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This Week in Asia
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump inside the demilitarised zone separating South and North Korea on June 30, 2019, in Panmunjom, South Korea. Photo: TNS

Politics

Why North Korea is ‘keeping the door open for dialogue’ with Trump

Analysts say Kim Yo-jong’s statement reflects North Korea’s emphasis on setting the preconditions for resuming dialogue.

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Bali jails Swiss tourist for insulting sacred Day of Silence

‘Please help me’: Malaysians ask Mamdani to fix potholes in meme appeal

East Asia

North Korea answers US olive branch with missile launch

South Korea detected 10 ballistic missiles hours after Pyongyang dismissed Washington’s decision to scale back joint exercises with Seoul.

People in Seoul watch a news broadcast on August 12 showing a North Korean missile launch. Japan says it detected a suspected North Korean missile launch off the country's east coast on Thursday. Photo: EPA
People in Seoul watch a news broadcast on August 12 showing a North Korean missile launch. Japan says it detected a suspected North Korean missile launch off the country's east coast on Thursday. Photo: EPA

East Asia

4 workers die after being hit by train north of Tokyo

Four of the seven workers engaged in weeding work died, while the other three were uninjured.

People

Live-streamed Philippine school shooting raises alarm over ‘memetic violence’

Analysts say the Zamboanga attack appears to fit a pattern of violence shaped by online spectacle, imitation and the pursuit of notoriety.

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Politics

Anwar’s Taiwan remarks put Malaysia’s Beijing calculus in focus

Analysts say the comments did not change Malaysia’s one-China policy, but could reinforce perceptions of closer alignment with Beijing.

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Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during an event in December 2025. Photo: EPA
Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during an event in December 2025. Photo: EPA

Politics

US drill cuts threaten South Korea’s wartime command plans

By cutting Ulchi Freedom Shield short, Washington may have set back Seoul’s bid to reclaim wartime military command delegated decades ago.

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Politics

Exclusive | Malaysia fears military ‘miscalculation’ near Sabah amid US-China rivalry

Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin says any escalation in areas close to Malaysia could have wider implications for its security.

Southeast Asia

Singapore plans tax, visa incentives to boost fund industry

The city state plans to exempt from tax investment profits earned by fund managers from managing certain funds.

A woman walks past the financial business district high-rise buildings in Singapore in May. Photo: AFP

Politics

Bangladesh’s energy crisis opens door for India to mend ties

Ties have been strained by Sheikh Hasina’s self-exile in New Delhi, with Bangladesh ruling out a visit by its president to India for now.

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Auto-rickshaws that run on compressed natural gas queue up to refuel at a filling station in Dhaka on Monday amid an energy crisis in Bangladesh. Photo: EPA
Auto-rickshaws that run on compressed natural gas queue up to refuel at a filling station in Dhaka on Monday amid an energy crisis in Bangladesh. Photo: EPA

People

Fake residency of foreign children in Thailand spotlights widening corruption

Seven people were arrested after nearly 200 children from Myanmar were found falsely registered as occupants in cramped flats in Bangkok.

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East Asia

North Korea’s Kim Yo-jong denies claim on sending more troops to Russia

Kim Yo-jong says Zelensky’s estimate that Pyongyang planned to send up to 50,000 more troops is ‘groundless’ and ‘a self-staged incident’.

Southeast Asia

Vietnam police confirm ex-politician spared charges over fatal crash in Hanoi

This is the first official acknowledgement of Nguyen Sy ⁠Cuong’s involvement after allegations had circulated on social media for months.

A woman looks at flowers placed on Saturday at the site of a traffic accident where a senior official had a fatal car crash in Hanoi. Photo: AFP

Politics

Will Putin’s Kuril Islands visit push Japan closer to Ukraine?

With its need for Russian gas limiting fresh sanctions, analysts say Tokyo has few economic weapons left to respond.

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Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (right) and his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga pose after a signing ceremony in Tokyo on July 1. Photo: AFP
Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (right) and his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga pose after a signing ceremony in Tokyo on July 1. Photo: AFP

Politics

US defence chiefs tour Asia to calm fears as Trump’s drill remarks sow doubts

Visits to Manila, Seoul and Tokyo seek to reassure, even as the Iran war drains assets and White House rhetoric rattles allies.

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Politics

South Korea accelerates military self-reliance over Trump’s ‘unpredictability’

President Lee Jae Myung wants South Korea to regain wartime operational control in his term even as he vows to maintain the US alliance.

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Lifestyle & Culture

Bling gamble: how Southeast Asia’s middle class is redefining luxury

Instalments and resales are helping customers from Bangkok to Jakarta bridge the gap between aspiration and affordability.

Illustration: Kevin Wong
Illustration: Kevin Wong

People

Malaysia’s royals rise to the fore in a changing nation

Unstable coalitions have created greater room for the country’s royal institutions to influence government formation, observers say.

Politics

Ready player 3: India offers Asean a US-China alternative

India pitches trade, missiles and room to hedge as the US and China vie for regional influence.

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Economics

‘A matter of survival’: Indonesia’s push for a financial hub in Bali

Luhut Pandjaitan wants investors to imagine kamikaze drones over Abu Dhabi, then picture themselves in Bali instead.

Luhut Pandjaitan, chairman of Indonesia’s National Economic Council, at the Nusa Dua Forum in Bali, Indonesia, on July 17. Photo: Nora Tam
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Highlights from
THIS WEEK IN ASIA

Politics

Why North Korea is ‘keeping the door open for dialogue’ with Trump

videocam
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump inside the demilitarised zone separating South and North Korea on June 30, 2019, in Panmunjom, South Korea. Photo: TNS

Politics

Anwar’s Taiwan remarks put Malaysia’s Beijing calculus in focus

7
Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during an event in December 2025. Photo: EPA

People

Live-streamed Philippine school shooting raises alarm over ‘memetic violence’

videocam
Philippine police (L) patrol the area around the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School building in Zamboanga City, Philippines, on Tuesday. Photo: EPA

Politics

‘Please help me’: Malaysians ask Mamdani to fix potholes in meme appeal

Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds up bananas as he speaks at a food distribution centre in the Brooklyn borough of New York City last month. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

Politics

US drill cuts threaten South Korea’s wartime command plans

videocam
South Korean soldiers join in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the US and South Korea in Seoul on Wednesday. Photo: AP
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