A Malaysian minister visited and provided financial aid to the widow of a motorcyclist who was killed in a drink-driving accident that threatened to inflame racial tensions in the country.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke visited the family of the late Amirul Hafiz Omar, 33, on Sunday, accompanied by Road Transport Department Director General Aedy Fadly Ramli.

He gave Amirul’s 32-year-old widow, Nor Nadia Abdul Majid, money from his own pocket to help the family with expenses.

“However, no amount...

Asean’s neutrality in the Iran conflict is key to granting access to the coveted Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran likely seeking to win global opinion amid its war with the United States and Israel.

Amid boiling tensions in the Gulf, Iran has wielded its control of the strategic channel to choke global oil supplies, especially to the US and its allies. Many countries – including those from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – have turned to diplomatic efforts to secure safe passage for...

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the US-Israeli war on Iran appears to have achieved its key initial aims of curbing Tehran’s nuclear and missile capabilities – and questioned what further goals remain.

“We did express support for the original objectives: preventing Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon and degrading its capacity to endanger its neighbours,” Albanese said in a speech on Thursday at the National Press Club in Canberra.

“And now those objectives have been...

A parking dispute in Kuala Lumpur has expanded into a wider debate over entitlement, public humiliation and online bullying in Malaysia, after a woman who damaged a car blocking her own issued a public apology that many said looked coerced.

The row began on Tuesday in Wangsa Maju, a densely populated suburb of the Malaysian capital, where videos shared on Threads showed a woman unable to reverse out of her parking spot after a red Perodua Ativa was left double-parked behind her car for about an...

A former teacher was charged in Singapore court on Thursday with multiple charges over sexual acts with an underage student.

The Singaporean, who is in his 30s, was handed nine charges in total – six of committing indecent acts with a young person and three charges of sexual penetration of a minor.

A gag order imposed by the court prevents the publication of anything that might identify the accused and the victim, including the incident locations.

Court records indicate that the pair have a...

Perched on top of a shoe shelf at the entrance of Veriff’s headquarters in Tallinn, Estonia, is a sign of a cartoon unicorn that reads “Welcome to Unicorn Land!”, serving as a reminder of the identity verification company’s rise from a local start-up to a valuation of US$1.5 billion in seven years.

Veriff, which boasts clients including PayPal, Bumble and Visa, was founded by Kaarel Kotkas in 2015. It is one of at least 10 unicorn companies – privately held start-ups valued at more than US$1...

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called on enforcement agencies to step up action against what his government sees as false claims about fuel and electricity prices as it seeks to shore up public confidence amid a global energy crunch.

The communications regulator has identified 96 posts of misleading content circulating on social media, he said. Anwar urged authorities, including police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, to take action against those spreading what...

An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck in Indonesia’s Northern Maluku Sea on Thursday, killing one person, damaging buildings and triggering tsunami waves, authorities and witnesses said, though monitoring agencies said the likelihood of further casualties was low.

Indonesia’s meteorology agency BMKG said tsunami waves were reported in five locations, the highest at 0.75 metre (2.46 feet) in North ‌Minahasa in North Sulawesi and about 50 aftershocks were monitored, the largest at a magnitude of...

Japan could get a boost in its push for a next-generation fighter jet if Canada joins a multinational consortium backing the aircraft’s development, as Tokyo aims to narrow the gap with China’s fast-modernising air force.

The Canadian government said it intended to take part in the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), currently involving Japan, the United Kingdom and Italy, the Asahi newspaper reported on Tuesday. Japan is planning to replace its ageing F-2 fleet with a sixth-generation stealth...

Manila is following its Southeast Asian neighbours’ lead by seeking talks with Iran to secure safe passage for Philippine-bound tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a move observers have called “a matter of survival”.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro posted on social media that she and energy secretary Sharon Garin had met Iran’s envoy Yousef Esmaeilzadeh on Wednesday to discuss energy cooperation and the advancement of bilateral ties.

“Pleased to meet Iranian Ambassador to...