Daily news from across Asia
Share articlePrint articleThe Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan is about an institution tasked with the job of housing strangers - Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel. Through this hotel, which sits high on a hill, and the people within it, seasoned BBC journalist and current
Read full story →Share articlePrint articleThe Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan is about an institution tasked with the job of housing strangers - Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel. Through this hotel, which sits high on a hill, and the people within it, seasoned BBC journalist and current
Read full story →In their 2022 book Sinostan, Raffaello Pantucci and Alexandros Petersen saw Central Asia as China’s “inadvertent empire”. If that is true – and the five-country region embracing Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan (informally called the C5) certainly sits at the heart of China’s Belt and Road Initiative – then Beijing could not have chosen a less noticed corner of the world atlas. Unnoticed, perhaps, by almost everyone except Halford Mackinder, who in 1904 described...
Read full story →EU tech sovereignty may prove an “illusion” in an AI world dominated by China and the US, a Chinese expert has argued, urging Beijing to seize the opportunity during Donald Trump’s second term to make its products indispensable to middle powers. The past few weeks have seen a number of efforts by middle powers to try to control their AI technology stacks. Last week, the European Union rolled out its Technological Sovereignty Package in a bid to make the bloc “a global leader” in artificial...
Read full story →The Astana Times provides news and information from Kazakhstan and around the world. ASTANA — More than 200,000 people have participated in volunteer activities across Kazakhstan since the beginning of 2026, a year designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development at the initiative of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Photo credit: gov.kz The year-long campaign officially launched on Jan. 30 during a national volunteer forum attended by Tokayev and has since brought together volunteers through environmental, cultural and community projects across the country. One of the key events was the Volunteering and Environmental Action session held on April 23 in Astana as part of the Regional Environmental Summit. The event brought together approximately 200 participants from Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Japan and Afghanistan, as well as United Nations Under-Secretary-General Haoliang Xu. Vo…
Read full story →Washington DC [US], June 12 (ANI): Apple Original Films has acquired the romantic comedy One Month Mark, with Oscar-winning actor Jennifer Lawrence attached to star in and produce the project, The Hollywood Reporter. The film, based on an original spec script by playwright, writer and director Sophie Fleur de Bruijn, reportedly attracted strong interest from multiple studios and producers before Apple secured th
Read full story →Washington DC [US], June 12 (ANI): Apple Original Films has acquired the romantic comedy One Month Mark, with Oscar-winning actor Jennifer Lawrence attached to star in and produce the project, The Hollywood Reporter. The film, based on an original spec script by playwright, writer and director Sophie Fleur de Bruijn, reportedly attracted strong interest from multiple studios and producers before Apple secured th
Read full story →Washington DC [US], June 12 (ANI): Apple Original Films has acquired the romantic comedy One Month Mark, with Oscar-winning actor Jennifer Lawrence attached to star in and produce the project, The Hollywood Reporter. The film, based on an original spec script by playwright, writer and director Sophie Fleur de Bruijn, reportedly attracted strong interest from multiple studios and producers before Apple secured th
Read full story →Bangladesh and India have agreed to deepen cooperation along their shared border with improved intelligence sharing and coordinated patrols, according to a joint statement released on Friday, amid strained relations over alleged undocumented migration. Dhaka has accused Indian authorities of attempting to force migrants across the border without due process, complicating efforts to stabilise ties following the 2024 ousting of Sheikh Hasina and India’s broader effort to identify and deport...
Read full story →A series of emergency management and local government officials in central China’s Hunan province have come under investigation following a catastrophic fireworks factory explosion that killed 37 people last month. The provincial discipline inspection commission announced on Thursday that three senior figures within the emergency management system were under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law”. The officials are Lei Min, deputy director of the safety production emergency...
Read full story →Hong Kong will allow dogs into 1,000 restaurants starting on July 9, under a scheme that caterers say could lift business by up to 20 per cent. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department on Friday announced the scheme’s roll-out date after holding a ballot to select 1,000 restaurants from the 1,615 eligible applications. The licensed restaurants are evenly distributed across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. Wan Chai had the highest number of successful applicants, with...
Read full story →The Astana Times provides news and information from Kazakhstan and around the world. ASTANA – Kazakhstan and Canada are seeking to expand cooperation beyond traditional trade and resource industries, harnessing opportunities presented by emerging areas such as artificial intelligence and digital innovation, officials and business leaders said at the seventh meeting of the Kazakhstan-Canada Business Council in Astana on June 10. Canadian direct investment in Kazakhstan has exceeded $6 billion. Photo credit: Kazatomprom “Kazakhstan and Canada are separated by thousands of kilometres, including the ocean, but united by shared values such as openness, the rule of law and the firm belief that business partnership is the foundation of long-term prosperity,” said Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Alibek Kuantyrov. Canadian direct investment in Kazakhstan has exceeded $6 billion, while more than 170 Canadian-linked companies operate in the country, figures cited by Kuantyrov showed. He said the n…
Read full story →Hong Kong can be “more than New York and Silicon Valley combined” by positioning itself as a hub that integrates global financial depth with technological innovation and manufacturing capacity, the finance chief has said. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Friday that Hong Kong had a unique edge over New York and Silicon Valley, thanks to advanced manufacturing capabilities that its American rivals lacked, which were the result of integration with the Greater Bay Area. Speaking at the...
Read full story →(260612) -- ILOCOS SUR PROVINCE, June 12, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Amina Kyrykbayeva of Kazakhstan competes during the pool B match between Kazakhstan and Vietnam at the 2026 AVC Women's Cup in Ilocos Sur Province, the Philippines, on June 12, 2026. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Read full story →(260612) -- ILOCOS SUR PROVINCE, June 12, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Amina Kyrykbayeva of Kazakhstan competes during the pool B match between Kazakhstan and Vietnam at the 2026 AVC Women's Cup in Ilocos Sur Province, the Philippines, on June 12, 2026. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Read full story →(260612) -- ILOCOS SUR PROVINCE, June 12, 2026 (Xinhua) -- Amina Kyrykbayeva of Kazakhstan competes during the pool B match between Kazakhstan and Vietnam at the 2026 AVC Women's Cup in Ilocos Sur Province, the Philippines, on June 12, 2026. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Read full story →Crying without a clear reason can be a major source of anxiety for parents. As families look for new ways to navigate the uncertainty of early childcare, Japanese developers are rolling out AI-powered tools designed to identify the possible causes of a baby’s distress. One of them is Babylingual, a free app released in March by Moto Numazawa, a 25-year-old father in the Kanagawa prefecture city of Chigasaki, near Tokyo. In late April, Numazawa held his smartphone up to his three-month-old son,...
Read full story →More than 1,000 Orang Asli, the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia, rallied outside a federal ministry in Putrajaya on Friday in a rare mass protest to demand recognition of their ancestral land and an end to evictions and development on their territories. Many wore traditional headgear as they marched through Malaysia’s administrative capital, carrying signs reading “Orang Asli are not immigrants”, “Respect the Orang Asli right to self-determination” and “Our voices will not be...
Read full story →A Hong Kong retiree has received 40 hours of community service for slapping a five-year-old boy who threw a tantrum and berated his domestic helper at a shopping centre earlier this year. Lok Kam-ming, 61, returned to Tuen Mun Court on Friday to be sentenced for what his lawyer described as an incident arising from the “unfortunate encounter” between him and a child whom he first met at Grand Yoho in Yuen Long on January 8. Lok, who pleaded guilty last month to assault occasioning actual bodily...
Read full story →A major immigration corruption scandal could mar Indonesia’s ambition to entice foreign funds and high-skilled workers, according to observers, further tanking investor confidence in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The country’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) last week arrested eight high-ranking immigration officials, including then deputy minister Silmy Karim, for allegedly extorting foreigners seeking residency and work permits in Indonesia. KPK also detained nine visa agents...
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