For decades, Singapore and Hong Kong have reigned supreme: as key transit points connecting travelers in Asia to and from the rest of the world. But now, a $1 trillion global airport spree is threatening the status quo. About half that money is due to be spent on upgrading or building new airports in Asia, the Sydney-based CAPA Centre for Aviation estimates. In Beijing, a new $12.9 billion airport due to open in

Members of the LGBT community in Thailand gather in front of a bar in Bangkok on June 18, 2016 during a vigil for victims of the worst mass shooting in modern US history in Orlando, Florida.

One of the chief architects of Indonesia’s post-crisis economy says local governments must be given more autonomy to help overcome a revenue gap hampering Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, a former adviser to five presidents, said while Indonesia had undertaken “courageous” reforms in the wake of the Asian financial crisis two decades ago, it needs to do more to give regional administrations the power to attract investment.Indonesia is facing a fiscal squeez

Indonesia's government on Wednesday banned the local branch of Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir, rejecting criticism from rights groups that the move was undemocratic.The government said it revoked the licence of Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) because the group conducted activities that were against the state ideology.Hizb ut-Tahrir, which calls for Islamic law and wants to unify all Muslims into a caliphate, has been operating for decades in Indonesia and has tens of thousands of foillowers

Hemmed in by Myanmar security forces and menaced by abductions and killings, Rohingya Muslims in a conflict-scarred corner of Rakhine State say fear is one of the few constants in their lives. Last week foreign media were given partial access to the isolated wedge of the northwestern state for the first time since security forces launched a months-long operation to root out militants who attacked border police posts.The UN wants to establish if that campaign amounted to ethnic cleansing after

Australia has created a super ministry combining its security agencies including the domestic spy service, border force and national police, the country's prime minister said Tuesday, calling the "historic change" necessary to tackle terrorism.The new Home Affairs portfolio -- which uses Britain's Home Office as a template -- will be run by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton in a major shake-up of national security arrangements."I am announcing the most significant ref

A Sri Lankan university was fending off allegations of animal cruelty Monday after being accused of inhumanely killing dozens of cats and dogs in a mass cull on campus.Tranquiliser darts were used to sedate the stray animals at the prestigious University of Moratuwa but many died from the dose, activists said."This is cruel and brutal treatment of animals and we want action taken against those responsible," animal rights activist Wibodha Ambeygoda told AFP.She said universi

A growing number of companies are finding it difficult to recruit skilled workers, which threatens to curtail profits and growth, according to a quarterly survey conducted by the Washington-based National Association for Business Economics.The results reinforce data coming out of the U.S. this year, which show a tightening labor market amid low interest rates and an economic expansion.

Germany’s start-of-the-century labor reforms are getting a lot of attention these days, both as the cure-all for the country’s previous economic woes and as the culprit behind inequality.Yet the importance being awarded to the famous “Agenda 2010” reforms might be a little exaggerated, according Christian Odendahl, an economist at the Centre for European Reform. Germany’s metamorphosis from the “sick man of Europe” into the continent’s growth engine may owe