North Korean construction workers sent to labour-strapped Russia have been forced to endure slave-like conditions of 18-hour days, two days off a year and bug-infested sleeping quarters, according to their accounts reported in the media. Working on Russian high-rise flats and other construction sites, these labourers often toil from 6am until 2am the next morning, […]
Read MoreBy Park Chan-kyong A diamond pendant worth tens of thousands of dollars, once worn by former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee on an official trip, has become the unlikely catalyst for her fall from grace. The luxury item, and its meticulously crafted fake, are now at the centre of a criminal case that saw […]
Read MoreBy Raissa Robles The Armed Forces of the Philippines has slammed as “fabricated” a video about an alleged stand-off with the Royal Malaysian Navy over contested Sabah waters and fishing rights. Manila’s navy confirmed it had sent a guided missile frigate, the BRP General Antonio Luna, to Malaysia for a long-planned joint military exercise. On […]
Read MoreBy Janelle Ling and Taryn Ng On the first day of every month, refugees in camps along the Thailand-Myanmar border would usually receive a top-up of credits to their digital food cards before making a beeline for food-card shops to stock up on groceries. On August 1, however, the shops stood quiet. Not a single […]
Read MoreBy Sam Beltran With the Philippines gearing up to succeed Malaysia as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 2026, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has confirmed that Manila will push for a finalised and binding code of conduct (COC) in the South China Sea amid a longstanding maritime row with China. In […]
Read MoreBy Sam Beltran The deployment of Asean observers along the Cambodia-Thailand frontier marks a fresh test for Southeast Asia’s capacity to police its own peace, even as entrenched mistrust between the two nations threatens to expose the limits of the regional bloc’s effectiveness. Cambodia and Thailand have consented to the stationing of observers from the […]
Read MoreBy Maria Siow As the devastation in Gaza intensifies and international pressure mounts, Australia and New Zealand are edging closer to recognising a Palestinian state, but critics warn that symbolic gestures and “window-dressing” alone will do little to alter the grim realities on the ground. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that Canberra […]
Read MoreBy Biman Mukherji For decades, India’s economic rise has been intertwined with the fortunes of its trading partners, none more so than the United States. Now, as Washington moves to impose punitive tariffs, industry leaders and policymakers alike are asking how the world’s most populous democracy might build a more self-reliant, resilient economic future. The […]
Read MoreBy Biman Mukherji It began, as so many epochal crimes do, with a single breach. But by the time the dust had settled on the Bybit hack, nearly US$1.5 billion in digital assets had vanished, exposing not just the vulnerabilities of Asia’s fledgling crypto markets but the growing reach of North Korea’s cyber operatives. The […]
Read MoreBy Pallava Bagla Reaching for the stars is becoming an everyday affair at India’s space agency, having visited the Moon and Mars with orbital missions, now eyes are set on a mission to Venus and a sample return from the Moon. Human space flight to fly an Indian citizen on an Indian rocket from Indian […]
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