As the year draws to an end, 2018 was not a year of living dangerously, as most of us mere mortals want more than ever to live a quiet life. The year has also not been easy for any leader, as Theresa May knows all too well.Since the great recession of 2008, competition has been a race to the bottom in almost every sphere, but more so in politics. As competition guru professor Michael Porter wrote last year, “competition in the politics industry is failing America” (Harvard Business School, 2017)

KUALA LUMPUR (The Straits Times/ANN) - Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday (Nov 29) that he could not confirm that Malaysia's King, Sultan Muhammad V, was recently married, as widely reported and discussed on social media in the past week.According to online reports and supposed pictures of the wedding ceremony, the 49-year-old ruler was married earlier this month to former Moscow beauty queen Oksana Voevodina, 25."I don't have the name or official confirmation. I can't say anything

NEW DELHI -- According to the recent Hydropower Status Report, East Asia and the Pacific has the highest annual increase in hydropower capacity with China contributing the largest share of installed capacity. Over 90 per cent of the capacity added in 2017 in the region came from China, which increased its total installed capacity to 341,190 MW.Japan is second in the region with an installed capacity of 49,905 MW. It is followed closely by India with an installed capacity of 49,382 MW. In India,

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN) -- The Central Sulawesi administration has declared a 14-day state of emergency following an earthquake and tsunami that struck the province on Friday, says the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the state of emergency period was declared from Sept. 28 to Oct. 11.“As the administration has declared the emergency state period, it will be easier for both the regional and national government to mobilize personnel, log

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN) -- At least 20 participants and committee members of the Indonesia Open Paragliding Cross Country Palu Nomoni have been rescued after an earthquake, tsunami and mudflow devastated several areas in Central Sulawesi, while several others remain missing.Tagor Siagian, a public relations officer with the Indonesian Aero Sport Federation (FASI), told The Jakarta Post on Sunday that 20 athletes, competition committee members and coaches had been rescued and had landed in

The death toll from the earthquake in Palu and Donggala, Central Sulawesi has risen to 832, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) announced on Sunday afternoon. Around 821 victims have been found in Palu, while the rest have been found in Donggala.The agency has also recorded that at least 540 people were injured by the earthquake and tsunami, and are currently being treated in hospitals. Meanwhile, 16,372 people are reportedly displaced and are currently occupying 24 camps around the r

BANGKOK (The Nation/ANN) -- Her dream of meeting and shaking hands with her South Korean idol may have come true but an indiscrete revelation of how she had accomplished the feat on her Facebook page has landed the fan in a soup and could end in her being jailed.The fan, along with another person, met Lee Jong-suk, 29, in a restricted area inside Suvarnabhumi Airport.Sirote Duangratana, the general manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport, on Sunday said that security camera footage showed that the incid

HANOI, Vietnam (Viet Nam News) -- Vietnam expects the growth of textile and garment exports to South Korea to continue until the end of the year after strong results in the first seven months of 2018, according to the General Department of Customs.Up until July, Vietnam showed an on-year increase of 24.88 percent in textile and garment export value to $1.5 billion to South Korea, marking a strong breakthrough in those products to the market.In July alone, the export value of those products to th

JAKARTA (The Japan News) -- An Indonesian couple named their daughter Asian Games, as she was born on Aug. 18, the day of the opening ceremony of the Games, one of the largest sports events ever held in Indonesia.“I am proud of her being born on the day of the Asian Games,” the girl’s father, Yordania Denny, 39, said at his home in Palembang, on southern Sumatra island. The Asian Games took place in Jakarta and Palembang until Sunday.Yordania Denny holds his daughter Adibah Asian Games at their

HANOI, Vietnam (Viet Nam News) -- Fans are chomping at the bit to witness the clash between Vietnam and South Korea in the semifinals of the Asian Games 2018 on Wednesday.Vietnam’s head coach Park Hang-seo hails from South Korea, and the match has been billed as a derby between two South Korean coaches.Vietnam enjoyed an historic 1-0 win against Syria in their quarterfinal on Monday, while South Korea beat Uzbekistan in a 4-3 thriller.After beating Uzbekistan and before the Vietnam game had been

VIENTIANE, Laos -- The government will work with the countries whose companies are stakeholders in the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project to investigate the cause of the collapse of the project’s saddle dam, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith announced yesterday.The 410-megawatt capacity hydro plant is a joint venture between SK Engineering and Construction and Korea Western Power of South Korea, Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding PCL of Thailand and Lao Holding State Enterprise of Laos

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean company director was hauled to court on Thursday (July 19) for allegedly supplying luxury items such as musical instruments, wines and perfumes to North Korea.Ng Kheng Wah, 55, is said to have engaged in a conspiracy with general wholesale trade company T Specialist International and two others - Sherly Muliawan and Li Ik - to commit the offences.There were no details on Muliawan and Li in court documents. The Friendship bridge connecting the North Korean town of Sinuij

North Korean Ambassador to Thailand Mun Song-mo says his country will “definitely win” any war with the United States if Washington does not drop its “plan to destroy us.” Calling US President Donald Trump a “mad man”, the envoy from Pyongyang told The Nation in an exclusive interview last Friday: “We now have the hydrogen bomb. If a war breaks out, we are ready to fight and we will surely win the war against the United States.”In the rare interview, the North Korean envoy, however, stressed: “W

BANGKOK (ANN) -- The Star's editor-in-chief Datuk Leanne Goh of Malaysia has been appointed the Asia News Network chairperson for the period 2017-2018. Datuk Leanne Goh, editor-in-chief of The StarThe appointment was made by the Executive Board of ANN, an alliance of 22 media from 21 countries over the weekend. She succeeds Zaffar Abbas, Editor of Dawn from Pakistan. Goh serves as a ANN Executive Board member and recently, received a lifetime achievement award in recognition of her leadership in