JAKARTA: Indonesia’s business grew 4. 87 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, its weakest growth rate in more than three years, official data showed on Monday ( May 5 ), compared with a 4. 91 per cent growth price expected by researchers in a Reuters surveys.Continue Reading
According to state media, Malaysia plans to launch a clear road cargo service this year between its funds Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok in neighboring Thailand to raise bilateral and regional trade, citing the transport minister.  , According to state news agency Bernama, the rail service was scheduled to begin operationsContinue Reading
US President Donald Trump describes himself as “very pleasant” with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who won re-election over the weekend with a flood success.
In his first comment about the American election, Trump told the Sydney Morning Herald at the White House on Sunday,” We have had a very good relationship.
The other political candidate, however, the US leader was less common with the US president.
He compared liberal opposition leader Peter Dutton, who some thought was Australia’s version of Donald Trump, to the fact that” I have no idea who the other person is that ran against him.”
However, on Saturday, Albanese defied the alleged “incumbency curse” and made a shocking return to win a favorable lot for a second word.
A jump to Albanese’s center-left Labor party was cited as a result of Trump’s massive taxes ‘ global confusion.
Trump said on Sunday,” Albanese, I’m very pleasant with.” ” The person who won is very good, I don’t know anything about the poll other than that.” He is one of my friends.
When asked about Albanese’s earlier claims that Trump’s levies on Australia were” not the work of a friend,” he responded,” Well, I can only suggest that he’s been very, very good to me, quite respectable to me.”
Former US Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull claimed that Dutton’s campaign was “very Trumpian.” He claimed that the Coalition’s “temporum music” had a “very great influence on how people perceived” it.
Dutton’s company of hard-line conservative, his support for contentious immigration laws, such as sending asylum applicants to offshore detention centers, and his harsh criticism of China all contributed to Trump’s comparisons.
And despite his opposition, the Coalition under his command pursued laws that appeared to have been taken directly from the Trump administration.
At the conclusion of his campaign, Dutton made an apparent attempt to break these bonds, and he repeatedly told the audience that he didn’t understand Trump before trying to address issues about him during the last leaders ‘ debate.
He had long tried to persuade voters that he would be the legislator best suited for dealing with Trump, but he cited his experience as a government minister during Trump’s first term’s tariff negotiations.
Citizens were unsure of their choice.
Dutton’s plan came to an end in battle, and he lost his own seat in Dickson for the first 24 years. As vote results began to trickle in and indicate a Labour success, he resigned shortly after the polls closed on Saturday.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry ( MTI ) announced on Monday that a free trade agreement (FTA ) between Singapore and the Pacific Alliance would become effective on May 3.
Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru are a part of the Latin American trade union known as the Pacific Alliance.  ,
Colombia and Mexico’s approval processes are first, followed by the FTA for Singapore, Peru, and Chile.
With a community of 235 million, the Pacific Alliance is the ninth-largest economy in the world overall.
Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry, Gan Kim Yong, and his peers from the Pacific Alliance part state signed the agreement in January 2022.
The deal was ratified by Singapore and Peru in July 2022 and February 2023, both. Chile ratified the agreement on March 4, putting it into effect.
Singapore’s 28th free trade agreement is here.  ,
More than a third of Singapore’s total trade with the Latin American and Caribbean region was S$ 12.5 billion ( US$ 9.6 billion ) in bilateral trade with the Pacific Alliance in 2024.  ,
The top-selling items include electronic equipment, enhanced metal products, coco products, wine, and seafood.
In the Pacific Alliance’s industry, there are also about 100 Singapore companies active in industries like port management and shipping, as well as technology and the modern economy.  ,
It is Singapore and Colombia’s second FTA. Through the CPTPP, the CPTPP, and the intergovernmental Peru-Singapore FTA, Singapore is currently a FTA partner with Chile and Mexico.
Ivanova is also hesitant to call Bali her subsequent house because of the steep climb.  ,
” Anything was cheap when I first arrived in Bali. She said,” I spend almost the same amount of money as I do in Moscow right then.”
Very few visitors are reaping the benefits of the creation, despite the growth. And as the flow of digital nomad raises rates, some Balinese feel priced out, which causes conflict between locals and remote-working expats.  ,
” Buildings have become out of our Balinese reach,” said Bali native Nyoman Denny.  ,  ,  ,
In Bali, there were 40 % more digital nomad living there last year than there will be in 2023. According to the number of digital nomadic permits granted each year, there are estimated to be more than 3, 000 of them.
Although these figures may not seem overwhelming for an area that is roughly eight times as big as Singapore and has a population of about 4.4 million, it is possible that this is gross underestimation because it is possible to travel there for a fortnight on a holiday card that can be renewed for an additional 30 days. Some countries are exempt from the requirement for a card altogether.
In Bali in the 2010s, high-speed internet began to permeate smaller towns and suburbs as a result of the first wave of modern nomads.
According to Hansen Tandiyanto, the owner of Bali-based co-working place chain, Biliq,” for these online nomads, it is a significant cheaper to achieve the life that they want in Bali than where they come from.”
” Bali previously had strong immigrant neighborhoods, which is another cause. They are able to get someone who is from the same nation, speaks the same language, and practices the same society. Therefore, Bali “feels like home away from home” for them.
Asian automakers are attempting to resurrect in China with their regional joint venture partners and Chinese manufacturers of self-driving and wise cockpit technology.
This may be their last chance, with their combined market share in China declining from 24.1 % in 2020 to 13.7 % in 2024, according to the China Passenger Cars Association.
At the Vehicle Shanghai 2025 trade show, General Manager Li Hui of Toyota China stated,” We need Chinese brains and hands involved in creation to deliver vehicles people want in China.” Li was appointed as Toyota China’s second Taiwanese general manager earlier this year.
The Japanese could never afford to be driven out of the world’s largest and most powerful engine business, even if US President Donald Trump’s taxes were no causing them to lose business there.
The Taiwanese Association of Automobile Manufacturers estimates that in China in 2024, almost 13 million new vehicles ( including battery-powered, cross, and fuel cell vehicles ) were sold. In contrast, US sales totaled almost 16 million fresh cars, of which about 3.2 million were NEVs.
The 21st incarnation of the exhibition, Car Shanghai 2025, took place from April 23 through May 2. Almost 1, 000 car, auto parts, and another auto supply chain firms from 26 nations and regions were reportedly present at the event, which was co-hosted by the Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Shanghai, and the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers,  .
One million people visited the museum, where 1, 366 cars were on screen, of which 70 % were NEVs. Car and Driver publication noted that” the car show is thriving in China, while car shows have carefully been withering away in the United States, with fewer in-person reveals each year.
Americans used to watch GM’s Motorama shows in the 1950s, gazing in astonishment at thoroughly practical concept vehicles like the turbine-powered, titanium-bodied Firebird III and displays that showcased autonomous driving systems. Strong forth seven years and China will see the arrival of the future in real time.
Asian automakers presented a number of new cars in Shanghai in an effort to contribute to that future.
Toyota introduced the bZ7 electric sedan, which was created by Guangzhou Automobile Group ( GAC ), Guangzhou Toyota Motor, and Toyota China Co’s Intelligent ElectroMobility R&, D Center. The bZ7 is notable for having Huawei’s HarmonyOS aircraft system.
Toyota’s Li discussed the company’s” One R&, D System, and Region Chief Engineer approach” to product development in China at the event, claiming that it “integrates resources from the Intelligent ElectroMobility R&, D Center by Toyota ( China ), FAW Toyota, GAC Toyota, and its joint venture with BYD into a unified platform, enhancing collaboration with local Chinese suppliers and technology firms.”
Toyota even unveiled its most recent Lexus ES luxury sedan, which is available in cross and, for the first time, genuine battery-powered versions.
The second set of” Ye Series” electric vehicles designed specifically for China were presented by Honda GT  and Dongfeng Honda GT. DeepSeek’s AI technology will enhance the vehicle practice in these and other Thou Series cars.
Nissan also presented the Frontier Pro, a plug-in cross pick created and manufactured by affiliated Zhengzhou Nissan, and the N7, a Dongfeng Nissan-made energy sedan. The N7 has Momenta’s Advanced Driver Assistance System ( ADAS ).
Toyota and Honda collaborate with Chinese company Momenta, which develops assisted driving systems that are used by GM, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen. Momenta collaborates with BYD, GAC, and SAIC among Foreign manufacturers. SAIC, Toyota, and Daimler ( Mercedes-Benz ) are among Momenta‘s shareholders.
At the show, Momenta co-founder and CEO Cao Xudong stated,” We are the first Chinese firm to successfully deployed assisted driving systems, such as highway and city transportation capabilities, across multiple locations worldwide, including Germany, France, and Japan. In Toyota City and Stuttgart, Momenta has offices.
Sony, a first-time visitor to the event, was shown the new EZ-60 electric SUV created by Changan Mazda in partnership with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. Sony, a joint venture with Changan Mazda, was at the event, and it was aimed at the Chinese in-car entertainment segment.
German producers approach Japanese makers similarly. Volkswagen made an announcement on the evening of April 22, the day before the show’s opening, that it calls” the next generation of intelligent, fully connected vehicles ( ICV )”.
The Volkswagen Group’s largest ICV-offensive in China to date will begin with Auto Shanghai 2025, according to the company’s website. As part of a comprehensive product offensive, the Group will release more than 20 fully electric and electrified models ( NEV ) by 2027. The Group’s brands will have around 30 all-electric models available by 2030.
Bosch, a German manufacturer of automotive parts, software, and services, signed a technology cooperation agreement with Chinese automaker Horizon Robotics. Bosch also made an announcement regarding its first order for in-car-cockpit AI computers for vehicles in China.
Bosch Cross-Domain Computing Solutions president Christopher Hartung stated to the Chinese press that” We look forward to working with top-notch partners like Horizon Robotics to jointly advance the global development of intelligent driving technologies.
German automakers ‘ share of the Chinese market is currently about 13 %, according to MarkLines, like their Japanese rivals. They are also looking for ways to regain their share of the market after losing to local automakers, just like the Japanese. According to ZF‘s CEO,” If you stop investing here, you get left behind.”
A sizable portion of China’s auto market should still be owned by the Japanese and Germans. The shares of Hyundai Motor, its affiliate Kia, and the premium brand Galaxy, which are all down below 2 %, cannot be said about them.
The Americans, led by General Motors ( GM ), own about 9 % of China’s market, including through their regional joint ventures. Only 2 % of total auto sales in China are made by Tesla, and only 5 % of NEV sales are made by that company.
Follow this writer on , X: @ScottFo83517667
Ivanova is also hesitant to call Bali her subsequent house because of the steep climb.  ,
Everyone was low when I first visited Bali. She said,” I spend almost the same amount of money as I do in Moscow right then.”
Some locals are reaping the benefits of the creation, despite it. And as the flow of digital nomad raises rates, some Balinese feel priced out, which causes conflict between locals and remote-working expats.  ,
” Buildings have become out of our Balinese reach,” said Bali native Nyoman Denny.  ,  ,  ,
In Bali, there were 40 % more digital nomad living there last year than there will be in 2023. According to the number of digital nomadic permits granted yearly, there are estimated to be more than 3, 000 of them currently living there.
Although these figures may not seem overwhelming for an area that is roughly eight times as big as Singapore and has a population of 4.4 million, it is possible that this is gross underestimation because a tourist card can be used for a month and can be renewed for an extra 30 days.
Some countries don’t need a card at all, like some others.
In Bali in the 2010s, a new wave of online nomads arrived as high-speed net was starting to reach smaller towns and suburbs as the city’s core.
According to Hansen Tandiyanto, the owner of Bali-based co-working area network, Biliq,” for these online nomad, it is much less expensive to achieve the life they want in Bali than where they come from.”
” Bali has strong expat communities now, which is another reason.” They are able to find someone who is from the same nation, speaks the same language, and practices the same society. Thus Bali feels like a home away from home to them.
China is tightening its grip on Tibet and using its proper roof of the world to gain more support from the Dalai Lama’s followers “worldwide” from Lhasa to London, opening Tibet’s global aircraft to Singapore and Nepal, and constructing the largest hydroelectric bridge on a glacier-fed valley.
China rewards resource-rich Tibet’s noble Himalayan peaks, which allow the People’s Liberation Army to “look down” on India, China’s local foe, and provide a fearsome buffer between Beijing and New Delhi.
However, the Tibetan and international activists, experts, and supporters of the self-exiled 14th Dalai Lama are being warned by the United Kingdom’s GCHQ knowledge company that they are in danger of illness from “malicious actors” who created global surveillance malware known as MOONSHINE and BADBAZAAR.
The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), a division of the British government, claimed that the Chinese also developed snooping apps that resemble WhatsApp and Skype but allow text, audio, and video.
Other surveillance tools are packed into a standalone app such as Tibet One, which operates in the Tibetan language, the same source said.  ,  ,
The Tibet One messaging app was made shareable by Chinese hackers on Reddit and Telegram channels where Tibetans and their supporters exchanged information, according to the NCSC.
” We are seeing a rise in digital threats designed to silence, monitor and intimidate communities across borders”, NCSC director of operations Paul Chichester said in a statement.
Targets can be anyone” considered by the Chinese state to pose a threat to its stability,” according to the NSCS.
The NSCS reported that it had discussed the warning with cybersecurity officials from Australia, Canada, Germany, and New Zealand, as well as the US National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
” The malicious software– dubbed MOONSHINE and BADBAZAAR – hides malicious functions inside otherwise legitimate apps in a technique known as ‘ trojanising'”, the NSCS said.
” Once installed, the apps have been observed variously accessing functions, including microphones, cameras, messages, photos, and location data, including real-time tracking, without the user being aware,” it said.
Meanwhile, Meiya Pico, a government-owned digital forensics firm in China, is getting a deeper understanding of Tibetan society.
” Digital forensics technology, training, and services as provided by Meiya Pico can play a role at both ends of a repression pipeline, facilitating the long shadow of transnational repression beyond the Belt and Road corridor – helping Beijing track, intimidate, and silence Tibetan dissent worldwide, from Lhasa to London”, reported Turquoise Roof, an online Tibetan research site.
In a report titled” A Long Shadow: The Expansion and Export of China’s Digital Repression Model in Tibet” on April 16th, Turquoise Group stated that” when Chinese police in Tibet seize a phone from someone suspected of sharing information with Dharamsala, they ] exfiltrate and analyze the phone’s contents.
According to Turquoise Group, which collaborated with Canada-based SecDev Group, it found some of Beijing’s alleged spyware in a forged document from” SDIC Intelligence Xiamen Information Co Ltd, a digital forensics company better known as Meiya Pico, which ] won a contract in mid-2023 to construct two labs at the Tibet Police College, one on offensive and defensive cyber techniques, and the other on electronic evidence collection and analysis,” according to Turquois
In 2021, the US Treasury said Meiya Pico was using “biometric surveillance and tracking of ethnic and religious minorities in China”. The US Commerce Department placed the business on blacklist in 2019.
According to Maya Wang, associate director for China at Human Rights Watch, “using a cellphone has become dangerous for Tibetans, and everyday things like posting funny videos or calling loved ones abroad can lead to arrest, detention, and torture,” according to Maya Wang.
” Tibetans, particularly those living in remote areas, once celebrated the arrival of cellphones so they could stay in touch with friends and family, but their phones have effectively become government tracking devices”, Wang said.
Infractions include challenging the Dalai Lama, repressing Tibet’s independence or expressing opposition to the Chinese Communist Party. Beijing has for decades been a force behind dissent in Tibet.
A fresh crackdown is being waged against supporters of Tibetan Buddhist abbot and author Tulku Hungkar Dorje, 56, who fled to Vietnam in September 2024, fearing imprisonment in Tibet.
According to Tibet’s India-based parliament-in-exile, which is allegedly associated with the Dalai Lama, the abbot was” not enforcing Chinese state education policies in schools established under his guidance.”
Tulku Hungkar Dorje was taken into Vietnamese custody on April 3 after being detained in Ho Chi Minh City in March, according to media reports. He passed away there on April 3. Vietnam reportedly said the abbot died from a heart attack but provided no public evidence, sparking allegations that he was killed.
According to Free Tibet, an activist news website based in Britain, he was cremated on April 20 “without family consent.” This raises serious questions about China’s role in his arrest and demise.
Under heavy Chinese and Vietnamese surveillance, the monks present had their phones taken, and no one was allowed to leave, according to Zoe Bedford of the Australia Tibet Council.” Tulku Hungkar Dorje’s body was secretly transferred late at night to Sakya Vietnam temple.”
” This is not a sacred rite, it’s a forced cremation that looks like an attempt to destroy evidence and erase the truth”, Bedord claimed.
China recently expanded Lhasa Gonggar International Airport on the outskirts of the Tibetan capital to make the first round-trip flight to and from Singapore in December 2024 in order to utilize Tibet’s strategic high ground.
The airport’s renovation is a part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure development initiative.
Planes operated by China’s government-owned West Air, a unit of HNA Aviation Group, are scheduled to fly three times a week round-trip to Singapore with a stopover in China’s southern city Chongqing, according to the company. Lhasa-Hong Kong and other nearby locations are planned for future international routes.
Prior to this time, Lhasa only flew to and from nearby Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and Chinese cities like Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xian, Guangzhou, Kunming, and Shanghai.
” Looking ahead, West Air will expand its investments in Belt and Road countries, and open additional routes to meet growing passenger demand while supporting national strategies and regional development”, the company said.
However, Beijing’s real money-maker in Tibet is anticipated to be the company’s planned hydroelectric dams on the world’s highest peaks, where Mount Everest and other peaks soar.
When the glaciers ‘ waters flow into the Brahmaputra, Salween, and Mekong rivers, rivers that originate in Tibet reach hundreds of millions of people in plains across India, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia.
China is building the world’s biggest hydroelectric dam on the country’s longest river, Tibet’s Yarlung Tsangpo, with expectations it will pump out three times more energy than the nearby Three Gorges Dam, which is currently the mightiest hydroelectric dam on earth.
The British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC ) predicts that the US$ 137 billion Yarlung Tsangpo Hydroelectric Project will have four 12-mile ( 20 kilometers ) tunnels.
As it travels from Tibet to India, the Yarlung Tsangpo River, which already has a number of hydropower plants, is a good one. The river’s value is its huge waterfalls, making it attractive for hydroelectric plants despite the zone’s earthquake-vulnerable tectonic plates.
The sacred river has the largest vertical difference of 25 feet (7, 667 meters ), according to the website of New York-based Interesting Engineering.
The Chinese government intends to make the most of this, generating nearly 300 billion kilowatt hours (k Wh ) of hydropower from the project, enough to meet the energy demands of 300 million people annually, according to the engineering site.
The Yarlung Tsangpo cascades east across Tibet before bending south across the China-India frontier through Himalayan valleys into India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states.
The Brahmaputra River flows southwest into the river in India, which empties through Bangladesh’s delta into the Bay of Bengal.
The Australian-based Lowy Institute think tank argued that” control over these rivers ]in the Tibetan Plateau] effectively gives China a chokehold on India’s economy.
China’s vigilance over Tibet stems from the old Cold War. Two years before the Dalai Lama escaped, the US CIA began training Tibetans in combat and operations skills in 1957 and dropped them as insurgents against Communist Chinese in Tibet.
According to Radio Free Asia ( RFA ),” The CIA had piloted the project with a group of]Tibetan ] fighters who were trained at Saipan, Northern Mariana Island.”
The first radio team to be dropped back into Tibet by Operations St. The training camps were moved to Camp Hale [Colorado ] in September 1957 after it became clear that the Tibetans were not familiar with the island’s hot weather, so Colorado was chosen because of the island’s terrain and weather, according to RFA.
The CIA trained at least 259 Tibetan insurgents in Camp Hale from 1958 to 1964.
RFA reported that” the Tibetans were trained in radio operation, surveillance, and combat maneuvers, parachuting, intelligence gathering, clandestine exchange of written material, film, world history, and geography, and small armament training with bazookas, grenades, and rifles.”
According to Newsweek in 1999,” the CIA began using C-130s to airdrop weapons, ammunition, and US-trained Tibetans into their occupied homeland” from a secret CIA base in Takhli, Thailand.
Nine out of every 10 guerrillas who parachuted into Tibet were killed by Chinese or committed suicide to evade capture, the Smithsonian Institution’s Air &, Space Magazine reported.
When President Richard Nixon visited Beijing in 1972, shook hands with Chairman Mao Zedong, and improved their frosty relations, the Tibetan Buddhists ‘ CIA-backed insurgency ended in defeat against China’s revolution-hardened People’s Liberation Army.
After escaping Tibet in 1959 with the aid of the CIA, the Dalai Lama now lives in self-exile in McLeod Ganj, a small town in the forested northwest of India.
China’s Communist government opposes the Dalai Lama, portraying him as a” splittist” working with foreigners to recreate an independent Tibet after China annexed it in the 1950s.
Beijing doesn’t trust the Dalai Lama, who has consistently said he is” Marxist” and agrees with Tibet’s autonomy within China.
Since 1978, Richard S. Ehrlich, an American foreign correspondent reporting from Asia, has won the Columbia University Foreign Correspondents ‘ Award.
Excerpts from his two new nonfiction books,” Rituals. Killers. . wars &, Sex. The books” Apocalyptic Tribes, Smugglers & Freaks” and” Apocalyptic Tribes, Smugglers &, Freaks” are available here.
PUBLISHED: 5 May 2025 at 10: 24
TAK: The Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary’s visit guide has been missing since Saturday, and the research is ongoing.
The missing man tour guide was employed by Phu Doi Resort in Umphang district, according to Piya Pinyo, the wildlife sanctuary’s chief. On Saturday night, he encountered a group of tour guides and tourists on the Doi Palatay rock.
The trip guide’s phone number was originally set for a meeting time to be set for Sunday morning pickup by Phu Doi Resort staff, but he did not turn up. The telephone conversation was lost after that.
To form a group of ten firefighters, park rangers and locals were mobilized. Additionally, a helicopter was used to search for the missing person.
During the upcoming Vesak Day long weekend, travelers may anticipate very heavy visitors at Singapore-Malaysia area gates. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority ( ICA ) reported that traffic will be high between May 8 and May 13 at Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints as Vesak Day falls on May 12 thisContinue Reading