JAKARTA, June 19 - Indonesia will halt the government's flagship free meals programme for children during school holidays and will also scale back the reach of the scheme, an official said late on Thursday, amid a drive to reduce pressure on the state budget.
Despite Johor's thriving economy, a North-South divide in wealth distribution means some Johoreans struggle to keep up with rising costs – a potential key issue in the Jul 11 state polls.
The break between Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia could portend a major realignment of the country’s ethnic Malay-based parties, writes CNA’s Leslie Lopez.
India’s increasing military footprint is largely welcomed in Southeast Asia, which sees India as relatively benign rather than aggressive or imperialist, says former foreign correspondent Nirmal Ghosh.
The US’ failure to either express regret or apologise for these deaths further enraged many in India.
The comeback of supergroup BTS has sparked new interest in the the traditional attire, offering a surprise lifeline to an industry that has been facing long-term decline.
ISLAMABAD, June 18 - Pakistani mediators spent weeks juggling late-night calls and competing drafts before a Qatari push helped secure this week's preliminary U.S.-Iran deal, but turning it into a permanent agreement will prove harder, sources said.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that if his war in Iran continued much longer, the US could have faced “economic catastrophe” with gas prices expected to soar as emergency oil reserves were exhausted. But new reports suggest that although the war appears to be coming
The Israeli military carried out drone strikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday, just hours after the presidents of the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes a framework for negotiations to end the war launched by the Trump administration and Israel
The leaders of the United States and Iran have signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding to end the war between their countries, as well as Israel’s military assault on Hezbollah in Lebanon. From the US point of view, the deal leaves a lot to be desired. Washington is
Rights groups say the military’s air force often strikes civilians.
MONTERREY/GUADALAJARA, Mexico, June 18 - First came the factories, then came the food, and then the pop tunes took over. South Korean fervor in Mexico has been years in the making, growing into a mass movement that has seen President Claudia Sheinbaum share a balcony with K-pop
In late 2013, the then-editor in chief of Bloomberg News, Matthew Winkler, spiked an investigation into the hidden wealth of China’s elite. Publishing it, he warned reporters on a call, would “wipe out everything we have tried to build.” More than a decade on, that trade-off,
It is hampering the growing season for staples and disrupting key sectors like construction.
Cai has longstanding ties with Xi through overlapping careers.
When the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered a strike on the Lebanese capital of Beirut on June 14, Donald Trump was not amused. Fearing that the attack threatened an agreement with Iran on ending the war between the two countries, the US president lashed out.
The real beginning is with Rerum Novarum, the encyclical that Leo XIII (the predecessor of Leo XIV) issued in 1891. In 1891, the Church had lost the Papal State, which it had held for over a thousand years, for some twenty years. It was no longer one of the major forces in
One, a Border Force official, used his access to Home Office data, to get information about Chinese dissidents.
LONDON, June 18 - Two men, including one who worked as a British immigration officer, were jailed on Thursday after being convicted of spying on prominent pro-democracy dissidents now based in Britain on behalf of Hong Kong, and ultimately China.
Facing a shrinking fighter force and a surging Chinese air arm, the US Air Force is betting that robotic wingmen — not more manned jets — will decide who controls the skies over the western Pacific. This month, multiple media outlets reported that the US Air Force awarded
Thailand regularly auctions off seized assets, with the proceeds transferred to the state.
Investors are closely awaiting MSCI’s decision on whether to downgrade Indonesia.
The plane departed for London after safety checks were completed.
KYIV, June 18 - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday heavy drone attacks on Russia were retaliation for a strike that damaged a historic monastery in Kyiv this week, and that \"Moscow will burn\" if attacks continue.
Hong Kong came in second and Taiwan was fourth in IMD’s World Competitiveness Rankings this year.
It comes after G-7 leaders agreed to step up coordination to cut their countries’ reliance on China.
ROME, June 18 - The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme on Thursday appealed for $202 million to help protect 8.8 million people across 22 high-risk countries from the looming El Niño weather pattern.
GDANSK, June 18 - Australia in December became the world's first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking them from platforms including TikTok, Alphabet's YouTube and Meta's Instagram and Facebook.
Refiners locked in purchases from places like the US, while China had largely stayed out of the market.
TOKYO – China’s latest fix for its ailing economy: build a better birdcage. The metaphor runs deep in Chinese culture, where enclosures for pet birds have long captured the tension between freedom and control — the belief that markets, like captive creatures, need defined
SEOUL, June 18 - North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, condemned a G7 call for the country's denuclearisation as a violation of its constitution and an infringement of sovereignty, state media KCNA said on Thursday.
For transport planners, the challenge is to understand the different ways people move through each city.
The mother said her daughter weighed only 20kg five months after her release from jail.
Manila’s International Airport, the worst in Southeast Asia and perpetually under renovation, serves as the departure hall for more than two million Filipino workers whom the state contracts out annually to foreign employers. The passengers are nurses, seafarers, engineers and
Beijing urged both sides to continue their cooperation in a second round of negotiations.
HSBC failed to maintain adequate controls over its internal transfer systems between May 2023 and May 2024.
This comes as Beijing seeks to position itself as a champion of multilateralism amid growing geopolitical tensions.
The arrival of leaders from across Southeast Asia in the Russian city of Kazan for the ASEAN–Russia Commemorative Summit on June 17-18, 2026, represents far more than a routine diplomatic gathering. Partially overlapping with a Group of Seven (G7) meeting in France, where
Its plan comes in response to the oil supply disruptions that followed the Iran war.
The Indian government invoked emergency powers to block Telegram in the country until June 22.
The Korea-US Strategic Investment Corporation will manage and implement a US$350 billion investment pledge.
Researchers found the Heard and McDonald Islands littered with seal carcasses in October 2025.
Businesses in the country’s capital have reported a surge in interest following the national team’s victory against the Czech Republic last week.
International student numbers are falling as the government prioritises skilled workers.
Tokyo will also lift the ban on bear hunting from next fiscal year.
Critics say scarce health insurance funds should go first to severe and rare diseases.
The leg is believed to have been amputated from an elderly woman who was being treated at the hospital.