Will Jackson

Thai blockbuster family drama How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies has left millions of film goers across South-East Asia in tears. Will it have the same effect on Australian audiences?

A new US State Department report highlights alleged Cambodian government "corruption and official complicity" in human trafficking for the online scam industry just days after a high-level Cambodian delegation visited Australia to learn about how to "fight against technological crime".

A survey of immigrant community leaders suggests their members are being hit harder than the wider community by the cost-of-living crisis, but also that they are showing resilience and helping each other.

China could soon become the first country in the world with flying taxis as part of Beijing's plan to develop what it calls the "low-altitude economy".

AI tools such as face-swapping and chatbots are being used by South-East Asia's crime syndicates to make their scams more efficient and effective. However, some operations appear to be having less success with the new tech than others.

The attack on a Cambodian-Australian visiting his homeland sets a worrying precedent according to community leaders and prompts activists to cancel upcoming travel plans. 

Truong My Lan's company was building luxury residential complexes and shopping centres. She's now been sentenced to death. 

Observers express concerns the "humiliating" loss of Myawaddy township on the Myanmar-Thai border will prompt a counteroffensive from the military junta that could have devastating consequences for the civilian population.

In response to the proliferation of sweatshop-style online scam centres in South-East Asia, individual volunteers and groups have stepped up — often at great personal risk.

Australia has long struggled to recruit as many personnel as our defence force chiefs would like. But ours isn't the only military in the Asia-Pacific region facing issues.

Thailand's Election Commission announces it will ask Thailand's Constitutional Court to disband the Move Forward Party over concerns the party's campaign to change a law against insulting the monarchy undermines the country's system of governance.

Experts warn the presumptive new president's personality and questionable past could cause some headaches for Canberra.

The Myanmar junta's decision to begin enforcing a conscription law first enacted 14 years ago is an attack on the country's young people, a "pronouncement of psychotic resolve" and likely to have unintended consequences, analysts say.

Bhutan's king has announced ambitious plans to develop a "mindfulness city" in a bid to boost the country's economy and reverse an exodus of young and qualified people seeking opportunities abroad — mainly in Australia. 

Experts warn that with elections to be held in about 50 countries this year — including the world's biggest democracies in India, the United States, and Indonesia — the proliferation of easy-to-use AI tools is set to lead to a "tsunami of disinformation". 

Myanmar's military government cedes control of the capital of the self-administered Kokang region in the country's north-east, the most significant defeat for the junta since an alliance of three ethnic-based rebel armies launched an offensive on October 27. 

Australians have been left stranded in Tuvalu after Fiji Airways cancelled all flights to and from the tiny Pacific Island national indefinitely due to damage to the airport's runway.

China reportedly mediates a temporary ceasefire in north-east Myanmar after rebel forces surround Laukkai, a border city notorious for cyberscam operations.

Fourteen years after the warlord Peng Jiasheng was betrayed and forced to relinquish control of Kokang, the region in Myanmar's north-east that he had ruled for decades, his family are poised to finally get revenge.

The Philippine Coast Guard revealed it was monitoring more than 135 Chinese vessels "swarming" at a disputed South China Sea reef within the country's exclusive economic zone.

An "unprecedented" surprise offensive launched by a coalition of ethnic-based armies and pro-democracy fighters in Myanmar's north has some observers convinced the country's ruling junta is likely to be defeated.

Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) students who were forced to take an amended Chinese language exam after it was accidentally given to a different class complain of a further stuff-up with the test.

Myanmar nationals who have had their visas knocked back by immigration officials because of the "political and economic situation" in their strife-riven country, say their individual circumstances are not being properly considered.

The conviction and sentencing of a human rights lawyer and activist last week under Thailand's lese-majeste law — the first since the country's new government took office — has left those pushing for reform of the law dismayed, but experts believe there is reason to hope for change in the longer term.

China is working with neighbouring countries to crack down on the scam operations that are plaguing the region — including Australia.