In a village on the outskirts of Kota Bharu, in Malaysia’s deeply conservative northeastern state of Kelantan, Rozi* has learned to ignore what people say about her daughter. She had known for years that Hana* was different. As a child, Hana preferred girls’ clothes and spent most of her time with girls. Later, after leaving Kelantan to study, she began transitioning and eventually returned home, living openly as a woman. Rozi, 58, struggled to accept it at first, but what troubled her more was...

After a decade of start-stop negotiations, the European Union and the Philippines have found their way to a “substantial agreement” on free trade – one that analysts say could pave the way for Brussels to lock in an Asean-wide pact. The breakthrough, announced on Tuesday, capped talks that began in 2016 and stalled a year later, only to resume again in 2024. “I am proud to say we have delivered a substantial agreement that reflects the ambition both sides brought to the table,” EU trade chief...

Entire Bangkok neighbourhoods were inundated on Saturday as the city government declared a flood disaster after the worst rains in years overwhelmed the Thai capital, submerging roads, cars and forcing thousands to leave their homes. Bangkok is flood-prone, especially during the monsoon season, but waters rarely linger for long. Nonetheless, the city’s drainage is notoriously ill-equipped to handle storm bursts as it struggles to cope with waters that have reached at least two feet (60cm) and...

China’s technology companies face a question that no pricing strategy can answer: what will their success do to their trading partners? In Europe, that question has become politically urgent. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warns of a “second China shock”, linking persistent trade imbalances to the erosion of Europe’s industrial base. Europe’s dispute carries a broader warning: affordable products can coexist with deep anxiety over the loss of productive capability. If...

At a zoo a short drive south of Bangkok, Charoon Youngprapakorn has spent a lifetime taking the pulse of Thailand’s tourism industry from an unlikely vantage point: the open jaws of crocodiles. Handlers at his Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm & Zoo have long thrilled onlookers by coaxing tips from the audience and carefully placing the money into the mouths of animals capable of taking off an entire hand. The crocodiles at this open-air, fan-cooled throwback to 1980s showmanship still take their tips...

The good news is, when US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Washington this week, neither chose confrontation. Amid the high pomp and ceremony, what China has called “constructive strategic stability” continues. Even an uneasy truce in great power relations can be useful. Both recognise the considerable incentive to prevent their economic rivalry from spiralling out of control. Even limited understandings can reduce risks in artificial intelligence (AI) and other...

San Francisco and New York still lead The Observer‘s inaugural AI Cities Index, but the more consequential finding sits further east. Six of the world’s top 10 AI cities are in East and Southeast Asia, and Seoul ranks first globally for implementation: whether a city has the institutions, systems and practitioners to put AI to work across […] The post Ecosystem Roundup: Seoul tops AI implementation as Singapore joins the global top tier appeared first on e27.

The Philippines’ decision to block messaging platform Discord for less than a day following a series of school shootings has raised questions about the government’s response to child safety online, with analysts describing the move as a show of regulatory muscle that did little to address underlying problems. The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) announced on Thursday that it had lifted the ban after what officials described as successful negotiations with Discord...

A major coal deal in Indonesia is set to secure a powerful new partner for one of the country’s biggest miners, even as the industry worries a delay in the government’s approval of production quotas could have a severe impact on the business outlook. Low Tuck Kwong and his daughter Elaine Low, the biggest shareholders of Bayan Resources, agreed on September 16 to sell a 30 per cent stake in Indonesia’s third-largest coal producer to fellow tycoon Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad, better known as Haji...

Former Malaysian leader Najib Razak has no money to pay the fine to secure his transfer to house arrest, his lawyers have said, as they question the delay in releasing the full details of the conditional pardon granted by Malaysia’s king last week. King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar last Friday decreed that Najib would be allowed to serve out the remainder of his sentence at home, on condition that he pay his 50 million ringgit (US$10.3 million) fine. The decision triggered widespread outrage among...