Category: Asia

Sport

LOH KEAN YEW ELIMINATED AGAIN: Victor Lai Ends Singapore Star’s World Championship Run — But This Time, Something Has Changed

NEW DELHI — Singapore badminton star Loh Kean Yew’s bid for another BWF World Championships medal has ended — and once again, the player standing in his way was Canada’s Victor Lai. Loh, the 2021 world champion, was beaten 20-22, 18-21 by seventh-ranked Lai in the men’s singles round of 16 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday. The match lasted 52 minutes. The defeat is particularly painful because it repeats a result from last year’s World Championships. Loh also lost t

August 20, 2026

Philippines

Ateneo de Zamboanga Shooter Acted Alone, Remulla Says—But Investigators Are Now Looking at a Much Bigger Question

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — The student behind the deadly shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University acted alone, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Thursday, as authorities increasingly focus on how the teenager gained access to firearms and what may have influenced him before the attack. Remulla said investigators found no evidence that another person, organized group, family member or school-related conflict helped plan the August 18 shooting. “Alone in the sense

August 20, 2026

Lifestyle

Filipino Rice Farmers Are Still Fighting for Their Future—But This Government Support Could Change What Happens Next

For many Filipino farmers, every planting season is a gamble. They put seeds into the soil without knowing exactly what the next harvest will bring. Weather can destroy a crop. Production costs can eat into already-thin earnings. And when farmgate prices weaken, months of hard work can translate into little income for the families who depend on the land. That uncertainty is at the heart of the Philippine Information Agency's latest feature, “Kwentong Butil: Sa kinabukasang hindi matanaw, tulon

August 20, 2026

Politics

Rowena Guanzon Blasts Orly Guteza After He Recants Romualdez Testimony—But His New Affidavit Raises an Even Bigger Question

MANILA, Philippines — Former Commission on Elections Commissioner Rowena Guanzon has launched a blistering attack on retired Marine Orly Guteza after he dramatically withdrew his earlier testimony linking former House Speaker Martin Romualdez to alleged cash deliveries connected to the country’s flood-control corruption controversy. But Guteza’s reversal has opened an even bigger question: Which version of his story can investigators—and the public—believe? Guanzon rejected Guteza’s latest cla

August 20, 2026

Philippines

Nine Rare Nicobar Pigeons Spotted Together in Palawan—What Their “Reunion” Could Mean for Conservation

Nine Nicobar pigeons were recently spotted resting together on a single tree at the Ursula Island Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary in Bataraza, Palawan, in what local wildlife personnel described as an extremely unusual sight. The discovery was made during wet-season biodiversity monitoring by forest rangers and personnel from the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) of Brooke’s Point. According to GMA News, the team initially noticed what appeared to be a lone dark-colored

August 20, 2026

Business

US Dollar Sinks to 3-Month Low After Treasury Steps Into Bond Market—but the Bigger Debt Problem Hasn’t Gone Away

The U.S. dollar has fallen to its weakest level in roughly three months, after an unusual move by the U.S. Treasury helped calm a violent selloff in government bonds that had pushed long-term borrowing costs to levels not seen in nearly two decades. But while the intervention gave financial markets some breathing room, analysts are warning that it does little to solve the much larger problem hanging over the United States: rising government debt, persistent inflation risks and growing investor

August 20, 2026

Business

Australia Forces Big Tech to Pay for News Under New 2.5% Levy Law

SYDNEY — Australia has escalated its long-running battle with the world’s biggest technology companies, passing a landmark law that could force Meta, Google, TikTok and LinkedIn to pay millions of dollars to support Australian journalism — or face a hefty levy on their advertising businesses. The Australian Parliament passed the News Bargaining Incentive on Thursday, August 20, introducing a system designed to push major digital platforms into commercial agreements with local news publishers ra

August 20, 2026

Asia

Rocky’s Death Puts Malaysia’s Stray-Dog Policy Under Fire as Owner and Volunteer Face Animal Cruelty Charges

KLANG, Malaysia — The controversial death of a dog named Rocky during a late-night stray-dog operation in Port Klang has escalated into a court case — but the tragedy is also forcing Malaysia to confront a much larger question: Is catching and removing stray dogs actually solving the problem, or merely postponing the next crisis? On August 20, 2026, Rocky’s owner, S Roghini Devi, 42, and Muhammad Shah Idham Nor Haikal Shaharom, 24, who participated in the Klang municipal dog-catching operation,

August 20, 2026

Business

Singapore and India Are Deepening Their Chip and Food Partnership—But the Biggest Opportunity May Be What Comes Next

SINGAPORE — Singapore and India are moving to deepen cooperation in semiconductors, food security, digital payments, aviation and capital markets, signaling that one of Asia’s increasingly important economic partnerships is entering a more ambitious phase. Senior ministers from both countries met in Singapore on Thursday, August 20, for the fourth India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR), where discussions centered on six areas: sustainability, digitalisation, skills development, healthcar

August 20, 2026

Asia

China Charges 17 Over a Myanmar Trafficking Ring Linked to Actor Wang Xing—But His Fake Job Nightmare May Be Only a Small Part of the Story

SHANGHAI — Chinese prosecutors have charged 17 people accused of operating a cross-border trafficking network that allegedly lured Chinese citizens overseas with fake job opportunities before transporting them to Myanmar and selling them into notorious online scam compounds. The case has drawn added attention because one of the alleged victims has been identified by Chinese media as actor Wang Xing, whose disappearance near the Thailand-Myanmar border in January 2025 triggered widespread concer

August 20, 2026