Southeast Asia
Manufacturing, trade, and digital economies are shifting here faster than almost anywhere else on the planet. Ten nations, one supply chain revolution, and a tourism boom rewriting where the world travels next.
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Jul- 2026 -14 JulyLife & Health
Vietnam’s $76 baby bonus won’t reverse its fertility collapse
With urban child-rearing costs at $380–760 monthly, Vietnam's new Population Law offers maternity leave and housing priority but falls far short of the economic restructuring demographers say is needed.
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13 JulyScience
Thailand found a giant dinosaur that shouldn’t have lived here
A single fossil vertebra from northeastern Thailand reveals Uragasaurus kalasinensis, an 18-metre long-necked sauropod and the first mamenchisaurid ever confirmed in mainland Southeast Asia.
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13 JulyCompass
Vietnam’s tourism boom left its safety rules at the pier
Indian arrivals to Vietnam surged 49% to 750,000 in 2025, but enforcement of life-jacket laws and emergency protocols on tourist boats remains inconsistent, as the Phu Quoc capsizing that killed…
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12 JulyEarth
A super El Niño and Iran war could break global food prices until 2028
NOAA assigns a 63% probability that sea-surface temperatures will exceed 2°C above normal by late 2026, colliding with an Iran-war food shock that has already pushed the FAO Food Price…
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12 JulySociety
Thailand’s surrogate mothers face a decade-long legal limbo
A 2015 ban on commercial surrogacy remains unenforced as Chinese demand and Thai economic need quietly sustain a grey market the law cannot erase.
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12 JulyLife & Health
Bhutan pays citizens to have more children. It won’t work.
The government launched a cash incentive of US$105 monthly per third child, but housing and childcare costs—the actual barriers—remain unaddressed.
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12 JulySociety
Gong Yoo’s Asian tour is a masterclass in nostalgia monetisation
The South Korean actor announced six cities for 'The Long Take' fan meetings, timed to coincide with a Goblin 10th-anniversary special that tvN is producing to extend a decade-old drama's…
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12 JulyTech & AI
Grab became Malaysia’s economy. Regulators still have no rules for it.
The ride-hailing super app contributed RM9.9 billion to Malaysia's 2023 GDP while operating across mobility, food delivery, payments and banking—yet no single agency oversees its pricing algorithms or data flows.
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12 JulyCompass
Thailand’s tourist fee stalls as airlines refuse to collect it
The government planned to embed a THB300–500 levy in airfares starting early 2027, but carriers say their booking systems cannot distinguish nationality for refunds, forcing officials toward border-based collection instead.
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11 JulyTech & AI
Asia’s smartest money is betting against AI stocks
Temasek and Goldman Sachs are shifting billions toward semiconductor fabs and data centres, signalling deep doubts about software valuations even as Western investors chase the rally.
