KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali on Wednesday (June 12) categorically denied that he was the man in a widely circulated gay sex video that has rocked the country’s politics, saying the claims were a “nefarious plot to assassinate my reputation and character in an attempt to destroy my career”. “I categorically […]

BEIJING (Reuters) – New bank loans in China rebounded in May as policymakers urged lenders to support smaller companies struggling with weak demand at home and mounting export pressure from U.S. tariffs. Chinese banks extended 1.18 trillion yuan ($170.7 billion) in net new yuan loans in May, up from 1.02 trillion yuan in April, data […]

India and Pakistan “tensions” are high again. But this time it’s over cricket. The two sides are set to meet each other on Sunday in what is arguably the most highly-anticipated clash so far of the World Cup. Pakistan has upped the ante with a TV ad, satirising an Indian pilot who became a national […]

TOKYO — Shinzo Abe’s visit to Iran this week, the first to that country by a Japanese prime minister in more than 40 years, is the latest in a series of high-minded but long-shot efforts to lift Japan’s influence on the global stage. As he arrives in Tehran on Wednesday, Mr. Abe is putting himself […]

WELLINGTON (DPA) – After a bumper breeding season for New Zealand’s critically endangered nocturnal parrot, the kakapo, a fungal disease is threatening the species’ survival. Seven kakapo have succumbed in recent months to respiratory disease aspergillosis, the Auckland Zoo, where on Tuesday a 100-day-old chick died, said on Wednesday. “At this time, 16 birds have […]

SINGAPORE – When Corporal (Cpl) Kok Yuen Chin’s fellow officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) started chanting “kolam, kolam”, the 22-year-old responded with a “scared smile”. The “kolam” ritual involved an officer being made to climb into the 12m-deep pump well at the Tuas View Fire Station. Full-time national serviceman Mohamed Rabik Atham […]

PUTRAJAYA • Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday denied knowledge of the spread of a sex video and several lewd photographs purportedly involving a Cabinet minister, The Star reported. The video and photos where two men – one of whom resembles a Cabinet minister – appeared to be engaging in sexual acts, began spreading via […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Renault’s recent push to block a governance overhaul at Nissan Motor Co has put the Franco-Japanese automaking alliance in jeopardy, a person familiar with Nissan’s thinking told Reuters. The two-decade-old partnership of Renault SA and Nissan was plunged into fresh crisis this week after Renault signaled it would block its partner from […]

SEOUL (THE KOREAN HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Shocking images of a South Korean teenage mother who drank for days while her baby daughter was allegedly left to die at home has sparked a firestorm of criticism on the Internet. Pictures and postings on social media showed the 18-year-old mother out drinking with friends while her […]

TAIPEI (BLOOMBERG) – Alphabet Inc’s Google is moving some production of Nest thermostats and server hardware out of China, avoiding punitive US tariffs and an increasingly hostile government in Beijing, according to people familiar with the matter. Google has already shifted much of its production of US-bound motherboards to Taiwan, averting a 25 per cent […]