Asia

To accelerate the entry of electric vehicles in Indonesia, the government of President Jokowi Widodo plans to allow manufacturers to bring completely built units or CBU parts. With this plan, the government hopes the sale of these vehicles in the market will stimulate the buyers to own them. But the chair of the Indonesian Automotive Industries Association (Gaikindo), Yohanes Nangoi criticised the move.  He reminded […]

by Jalees ANDRABI On Srinagar’s Dal Lake, intricately decorated houseboats usually packed with tourists lie empty as Kashmir’s tourism sector reels from a three-weeks-long lockdown imposed as India revoked the picturesque region’s autonomy. With its breathtaking scenery, snow-capped mountains and placid lakes, temperate Kashmir is a popular destination for hordes of domestic and international tourists […]

Indonesia has chosen the eastern edge of jungle-clad Borneo island for its new capital, President Joko Widodo said Monday, as the country looks to shift its political heart away from congested megalopolis Jakarta. The proposed location — near the regional cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda — is in the geographical centre of the Southeast Asian archipelago […]

South Korean K-Pop star BTS Jimin set a new record on Instagram when his hashtag became the most used hashtag on Instagram. He has a few related hashtags for him, however his #jimin hashtag alone recorded usage of over 40.7 million. This makes BTS Jimin the highest number of hashtags used by people on Instagram. […]

by Virginie MONTET Donald Trump’s top aides on Sunday downplayed the idea of US companies being forced to abandon China any time soon, as an edict from the president ordering businesses to start looking for alternatives has been met with skepticism. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House economics advisor Larry Kudlow took to the airwaves […]

One of the band members of the super popular K-Pop group BTS Jimin has been named King of K-Pop 2019. Jimin, 23 received the highest votes from fans across the globe via the website King Choice (kingchoice.me). It is the biggest international voting website for the K-Pop world. Jimin, whose full name is Park Ji-min, […]

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again supervised the test-firing of a “newly developed” weapon, state media reported Sunday — further muddying the waters for any resumption of denuclearisation talks. South Korea’s military had said the North launched what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles on Saturday, but the North’s state media said a […]

If you think Tinder in Indonesia is like buying Playboy or secretly watching pornhub, you might be wrong. The dating site is growing in popularity in Indonesia and the company behind it is putting a lot of effort to lure the locals to use the site for other purposes than dating. It is now, to a certain degree, a source for […]

Popular South Korean actor Lee Min Ho teased his upcoming drama The King: The Eternal Monarch starring Kim Go Eun. Lee Min Ho held an Instagram Live session during his trip to the lakeside in Gapyeong on August 23. The King: The Eternal Monarch is especially anticipated among drama viewers because it is the next […]

by Cécile AZZARO For years, Asian demand for a dried fish bladder prized as a culinary delicacy — and purported aphrodisiac — has been a boon to French Guiana’s fishing industry, but officials are racing to rein in the market over fears the species will soon be endangered. The acoupa weakfish, found along the sandy bottom […]

Beijing on Thursday accused Ottawa of worsening bilateral relations after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed to stand up to China amid deepening diplomatic and trade disputes. The two countries have been locked in a feud since last December, when Canada detained top Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou and — in apparent retaliation — China detained […]

Hong Kong student leaders on Thursday announced a two-week boycott of lectures from the upcoming start of term, as they seek to keep protesters on the streets and pressure on the government. The financial hub has been rocked by three months of unrest, with students making up a large number of the pro-democracy protesters taking […]

A wedding going viral, is nothing new in the age of the internet. But this one in Indonesia caught the attention of netizens in the largest Muslim nation on earth, Indonesia. A man who was in love with two women could not accept seeing one of them hurt if he were to marry the other. […]

by Robert Marin Indonesia’s Papua was hit by fresh unrest Wednesday as more than 1,000 security personnel were sent to the restive region after violent protests that saw buildings torched and street battles between police and demonstrators. Jakarta has called for calm in its easternmost territory — where an insurgency against Indonesian rule has simmered […]

by Aidan JONES / Catherine LAI China has deployed a three-pronged strategy to suffocate pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong — propaganda, economic leverage and intimidation. Here is a look at Beijing’s efforts so far to squash a movement that has refused to die. Shaping the narrative As protests erupted in June, discussion inside authoritarian China […]