leadership changes in Seoul, Tokyo and Washington add to the instability, raising concerns about the future of this critical alliance.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is considering visiting Indonesia and Malaysia in early January, government sources have said.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2024
Ishiba eyes visit to Indonesia and Malaysia in early January
Ishiba will postpone his planned visit to South Korea early next year due to political turmoil in the country.
A defaced mural of Sheikh Hasina, the ousted prime minister of Bangladesh, in Dhaka on Nov. 5. The new governor of Bangladesh’s central bank, Ahsan Mansur, calculates that about $17 billion was siphoned from the country’s financial system in the 15 years before Hasina's government collapsed in August.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 9, 2024
How the Bangladesh economy was siphoned dry
Some economists guess that the true value looted during Sheikh Hasina’s rule before she fled the country could exceed $30 billion, but no one can say for sure.
Tokyo Gas' liquefied natural gas terminal in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture, last month. The utility is considering several wind power projects in Southeast Asia amid the global decarbonization push.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 5, 2024
Tokyo Gas eyes wind power projects in Southeast Asia
The gas utility is expected to make final investment decisions on some of the envisaged projects as early as 2025.
Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan looks on at a court in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 4.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 27, 2024
Vietnam mogul told to refund missing billions to overturn death sentence
Truong My Lan, 68, is appealing her death sentence after being convicted in April of embezzling $12.3 billion from Saigon Commercial Bank.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos (center) stands beside Vice President Sara Duterte (left) in a traditional dress after he delivered his first State of the Nation address at the House of Representatives in Quezon City,  Manila, on July 25, 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 26, 2024
Philippines' Marcos vows to fight back after estranged VP's death threat
The threat by Sara Duterte, daughter of firebrand former President Rodrigo Duterte, is the latest twist in a dramatic spat between the powerful families.
In developing Asia, where coal dominates and imported liquefied natural gas is expensive, natural gas remains limited in electricity grids.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2024
Gas got America off coal. Now, it's coming for Asia's oil.
It can work in concert with carbon-free energy to break the hold of the dirtiest sources of power.
A waterway along a portion of the Mekong River where a groundbreaking ceremony took place to begin construction on the Funan Techo Canal, in Prek Takeo, Cambodia, in October.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 23, 2024
Cambodia's flagship canal in hot water as China funding dries up
Months after a groundbreaking ceremony for a major canal project in Cambodia, touted investments from China are in doubt.
Farmer Hla Han, 52, who lost his leg after stepping on a mine, peels garlic outside his house in Demoso township, eastern Kayah state, Myanmar.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 20, 2024
Myanmar led world in landmine victims in 2023, monitor says
Decades of sporadic conflict between the military and ethnic rebel groups have left Myanmar littered with deadly landmines and munitions.
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Nov 19, 2024
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
Up to 17 teams are slated to join this year’s Asian Japanese Rugby Cup tournament in Malaysia on Dec. 14.
Members of the Philippine Coast Guard stand alert as a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocks their way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on March 5.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 14, 2024
China and Philippines spar over baseline drawings in South China Sea
"The said baselines infringe upon Philippine sovereignty and contravene international law," the Philippines' foreign ministry said in a statement.
Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto in Washington on Tuesday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 13, 2024
Indonesia’s Prabowo courts Trump and meets top executives in U.S.
Prabowo Subianto’s first overseas trip since taking office saw him visit China before he headed for the U.S., as he tries to balance relations with both countries.
Asian banks are shifting focus from trade financing to wealth management and capital markets to offset potential losses from U.S. tariffs and capitalize on growing regional and global wealth.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2024
The wealthy will shield Asian banks from Trump tariffs
Asian banks are shifting focus from trade financing to wealth management and capital markets to offset potential losses from U.S. tariff.

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?