China’s space station may get the most precise clock in orbit – if it passes key test
Optical atomic clock will be delivered to Tiangong in October if it clears technical evaluation next week, according to scientist familiar with project. ⌘ Read more

Philippines’ Duterte leaves brutal legacy in presidency marked by drug war, US-China policy flip-flops
The extrajudicial killings of some 8,000 people has ‘opened the floodgates for a type of governance that disregards the rule of law, due process and human rights’, activists say. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong’s Asian expats still see city as a ‘land of opportunities’
Amid a Western exodus, expats from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand share why they remain confident in the city’s future – even if Covid curbs are a major turn-off. ⌘ Read more

Myanmar’s NUG says junta placed Aung San Suu Kyi in solitary confinement to ‘embarrass’ her
The shadow government and UN denounced the military for transferring the ousted leader from house arrest to solitary confinement in prison this week. ⌘ Read more

World leaders seek united front for Ukraine at key summits as war rages
Back-to-back summits over the next week will test Western resolve to support Ukraine as rising geopolitical tensions and economic pain cast an increasingly long shadow. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong police arrest 1,800 people, aged 11 to 90, in first four weeks of cross-border crime crackdown
Officers seize HK$100 million worth of illegal drugs and illicit goods in operation Thunderbolt 2022. ⌘ Read more

Woman’s anger over topless hospital X-ray by male doctor who got a week suspension starts heated debate in China and her post gets 130 million views
A woman asked to remove her clothes for an X-ray exam with a male radiologist says she felt violated and complained and then posted about the incident on social media. ⌘ Read more

Can Indonesia’s Jokowi breathe easy, with air pollution in Jakarta and other cities still causing tens of thousands of premature deaths?
Despite air quality in Jakarta often exceeding WHO guidelines, campaigners say the government is still not tackling pollution. It is even appealing against last year’s landmark court ruling which said air quality must be improved. ⌘ Read more

Malaysia: Were Mahathir’s remarks about ‘reclaiming’ Singapore and Indonesia’s Riau Islands aimed at Johor’s sultan?
While some Singaporeans accused Mahathir of fomenting ill will between the neighbours, observers in Malaysia said the remarks were likely a veiled jab at the sultan of Johor. ⌘ Read more

Malaysia’s role pressuring Myanmar junta praised by UN human rights expert
Tom Andrews urged 10-member bloc Asean to follow Malaysia’s lead and move from non-interference to ‘non-indifference’ in Myanmar, with much more needing to be done to avoid more death and suffering. ⌘ Read more

Don’t bring cannabis to Indonesia, Thai embassy tells tourists
Thailand became the first Asian nation to decriminalise cannabis earlier this month. But tourists caught smuggling it into Indonesia could face the death penalty. ⌘ Read more

Are Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong expats still living the dream? Burnout, stress and loneliness rife since Covid-19, survey says
Almost 12,000 expatriates around the world were interviewed, including in the Asia-Pacific region, for a well-being survey. 95 per cent of ‘top managers’ in Singapore mentioned burnout symptoms while almost half the Hong Kong respondents were planning to return home. ⌘ Read more

Cash-strapped Pakistan scores IMF financial aid win – but millions of people may face ruin, analysts say
Analysts say energy price hikes after renewal of IMF support package may push many more people into poverty and wreak havoc among 5.2 million small and medium-sized businesses. ⌘ Read more

Malaysia’s Ismail Sabri Yaakob unveils more handouts for low-income families as Najib, Anwar take aim at rising prices
Payments will be disbursed along with 1.11 billion ringgit to be handed out in the second of four tranches of direct aid budgeted for this year. Announcement came hours after the opposition threatened a mass demonstration. ⌘ Read more

Reef shark rescued from Singapore oil refinery
Shell plc said it would be taking action ‘to enhance preventive measures’ at its seawater intake areas. A sea turtle got stuck in the same intake bay in 2017. ⌘ Read more

From Indonesia to Pacific, women less likely to have 2 Covid-19 vaccine shots than men
Women have borne the brunt of hardship two years after the pandemic, a new UN report shows. ⌘ Read more

China supercomputer achieves global first with ‘brain-scale’ AI model
Research team says latest Sunway machine is on a par with the US Frontier, named as the world’s most powerful just weeks earlier. ⌘ Read more

Syed Saddiq faced ‘pressure’ by Malaysia’s PPBM, his parents say during corruption trial
Parents of the former youth minister, who was sacked from PPBM for objecting to the party’s defection in 2020, say he is a ‘political victim’. ⌘ Read more

Chinese university student’s marathon two-week packing job for absent friends earns praise of a nation
A 15-day bag-packing effort by a Chinese university student for dorm mates stranded by Covid-19 goes viral. ⌘ Read more

Singapore unveils US$1 billion package as cost of living rises amid inflation, Ukraine war
Adult Singaporeans earning below S$34,000 (US$24,500) a year will receive S$300 in cash in August, and every household will get S$100 to offset utilities. ⌘ Read more

As BTS ‘takes a break’, what does it mean for the K-pop supergroup’s future?
Looming military enlistment for the older members of BTS is creating a headache for the company behind the band. Last week’s shock announcement also leaves the group’s social justice efforts in doubt. ⌘ Read more

A new Quad? Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand eye four-way anti-China meet on sidelines of Nato gathering
The envisaged meeting on the sidelines of next week’s gathering of Nato leaders in Spain is reportedly seen by the four nations as an attempt to keep an assertive China in check. ⌘ Read more

Indonesian Islamist group Khilafatul Muslimin with ‘hundreds of thousands’ of members wants to build caliphate
A group called Khilafatul Muslimin aims to turn Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, into an Islamic caliphate, which is ‘very dangerous’ for the nation, according to the national terrorism prevention chief. ⌘ Read more

Hopes fade for swift Nato accession for Finland and Sweden
A dispute with Türkiye, which is blocking their bid to join the alliance, appears unlikely to be resolved before a summit in Spain next week. ⌘ Read more

Airlines restoring flights faster than planned to meet demand
Seats on international flights are about 90 per cent full, and daily services between Sydney and London via Singapore on the Airbus superjumbo are fully booked for weeks. ‘There’s massive demand’, Qantas CEO said. ⌘ Read more

Should Philippines’ Marcos be ‘on guard’ as Sara Duterte is sworn in early, meets China envoy?
The VP-elect’s move to take her oath 11 days early, in a ceremony attended by diplomats including China’s ambassador, shows she remains a ‘force’ beyond her office, analysts say. ⌘ Read more

Indonesia looks to Singapore to offload its surplus chickens
Indonesia produces 55 million to 60 million chickens per week and currently has a surplus. Singapore has been scrambling to find alternative supply sources since Malaysia restricted poultry exports. ⌘ Read more

Will Malaysia see a fresh influx of Rohingya refugees as life in Bangladesh, Myanmar gets worse?
Over 600 Rohingya were arrested trying to reach Malaysia in the past seven months – and activists say desperate conditions in Myanmar and Bangladesh are forcing more to risk the perilous sea voyage. ⌘ Read more

Thailand’s looking to legalise same-sex unions, but will it embrace full marriage equality?
A bill that would legalise same-sex marriage won initial approval from Thai lawmakers this week despite opposition from the government, which wants civil partnerships for LGBT people instead. ⌘ Read more

Malaysia wants to fight inflation with GST. Will it cost Ismail Sabri at the polls?
With more people needing financial aid, the Malaysian government is trying to widen its revenue sources to can boost social welfare, analysts say. ⌘ Read more

Will Indonesia’s Jokowi start his own political party to cement his legacy?
The president’s lobby group Projo says it may register as a political party as talk swirls of officials mulling a constitutional change to allow third terms. ⌘ Read more

US, China talks in Luxembourg may set stage for Biden-Xi face-to-face summit
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi met in Europe’s Luxembourg on Monday, the 4th in-person meeting of US-China officials in 15 months. ⌘ Read more

Something incredible is happening this week… ⌘ Read more

It’s amazing that Framework, a company that designed its own laptop, can’t avoid breaking its RSS feed every 2 weeks. Unsubscribed!

Coronavirus: vaccine roll-out for American children under 5 close after CDC panel vote
US President Joe Biden’s administration plans to roll out the vaccines to the under-5 age groups as early as next week. ⌘ Read more

Singapore’s Pink Dot gay pride rally returns, as MP from ruling party attends for first time – and in a pink T-shirt
After two years of Covid postponements, LGBT event returns, with excitement that archaic colonial-era Section 377A Penal Code law criminalising sex between men will soon be repealed. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong’s buyers snap up 70 per cent of new homes on offer, casting aside HKMA’s 75-point interest hike as banks deferred raising mortgage rates
HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Hang Seng Bank kept their prime rates unchanged this week, even after the city’s de facto central bank raised its base rate by 75 basis points. ⌘ Read more

The way we wed: How Indian brides are reinventing ceremonies to push for gender equality
Modern brides are doing away with practices such as looking sad as they leave their families, and changing their surnames after marriage. ⌘ Read more

Oil-producing Gulf nations are pursuing greener energy. What does this mean for Asia?
Most of Asia’s electricity needs come from oil-producing Gulf nations, which are trying to position themselves as leaders in the development of green energy. ⌘ Read more

China’s Covid-19 health code system is ripe for abuse and must not outlast the pandemic
A recent scandal in Henan province that saw protesters issued bogus red health codes to restrict their movements shows how open the system is to misuse. ⌘ Read more

Why Singapore may be edging closer to scrapping Section 377A criminalising gay sex – and what would happen if it did
Surveys show growing support for abolishing the colonial-era law that makes sex between men illegal, but other policies could be tightened to appease the city state’s conservatives if it is scrapped. ⌘ Read more

BTS: US$3.5 million Proof album purchase shows V’s fans in China are undeterred by Beijing’s K-Culture crackdown
The group purchase of more than 170,000 copies was made on the first day of the release of BTS’ new album ‘Proof’ last week despite Beijing tightening its grip over the consumption of South Korean content and fandom culture. ⌘ Read more

Hong Kong health experts propose 5 key groups, including animal care workers, be vaccinated against monkeypox before exposure
Pre-exposure jab considered for five target groups, but should not be given within four weeks before or after a Covid-19 vaccine is administered. ⌘ Read more

NetEase’s new game Diablo Immortal banned from new posts on Weibo just a week before hotly-anticipated release
Diablo Immortal ’s Chinese version is due to be launched on PC, iOS and Android devices on June 23. ⌘ Read more

Malaysian lawyers’ ‘walk for judicial independence’ gets off on the wrong foot
Hundreds of lawyers, angry about ‘anti-corruption’ probe into judge who convicted former PM Najib Razak in 1MDB scandal, were unable to begin protest walk as police blocked two car park exits. ⌘ Read more

China hit by floods, heatwaves and a tornado, with more weather misery on the way
Severe storm and flooding alerts go out in seven southern regions, with central and northern China to see extreme heat continuing into next week. ⌘ Read more

South Korea’s BTS band break taboos but are seen by many as doing more abroad to battle discrimination than at home. Why?
The group is often criticised for speaking out more overseas than in their own country, but supporters say the seven are constrained by a conservative society and managers’ ‘fear’ of repercussions. ⌘ Read more

EU backs Ukraine’s membership bid as war brings huge historic shift
Ukraine EU candidacy signals major change in European geopolitics – ‘Europe can create a new history of freedom’ President Volodymyr Zelensky says. Leaders of EU countries are expected to endorse the decision at a summit next week. ⌘ Read more

Japan’s new tougher cyberbullying laws prompted after Hana Kimura’s suicide sparks free speech debate
Anyone convicted of using abusive language to insult a person in a public setting, including online, now face up to one year behind bars or a fine of up to US$2,236. Previously, a conviction could have led to a maximum prison term of 30 days or a fine of US$75. ⌘ Read more

How J.Y. Pillay helped Lee Kuan Yew turn Singapore Airlines into a global giant
With no domestic market and limited aviation experience, Singapore’s dream of owning a world-class international airline seemed far-fetched, but Pillay believed it was achievable. ⌘ Read more