Southeast Asian leaders have long insisted they will not be forced to pick sides in the great-power rivalry between the US and China. But their posture is about to be further tested.
This time, the battleground is AI. While Washington wants the region locked into Pax Silica – its bid to build a China-free artificial intelligence supply chain – Beijing wants its neighbours to join China’s own World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (Waico).
Sources told the South China Morning Post…
Singapore jails and canes man for abusing boy, 6
A man was sentenced to nine years and 10 months’ jail, and eight strokes of the cane on Friday for abusing multiple young boys who were under his care.
The man beat his youngest victim – a six-year-old boy – with a hanger more than 600 times, forced him to hold a push-up position for hours, and made him sleep in the toilet and drink his own urine.
The boy suffered severe injuries as a result, including to his ribs, lungs and kidneys, and was hospitalised for 46 days.
The 31-year-old Singaporean…
Why North Korea is ‘keeping the door open for dialogue’ with Trump
At first glance, Kim Yo-jong’s latest message to Washington looked like a rebuff to US President Donald Trump’s insistence that he would meet her brother Kim Jong-un later this year.
But analysts said the North Korean leader’s powerful sister stopped well short of shutting down Trump’s outreach, using a carefully worded statement to leave room for renewed summit diplomacy while making clear that Pyongyang intended to set the terms for any return to dialogue.
In her statement, released by North…
Bali jails Swiss tourist for insulting sacred Day of Silence
A court on the Indonesian resort island of Bali sentenced a Swiss tourist on Thursday to one year in prison for insulting a sacred Balinese Hindu observance.
Luzian Andrin Zgraggen, 26, was found guilty of violating Indonesia’s new criminal code by posting social media messages about the Day of Silence, when people are required to stay home and are urged to remain silent and meditate.
The Denpasar District Court determined that he posted the messages even after staff at the villa where he was…
SCCA 2026 mediation rules update enhances mediation options in Saudi Arabia
Businesses are likely to be more encouraged to make contractual provision for the appointment of mediators for resolving disputes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) after the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) published updated mediation rules, experts have said.
Trump says he plans to meet Kim Jong-un this year, citing good relationship
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he planned to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this year, despite Pyongyang denying that the two leaders were in direct communication.
“Yeah, I will be,” Trump told reporters when asked whether he expected to meet Kim before the end of 2026.
Trump, speaking during a tour of a new helipad under construction at the White House, provided no details about where or when a meeting might take place.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that…
Singapore plans tax, visa incentives to boost fund industry
Singapore will introduce tax exemptions on profits earned by fund managers and make it easier for investment professionals to obtain visas as it seeks to head off growing competition in the asset management sector, the central bank has said.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the finance ministry plan to exempt from tax investment profits earned by fund managers from managing certain funds, including those of single family offices. More details will be announced in the 2027…
Three procurement models will shape infrastructure delivery in Hong Kong into the 2030s
As Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) moves into a new phase of infrastructure delivery three sophisticated project structures are shaping deal.
Expect risk-spreading by investors in the global energy transition
A turbulent geopolitical environment, which has impacted global supply chains, is likely to encourage greater diversification in energy transition investment portfolios – both in terms of the geographic markets investors target and the types of technologies they back.
Russia’s Putin hosts Myanmar leader, talks up energy projects
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Moscow on Tuesday with Myanmar’s junta chief-turned-president, Min Aung Hlaing, discussing a wide range of issues including prospective energy deals.
Russia is the first non-neighbouring country Min Aung Hlaing has visited since becoming Myanmar’s president in April, a sign of the two countries’ deepening ties in the face of pressure from the West.
In remarks after the meeting, Putin described Min Aung Hlaing as a friend of Russia and said the…