Malaysians on social media are offering increasingly outlandish solutions to a months-long royal tussle in Negeri Sembilan state, from making rival claimants sleep on a bed of nettles for a week to putting the entire state through Islamic spiritual healing. The dispute has left Negeri Sembilan with two men claiming the throne, a state government at odds with the palace and no clear legal route to settle the fight. One social media user suggested reviving adat perpatih – the customary law of...

Wall Street finished near record highs on 23 September 2026. Asian equities extended gains. A technology rebound and falling oil prices supported the positive tone. The S&P 500 closed flat and sat roughly 0.4 per cent below its record high. The Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100 advanced 0.5 per cent. The Nasdaq 100 touched new […] The post Ethereum’s US$2,800 wall: Why bulls keep failing at the same level appeared first on e27.

Female prisoners in Myanmar are subjected to widespread torture, sexual violence and life-threatening medical neglect, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday, underlining the chronic ill-treatment of thousands of detainees in the war-torn nation. Since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup, a protracted civil war ‌has gripped the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, devastating several regions and killing about 100,000 while displacing more than 3.5 million. In a report, the New...

For many consumers in Southeast Asia, the smartphone has become both a work tool and a status symbol. It is also getting harder to afford. That tension sits at the centre of 3cat’s next phase of growth. The Singapore-incorporated, Malaysia-born retailer of pre-owned electronics has raised US$4 million in Series A funding to expand into […] The post 3cat raises US$4M Series A to take used-device retail model from Malaysia to the Philippines appeared first on e27.

Kuala Lumpur is making it easier and cheaper to bring international music stars to the city, hoping that a bigger concert calendar can help Malaysia capture more of Southeast Asia’s booming live-music economy. But as more global acts come to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian musicians are asking whether the concert boom is creating more opportunities for local artists too. Fuad Alhabshi of Malaysian rock band Kyoto Protocol said local bands once routinely benefited when major international acts came...

I recently presented at LEAP in Saudi Arabia, where I spent several days talking with founders, startup teams and people building businesses around emerging technology. Unsurprisingly, AI was everywhere. Much of the conversation centred on what AI could help people do faster: research that once took hours could be summarised in minutes, first drafts could […] The post Your startup has an AI strategy. Does it have a human strategy? appeared first on e27.

For decades, the semiconductor industry has relied on one basic bargain: make silicon transistors smaller, and chips become faster, cheaper and more power-efficient. That bargain is getting harder to keep. As AI models grow larger and data centres consume more electricity, chipmakers are running into a materials problem. Silicon, the foundation of modern computing, can […] The post Nexstrom lands US$12M to bring 2D semiconductors to 12-inch wafers appeared first on e27.

Artificial intelligence has become one of the most exciting areas of healthcare innovation. From clinical documentation and diagnostics to patient engagement and remote monitoring, founders are finding new ways to bring AI into almost every part of the healthcare journey. But for healthtech startups in Southeast Asia, having an impressive AI model may not be […] The post Why Southeast Asia’s next healthtech winners will be built around healthcare workflows, not just AI appeared first on e27.

From project management and customer service to human resources (HR) and finance, businesses have access to more prebuilt software options than ever before. However, buying prebuilt software that is designed to serve businesses across a range of industries is unlikely to accommodate your specific needs. That’s why many businesses are building custom tools, rather than […] The post Build vs buy: Why custom tools are winning in 2026 appeared first on e27.

In 2022, Shein was valued by private investors at around US$100 billion, making it one of the world’s most valuable fashion companies. This month, it went public in Hong Kong at a valuation of around US$27 billion — roughly 70 per cent below that 2022 peak. Its growth has also slowed: from 19 per cent […] The post Is fast fashion losing its fit? appeared first on e27.