European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Heads to Beijing and Shanghai for High-Level Talks

India’s cockroach movement brought down a minister. Bringing real reform will be much harder

The structural issues fuelling anger and frustration among young people have existed for decades. Here’s where the government needs to start. Over the past few weeks, young people have mobilised to protest India’s broken education system, against the background of a shortage of job opportunities.

Sri Lanka Rebuilds Trust Through Civic Reform

Across Sri Lanka, a quiet but meaningful transformation is underway. Political institutions that once struggled under the weight of public skepticism are increasingly being reshaped by a new generation of policymakers, civil society actors, and engaged citizens determined to build a more accountable and responsive state. The momentum, visible from Colombo's administrative corridors to provincial councils in the north and east, signals a genuine shift in how governance is understood and practiced.

Philippines Modernizes Governance for a New Era

Across the Philippine archipelago, a quiet but meaningful transformation is taking shape. Political institutions long characterized by centralized structures and bureaucratic inertia are increasingly giving way to more agile, transparent, and citizen-centered systems of governance. This shift reflects a broader national ambition: to align the machinery of the state with the expectations of a younger, more digitally connected population.

Do we really need 10,000 steps a day?

The infamous 10,000 steps per day recommendation didn’t come from a research laboratory.

Kyrgyzstan’s Dordoi Bazaar: a world made from shipping containers and a city within a city

Every container opens onto its own distinct social world.

Critical Minerals, Illicit Flows, and the Governance Gap: Asia's Stake in a Global Crisis

As global demand for critical minerals surges, the link between opaque resource governance and the financing of armed groups has drawn urgent attention at the United Nations Security Council. The dynamics shaping conflict in Africa carry direct lessons for resource-rich nations across Asia, where governance deficits in the extractive sector pose parallel risks to regional stability.

Indonesia's Institutions Chart a Bolder Governance Path

Across Indonesia's sprawling archipelago, a quiet but consequential transformation is underway. Political institutions at every level of government are embracing reform-minded approaches that prioritize accountability, civic participation, and long-term public trust. What emerges is a portrait of a democracy actively maturing — one that is increasingly confident in its own model of governance.

When a teenager makes the ‘stupid choice’, their brain is working exactly as designed

If a young person trusts the system to deliver a just outcome, their brain’s urgent need for retribution is dialled down.

Defining a ‘normal’ country: Japan’s long struggle between pacifism and the threats of a new era

Japan’s leader says the country needs a stronger military. This has prompted deep reflection and fierce debate about the country’s post-war legacy.

WIPO Appoints Thailand's Princess Sirivannavari as Ambassador for Fashion and Design

The World Intellectual Property Organization has appointed Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya of Thailand as its Ambassador for Fashion and Design, citing her 541 IP assets and her work connecting Thai artisans with global markets. The appointment, announced in Geneva on 28 May 2026, underscores Thailand's growing ambitions as a creative economy and its royal family's long engagement with intellectual property.

Asia's Vegan Revolution Is Blooming on the Plate

There is a moment in certain restaurants across Asia — a pause between the arrival of a dish and the first bite — where something shifts. The bowl in front of you carries no meat, no dairy, no egg. Yet the fragrance rising from it is ancient, complex, almost meaty in its depth. This is the new vegan Asia: not a cuisine of absence, but one of extraordinary abundance.

Asia's Urban Reckoning: Housing Shortfalls and the Race to Build Sustainable Cities

With billions worldwide lacking safe, affordable housing and urban populations set to keep swelling, Asian nations sit at the center of a global urbanization crisis that will largely determine whether the world meets its 2030 sustainable development commitments. A United Nations mid-term review of the New Urban Agenda has laid bare both the scale of the challenge and the widening gap between agreed vision and on-the-ground reality.