BANGKOK -- Shortly after Moe Hein and his wife, Su Su Hlaing, were gunned down in their home in a central Myanmar township last Friday night, word spread within some Facebook groups that the Pyu Saw Htee, a pro-military vigilante group, was linked to the killing.

The chilling details included the couple's name appearing on a Pyu Saw Htee list of 38 members of the National League for Democracy in the township where they lived, Myingyan. The list had been posted online in the local language

By early March, India had reason to be optimistic about the pandemic. COVID-19 infection rates were dropping, from 97,000 new cases per day in September to fewer than 15,000 in February, and experts openly proclaimed India had achieved "herd immunity." Health Minister Harsh Vardhan declared that month "we are in the end game" of the pandemic, after the world's largest vaccination drive began a month earlier.

But in dealing with an unpredictable, frequently

TOKYO -- FC Barcelona sponsors Rakuten and Konami Holdings have spoken out against two players who were in a leaked video appearing to mock Japanese hotel employees.

Barcelona shirt sponsor Rakuten on Tuesday issued a statement expressing its disappointment over the incident. "These types of actions cannot be permitted under any circumstance," the online retailer said.

"We will lodge a formal protest against the club and seek an explanation," Rakuten Chairman and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani tweeted.

The video, recorded during a trip to Japan in 201

BANGKOK -- Insurance claims over popular COVID-19 insurance policies in Thailand have grown tenfold since last year, prompting insurance authorities to launch investigations into possible fraud.

The Office of Insurance Commission, the country's insurance regulator, has warned on its website it is investigating possible insurance fraud after seeing COVID claims soar.

As of end-April 2020, when Thailand began witnessing a third wave of the pandemic, the number of COVID-19 policyholders stood at 13.8 million with total

TOKYO -- For beleaguered Mitsubishi Motors, Southeast Asia is a singularly important market. But caught between Japanese peers competing for market share and Chines upstarts offering low-priced electric vehicles, the automaker faces a tough battle for survival.

The automaker has a sizable presence in Southeast Asia, with an approximately 15% market share in the Philippines, 10% in Indonesia and 7% in Thailand. In contrast, Mitsubishi only ekes out a 1.7% share back home in Japan.

The region accounted for 7

TOKYO -- Avid gamers were disappointed when Nintendo unveiled the latest version of its popular Switch console on Tuesday.

They had been hoping for a "Switch Pro" -- a long-rumored high-spec device that would be capable of competing with the likes of Sony Group's PlayStation. What they got was a device aimed squarely at casual and first-time gamers.

The most notable upgrade is the display, a 7-inch, organic light-emitting diode display (OLED) that replaces the 6.

TAIPEI -- Huawei Technologies said on Wednesday its wireless technology will be used in 30 million Volkswagen cars after the Chinese company inked a licensing deal with a supplier to the world's largest carmaker.

The deal represents the embattled tech company's latest effort to survive an ongoing U.S. clampdown and monetize its 4G and 5G wireless technologies. These technologies, which include communication protocols for smartphones and connected cars, are essential for such features as smart door locks, in-car infotainment systems, precise

HONG KONG -- Moves by China to crackdown on listings by its companies on U.S. markets are set to redirect a major portion of the IPO flow to Hong Kong, as technology companies' thirst for capital and backers' hopes to realize profits on their investments remain strong.

While U.S. capital markets have an edge when it comes to the scale and diversity of their investor base and the number of comparable peer companies, Beijing's clampdown, along with reforms by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and

TOKYO -- Japan's gross domestic product dipped 0.04% on the month in May after adjusting for inflation, data released Wednesday by the Japan Center for Economic Research shows.

This marks the second straight monthly decline, though the downturn was marginal.

Consumption slumped 0.7%, with durables and the service sector hit hardest, while reduced production in manufacturing such as automobiles also contributed to the weaker GDP.

"Due to a shortage of semiconductors, passenger vehicle production may have begun to deteriorate,"