News from #Malaysia | The Malaysian government has been accused of hypocrisy in its strident pro-Palestinian stance after several defense companies that supplied arms to Israel were allowed to take part in a military exhibition in Kuala Lumpur: straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/m…

News from #Myanmar | In the jungles of southeastern Myanmar’s Dawna Hills, rebels from an armed ethnic group are fighting to hold back columns of reinforcements sent by the country’s ruling junta to try to reclaim Myawaddy: scmp.com/news/asia/sout…

News from #Thailand | Thailand will re-list cannabis as a narcotic by year-end, its prime minister said on Tuesday, in a stunning U-turn just two years after becoming one of the first countries in Asia to decriminalise its recreational use: reuters.com/world/asia-pac…

News from #Malaysia | Malaysia plans to introduce “orang utan diplomacy” in its relations with major palm oil-importing countries, offering the animals as trading gifts: straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/m…

News from the #Philippines | The Philippines has expressed fears over Beijing’s potential plans for installing floating nuclear power plants in the disputed South China Sea: scmp.com/week-asia/poli…

🇻🇳 has emerged as one of 🇺🇸 closest partners in Southeast Asia and serves as a bulwark against Chinese expansion in the disputed South China Sea. It's time for the U.S. to “graduate” Vietnam to a market economy, writes Murray Hiebert: cs.is/3JvoWLQ

News from #Fiji | A group of workers for Fiji Water have gone on strike at the US-owned company's water bottling plant in Yaqara and the Naikabula depot in Lautoka on the main island Viti Levu on Tuesday: rnz.co.nz/international/…

From collisions in the Second Thomas Shoal, to the temporary blinding of a 🇵🇭 crew member, 🇨🇳 continues to advance its claims to the South China Sea. Greg Poling covers the latest developments between China and ASEAN in his latest East Asia Forum article: bit.ly/49Vvn6y

News from #Bougainville | Minister for the Bougainville Independence Mission, Ezekiel Masatt, says the request to defer Monday's meeting of the Joint Supervisory Body to Wednesday, May 8, came from PNG Prime Minister James Marape: rnz.co.nz/international/…

'🇺🇸 must focus its attention on better understanding SE Asian elite and public perspectives and fine-tune its engagement to meet the needs and demands of the region on their own terms,' write Greg Poling and Andreyka Natalegawa in the CSIS Global Forecast 2024: cs.is/3SDTIGS

News from the #SouthPacific | The cyclone season in the South Pacific - which came to an end on 30 April - finished with fewer cyclones than what was forecast, during a bizarre El Niño event: rnz.co.nz/international/…

#AI could exacerbate socioeconomic divides between workers in Singapore and across the region. Research intern Tappy Lung discusses how Singapore can play a leading role in mitigating challenges for low wage migrant workers. Check out her new article here: cs.is/3VZBBOD

News from #Myanmar | Myanmar's military government on Monday resumed processing permit requests for male citizens seeking to work abroad, ending a short-lived halt imposed in an apparent effort to curb a surge in young adults trying to flee conscription: asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myan…

News from #Malaysia | Malaysia has unveiled a new national anti-corruption strategy, which Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said will involve financial incentives for members of the public who help the government in their anti-graft crackdown: channelnewsasia.com/malaysia-corru…

News from #Thailand | The rush of Chinese automakers into Thailand's electric vehicle market is fueling a race to the bottom on prices, but heated competition in a soft market has raised alarms, prompting at least one player to turn to hybrids: asia.nikkei.com/Business/Autom…

News from #Vietnam | Vietnam ranks as the world's second-largest producer of coffee beans, but many farmers in the country are shifting instead to durian amid a greater supply crunch stemming from the El Nino weather: asia.nikkei.com/Business/Marke…

News about #Cambodia and #Myanmar | Cambodia’s former prime minister Hun Sen asked Myanmar’s ruling general on May 7 to allow him to speak to detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on a video call, a request he said the junta chief would consider: straitstimes.com/asia/cambodias…

News about #Malaysia | A U.S. judge on Monday formally ended the U.S. government's criminal case against Goldman Sachs related to the Wall Street bank's work for the Malaysian fund 1MDB after it met its obligations and paid $2.9 billion in penalties: asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Soci…

News about #Singapore | Amazon Web Services on Tuesday said it will invest ~$9 billion to expand its cloud infrastructure in Singapore, joining rival U.S. tech giants investing in the fast-growing Southeast Asian digital market: asia.nikkei.com/Business/Techn…

News about #Laos | Currency weakness against the dollar has raised concerns that Laos and other vulnerable Asia-Pacific nations are at risk of falling into a debt crisis: asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Laos-o…