Showing 1 - 10 of 201
Oil smugglers' Cook Islands office enabling sanctions-busting 'shadow fleets'
Steven Trask of AFP, Published on 02/12/2025
» CANBERRA - Dozens of oil tankers suspected of smuggling contraband crude for Russia and Iran have been using a beachside office in the tropical South Pacific to cover their tracks, an AFP analysis of sanctions data has revealed.
When flood warnings come too late
News, Simon Wang, Published on 29/11/2025
» Pictures can speak a thousand words; images can induce rivers of tears and break so many hearts. Viral images are too grim to look at. Thirty newborns in a darkened ward. Nurses working by flashlight. Outside, streets had become rivers. Parents could not reach their children. In Hat Yai, the water pushed past the second floor.
Rethinking finance beyond aid
Oped, Justin Yifu Lin & Yan Wang, Published on 06/11/2025
» Traditional donors have sharply scaled back their aid commitments to developing countries over the past year. Some, like the United States, have virtually eliminated their aid programmes. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), official development assistance (ODA) from member countries declined by 7.1% in 2024, its first annual drop in six years.
Thailand accelerates EV hub ambitions with $6.5bn boost
Simon Kind, Published on 29/09/2025
» Government incentives, foreign investment, and soaring real estate demand are propelling Thailand towards its 2030 goal of becoming Southeast Asia’s premier EV manufacturing hub.
Indonesia and Nepal's 2025 wake-up call
Oped, Simon Hutagalung, Published on 12/09/2025
» Two nations with different characteristics -- Indonesia and Nepal -- experienced identical severe storms when 2025 arrived. The people of Jakarta took to the streets to express their discontent about elite advantages, economic difficulties and government secrecy. The Nepalese government issued a ban on 26 social media platforms, which triggered youth protests that evolved into violent civil unrest throughout Kathmandu.
Jakarta's crisis is Asean's problem
Oped, Simon Hutagalung, Published on 08/09/2025
» The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has relied on the domestic stability of its member states to achieve regional unity, and Indonesia, as the largest and most populous nation in the bloc, has served as the primary stabilising force.
Vienna's musical message to aliens: One, two, three. One, two, three
Life, Valeriya Safronova of the New York Times, Published on 04/06/2025
» VIENNA - What would aliens make of the waltz?
Trump praises Fed chair Powell, vows not to remove him
Business, Andrea Shalal of Reuters, Published on 06/05/2025
» WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said he will not remove Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Board chairman before his term ends in May 2026 while describing the central banker as "a total stiff" and repeating calls for the Fed to lower interest rates.
The land bridge dilemma
Life, Story: Supara Janchitfah; Pictures courtesy of Beach for Life, Published on 28/04/2025
» Somjai Yhopkan was among 100 villagers who braved the torrential rain to attend a public meeting at the 3rd Mangrove Forest Research Centre in a hilly area of lush Ranong province.
Cambodian canal's impact on Mekong questioned
Francesco Guarascio of Reuters, Published on 23/04/2025
» HANOI - The authority overseeing the transnational Mekong River wants Cambodia to share a feasibility study on the impact of a planned China-backed canal that would divert water from the rice-growing floodplains of Vietnam's Mekong Delta to the Gulf of Thailand.