New Zealand bars foreigners buying homes: Chinese blocked but Singaporeans are still allowed | South China Morning Post

New Zealand bars foreigners buying homes: Chinese blocked but Singaporeans are still allowed | South China Morning Post: Skyrocketing home prices in Auckland have been of particular concern to New Zealanders, although that market has cooled over the past year

Philippine President Duterte will not stop talking about quitting – so why isn’t he stepping down? | South China Morning Post

Philippine President Duterte will not stop talking about quitting – so why isn’t he stepping down? | South China Morning Post: Duterte told a group of executives and politicians at the launch of a business programme on Tuesday night that he is ‘thinking of stepping down’, but he’s still in power

Half-Baked Policymaking Is Undercooking India’s Future | MIR

Half-Baked Policymaking Is Undercooking India’s Future | MIR: Indians are addicted to image and how they are perceived by outsiders. This obsession is also true when it comes to talking about the country itself. Any negative slights about the country l…

Top Chinese Buddhist Monk Resigns From National Body Amid #MeToo Scandal

Top Chinese Buddhist Monk Resigns From National Body Amid #MeToo Scandal: The abbot of Longquan Temple in Beijing steps down after allegations of repeated sexual assaults and harassment of his female followers.

Malaysia's govt makes a slow but good start in first 100 days: Sin Chew Daily contributor, SE Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Malaysia's govt makes a slow but good start in first 100 days: Sin Chew Daily contributor, SE Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times: In his article, the writer commends the government for the moves it has made and expresses its hope that more reforms will follow.. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Jokowi challenger Prabowo trails in social media popularity, Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Jokowi challenger Prabowo trails in social media popularity, Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times: JAKARTA • Indonesian President Joko Widodo's lone challenger in next year's election, Mr Prabowo Subianto, has a long way to go to catch up with the incumbent's social media popularity as the candidates seek to seize early campaign momentum.. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Compounding Trauma: Indonesia’s Abortion Law | The Diplomat

Compounding Trauma: Indonesia’s Abortion Law | The Diplomat: “The abortion law in Indonesia makes it almost impossible to protect women.”

Rights Groups Demand Release of Cambodian Activist Tep Vanny on Eve of Second Year in Prison

Rights Groups Demand Release of Cambodian Activist Tep Vanny on Eve of Second Year in Prison: Human Rights Watch calls her conviction ‘politically motivated’ and based on ‘fabricated’ charges.

Tibetan Freed After Serving Six Years on 'Separatism' Charge

Tibetan Freed After Serving Six Years on 'Separatism' Charge: Namkha Jam had been jailed for sharing information and images of self-immolation protests with outside contacts.

Myanmar Analysts Cast Doubt on Repatriation And Resettlement Plans For Rohingya Refugees

Myanmar Analysts Cast Doubt on Repatriation And Resettlement Plans For Rohingya Refugees: They say that the MoU signed by the government and two UN agencies may not be the answer.

Editor of Vietnam’s Tuoi Tre News Facing Sanctions For ‘Undermining Unity’ in Facebook Post

Editor of Vietnam’s Tuoi Tre News Facing Sanctions For ‘Undermining Unity’ in Facebook Post: Nguyen Ngoc Vinh refused to write a ‘self-criticism’ after penning an article deemed divisive.

Trump’s Trade War Is Rattling China’s Leaders - The New York Times

Trump’s Trade War Is Rattling China’s Leaders - The New York Times: While President Xi Jinping remains firmly in charge, friction with the Trump administration and troubles at home have dented his political dominance.

Mamasapano, memories, and Muslim belonging in the Philippines - New Mandala

Mamasapano, memories, and Muslim belonging in the Philippines - New Mandala: The Mamasapano clash of 2015 provoked memories of violence against Muslims and (re)surfaced long-standing tensions around Muslim belonging to, and exclusion from, the Philippine body politic and imagination

Disagreements and design flaws at Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge Tribunal - New Mandala

Disagreements and design flaws at Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge Tribunal - New Mandala: The dismissal of the case against Im Chaem highlights longstanding worries about the future viability of the ECCC.

Asia’s most extreme population controls

Asia’s most extreme population controls: AFTER a government-issued stamp depicting a family with three children was released last week, speculation has been rife that China may finally be putting an end to its infamous attempts at population control.

Why are trees being ordained as monks in Thailand?

Why are trees being ordained as monks in Thailand?: Through rituals like tree ordinations, some monks in Thailand are integrating Buddhist principles into the environmental movement in order to garner support from their followers and encourage sustainable practices.

Filipina minors are getting duped into working abroad illegally

Filipina minors are getting duped into working abroad illegally: Young Filipino women, including minors are being victimised by syndicates offering work abroad, fake passports, says official

Why even the most careful patients often face surprise out-of-network hospital bills - Axios

Why even the most careful patients often face surprise out-of-network hospital bills - Axios: And even the most careful patients aren't immune.

India is rolling out a health-care plan for half a billion people. But are there enough doctors? - The Washington Post

India is rolling out a health-care plan for half a billion people. But are there enough doctors? - The Washington Post: It may be the world's biggest public health-care plan. But it could face stumbling blocks.

First Muslim congresswoman says will vote against military aid to Israel - International news - Jerusalem Post

First Muslim congresswoman says will vote against military aid to Israel - International news - Jerusalem Post: "I will be using my position in congress so that no country, not one, should be able to get aid from the US," she continued. "When they still promote that kind of injustice."

Bangladesh Agrees to Remove 'Myanmar National' From Rohingya ID Cards

Bangladesh Agrees to Remove 'Myanmar National' From Rohingya ID Cards: Instead, they will be called 'displaced persons from Rakhine state,' a Bangladeshi official says.

Foreign orgy in Lumpini Park sparks more patrols | Bangkok Post: news

Foreign orgy in Lumpini Park sparks more patrols | Bangkok Post: news: Patrols will be stepped in public parks across Bangkok in the wake of complaints after a group of people was allegedly caught having sex in the city's landmark Lumpini Park on Aug 7, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has said.

Set election date at once | Bangkok Post: opinion

Set election date at once | Bangkok Post: opinion: The three years of excuses for delaying a free and fair election have run out. It is no longer credible that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha can claim technical or parliamentary procedures remain in the way. While his all-powerful National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) harshly enforces a ban on political activity, the prime minister himself is seen to be openly canvassing support for his own campaign. The public needs and deserves an election date and an end to restrictions on freedom of speech and public gatherings.

Deal struck to curb Thai, Lao car fumes | Bangkok Post: news

Deal struck to curb Thai, Lao car fumes | Bangkok Post: news: NONG KHAI: The Thai and Lao pollution control agencies have agreed to work together to reduce air pollution caused by vehicles in the two countries, especially at border checkpoints.

Let the 34 Ministers and 33 Deputy Ministers under Najib from 2016 – 2018 individually speak up as to what they did in July 2016 when the US DoJ filed its largest kleptocratic litigation on 1MDB-linked assets involving Najib as “MOI” and expanded it in June 2017 to US$1.7 billion assets out of US$4.5 billion embezzlement of 1MDB funds? « Lim Kit Siang

Let the 34 Ministers and 33 Deputy Ministers under Najib from 2016 – 2018 individually speak up as to what they did in July 2016 when the US DoJ filed its largest kleptocratic litigation on 1MDB-linked assets involving Najib as “MOI” and expanded it in June 2017 to US$1.7 billion assets out of US$4.5 billion embezzlement of 1MDB funds? « Lim Kit Siang: Yesterday, I refuted former Johor Mentri Besar Khaled Nordin and stressed that he cannot be more wrong when he said that it was Najib Razak alone

Najib, where does Umno get all this money? - Aliran

Najib, where does Umno get all this money? - Aliran: Doesn’t Umno have faith in our banks for the money to be safely kept in the bank to earn interest, wonders P Ramakrishnan. Umno seems to be wallowing in millions of ringgit. Nobody seems to know where this gargantuan sum of money comes from. Suddenly, we discover 35 bags containing RM114m lying around in an …

Richard Malanjum as Chief Justice: New dawn for a progressive, courageous judiciary - Aliran

Richard Malanjum as Chief Justice: New dawn for a progressive, courageous judiciary - Aliran: Lim Wei Jiet dissects Richard Malanjum’s ideological leanings and judicial philosophy during his time at the Bench to shed light on what Malaysians can expect from the judiciary in the near future. After weeks of intense suspense, Richard Malanjum was at last sworn in on 11 July 2018 as our nation’s new Chief Justice by …

Rats in the ranks: here’s how the KPU should deal with corrupt candidates – Indonesia at Melbourne

Rats in the ranks: here’s how the KPU should deal with corrupt candidates – Indonesia at Melbourne: The General Elections Commission (KPU) has taken a bold step to prevent corruption convicts from participating in future elections. Bahruddin suggests that this approach could be augmented with a strategy…

A polarised Indonesia? Elections, intolerance and religion – Indonesia at Melbourne

A polarised Indonesia? Elections, intolerance and religion – Indonesia at Melbourne: Religious identity politics is increasingly becoming the norm in Indonesian elections. Dr Sandra Hamid calls for more attention to be paid to the period between elections, and how growing exclusivism…

TODAYonline | Dr M says Singapore should pay at least 10 times more for Malaysian water

TODAYonline | Dr M says Singapore should pay at least 10 times more for Malaysian water: PUTRAJAYA — Prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday (Aug 13) that he wants to increase the price of water sold to Singapore by at least 10 times. 

In an interview with the Associated Press, Dr Mahathir noted that Malacca pays Johor 30 sen (10.1 Singapore cents) per 1,