Asia

Education and social safety crucial for Asia's growth and aging population: UN report

Increasing use of artificial intelligence and other automation technology will cause some people to lose their jobs, it said, with women engaged in clerical and information technology work most likely to be affected as companies roll back their reliance on offshore call centers that have provided good quality jobs in countries like the Philippines and India

'Sinification of Islam': China's major Arabic-style mosque loses its domes, minarets & crescent moon

The mosque in question is the Grand Mosque of Shadian which is touted as China's biggest and grandest Muslim place of worship

Who is To Lam, Vietnam's top cop now elected president?

Vietnam's parliament elected top security minister To Lam as the country's new president on 22 May. This follows the recent appointment of a new chairman by the National Assembly. Lam's election may bring an end to two months of significant political turbulence in the communist state, during which three of the country's top five leaders resigned over an ongoing anti-corruption scandal

Why many in Iran are celebrating Ebrahim Raisi’s death

While hundreds assembled in Tehran and Mashhad’s main squares to pray for President Ebrahim Raisi, numerous videos and reports emerged depicting Iranians celebrating the news of his death in a helicopter crash. The hardline cleric was a controversial figure who imposed strict restrictions on society and earned the moniker ‘The Butcher of Tehran’ for his alleged role in the 1988 mass executions

11 dead, 20 injured after bus carrying children overturns in Indonesia's West Java

The incident took place on Saturday when the bus was transporting 40 students from Lingga Kencana Vocational School in Depok, West Java

Kuwait's emir suspends country's parliament amid major political turmoil

The emir not only dismissed the country's parliament but also suspended several articles of the Kuwaiti Constitution

School closures, suspected food poisoning, health warnings: How brutal is the heatwave in Asia?

Heatwaves in Asia are lasting longer and reaching greater peaks. Schools have been forced to close weeks ahead of summer vacations, huge swaths of new crops have withered in parched farmland, and people are being hospitalised due to suspected food poisoning

Why elections, Ramzan gave Indonesia a good GDP growth, but it may not last

Southeast Asia's largest economy grew by 5.11 per cent on a yearly basis in the January-March period, the highest growth rate in three quarters

The Mount Ruang catastrophe: Why is Indonesia mulling to relocate 10,000 people?

A little over 9,800 people used to live in the Ruang island which was located in the province of North Sulawesi

Inside North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s spine-chilling ‘pleasure squad’

A North Korean defector has revealed the unsettling selection procedure behind leader Kim Jong Un's infamous 'Pleasure Squad'. Twenty-five virgin girls are carefully chosen each year to fulfil the dictator's desires