Monday’s one-day conference, which will open with speeches by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, aims to secure commitments of support towards the country’s US$16 billion recovery and reconstruction plan. Pakistan’s government aims to cover half that amount with “domestic resources”,…

JAKARTA: Indonesia will always be given priority by Malaysia in bilateral relations, said Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday (Jan 8). “Indonesia accepted me as a true friend, so I will never forget that,” he told the media after witnessing a handover of letters of intent and…

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah state government led by Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition has collapsed, after Barisan Nasional (BN) withdrew its support for the chief minister. BN’s decision was announced by Sabah United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) chief Bung Moktar Radin on Friday night (Jan…

“I would like to reiterate that the continuous activities of the People’s Liberation Army (around Taiwan) are not helpful to cross-strait relations nor to the peace and stability of the region,” Tsai said. “As we are facing the expansion of authoritarianism, we can only but…

SOUTHEAST ASIA OPEN With the big Chinese New Year holidays late this month, the mainland is also set to open the border with its special administrative region of Hong Kong on Sunday, for the first time in three years. Ferry services between the city and…

BEIJING: An LGBT activist who was detained last month after some of China’s biggest protests in years was released on bail this week, their mother said, but 11 more demonstrators remain in custody. Yang Zijing, 25, was released from police detention in the southern metropolis…