Southeast Asia faces interconnected challenges from economic pressure, geopolitical rivalry, and technological disruption. The region’s diversity means these forces impact economies unevenly. Leaders must balance short-term stability with long-term autonomy amidst trade shifts and global competition.

While AI investment grows, uneven adoption and energy constraints risk widening inequality. Concerns about economic downturn, job loss, and inflation are paramount, reflecting growth that doesn’t always benefit everyone. Geopolitical tensions are felt acutely, forcing difficult trade-offs. The AI boom presents opportunities but also exacerbates disparities. These converging risks demand integrated, adaptive, and collaborative responses to build resilience.

• Economic pressure, geopolitical rivalry and technological disruption are affecting the region unevenly, reflecting big differences in economic structure, fiscal space and demographic trends.
• Tariffs, supply chain shifts and competing global partnerships are forcing Southeast Asian economies to balance short-term stability with long-term strategic autonomy.
• While governments and firms are investing in AI infrastructure, uneven adoption, energy constraints and workforce disruption could leave smaller firms and vulnerable workers behind.

Imagine 10 very different houses on the same street – some new, some old, some developing while others are becoming unstable; the same neighbourhood but very different grievances.

That’s very much the narrative for Southeast Asia.

The region spans 10 economies, from Singapore, one of the world’s wealthiest, to Myanmar, one of its poorest, with their gross domestic product per capita differing by around $98,000. Yet, in conversations about trade, investment and risk, “Southeast Asia” is often treated as a single place with a single story.

This shortcut misses much about the region and according to the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey, capturing how business leaders perceive the risks around them, the divergence is clear.

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Toyota issued a recall for about 655,000 of its Camry vehicles globally over a display error that may deactivate safety indicators such as turn signals and hazard lights, the automaker announced on Tuesday.

The global recall involves vehicles produced between December 2023 and July 2026 across manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Japan and Thailand.

Among those vehicles, a total of 508,354 model year 2025-2026 Camry Hybrids in the U.S. are affected by the recall, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

NEARLY 50,000 CHRYSLER VEHICLES RECALLED OVER SEAT BELT SAFETY DEFECT

The affected vehicles are equipped with a 7-inch display combination meter that may be blank at startup. Only the LE, SE and Nightshade trims have the smaller 7-inch display. The XLE and XSE trims use a larger 12.3-inch driver display, so these models are not affected.

Turn signals, hazard lights and other warning buzzers, such as reminders to fasten the seat belt and remove the key from the ignition, may also be deactivated due to the defect in affected vehicles.

“The 7-inch combination meter may become blank at startup,” the automaker said in a statement. “This can also deactivate the turn signal and hazard lamps and certain warning buzzer sounds (such as the smart key reminder and the driver/passenger seat belt reminder). This can cause the vehicle not to meet certain federal safety standards.”

SOME OLDER FORD VEHICLES POSE ‘UNREASONABLE’ SAFETY RISKS, REGULATORS WARN

“If certain required information is not displayed in the combination meter, if the turn signal/hazard lamps do not function, or if certain warning buzzers do not activate, there can be an increased risk of injury or a crash depending on the specific situation,” the statement added.

The NHTSA warns that these display issues increase the risk of a crash for both drivers who may be unable to see telltale indicators and other road users would not know the driver’s intent to turn or indicate a vehicle hazard.

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Toyota Motor North America said it will notify owners of the affected Camrys, so they can bring their vehicles to a dealer for a software update free of charge.

U.S. owner notification letters are scheduled to be mailed starting on Sept. 21, with all expected to be sent out by early October.

Oil prices extended gains on Wednesday as uncertainty over a possible US-Iran peace deal and fresh attacks on shipping raised fears of further supply disruptions in the Middle East. The rise came despite industry data pointing to an increase in US crude inventories.

Crude oil price on August 12

Brent crude futures were up 72 cents, or 0.81%, at $89.63, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 71 cents, or 0.85%, to $83.91.
Both benchmarks had settled more than $1 higher on Tuesday, taking prices to their highest closing levels since July 31. That followed a roughly 5% jump on Monday, when hopes of a peace agreement between the US and Iran started to weaken.

The latest concerns were triggered by separate reports from the United States and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis about attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday.

Also read: $48 billion profit! 5 global oil majors cash in on oil surge amid Iran war. Where is money flowing?

Iran’s top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, said the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed unless Washington agreed to Tehran’s conditions for ending the war. These include the release of frozen Iranian assets and an end to other conflicts across the region.
Supply concerns have also increased after Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Saudi Aramco delayed the restart of its 400,000-barrel-per-day Jazan refinery to August 30. The delay came after the Houthis claimed responsibility for two attacks on the facility on Sunday.The UAE’s ADNOC said on Friday that 15 of its vessels had been attacked while passing through the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict began.

The situation around both Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb remains a key risk for oil markets. Even temporary restrictions, or the threat of further attacks, are raising insurance costs and prompting ships to use longer routes. This is expected to keep energy flows under pressure in the near term.

What are experts saying?

The duration of the disruption will be critical for the outlook on crude prices. JPMorgan estimates that every additional month of disruption could push Brent up by about $7 to $8 a barrel. If the disruption lasts three months, the bank expects average monthly Brent prices to reach around $114 a barrel.

Goldman Sachs has similarly warned that Brent could rise to $120 a barrel if shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil transit route, continue.

Read more: Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei fills 6 key military positions

However, Goldman Sachs expects the Middle East tensions to eventually ease in its base case. It sees Brent averaging $80 a barrel in the fourth quarter and $75 a barrel next year. At the same time, it said risks remain tilted to the upside because disruptions through Hormuz and the Red Sea could last longer than expected.

“The direction of our outlook is unchanged; the path and the timeline have shifted. We still expect oil to cool as we move into 2027, for three reasons: supply outside the conflict zone is expanding, with OPEC+ raising production targets, the UAE at record output and non-OPEC barrels responding to price,” said Anindya Banerjee, Head of Commodity Research at Kotak Securities.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack on Monday said that she thinks there will be a need for more than one interest rate hike to prevent inflation from becoming more entrenched across the economy.

Hammack made the comments in an interview with Yahoo Finance that followed her dissent from the Fed’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged. She and two other members of the central bank’s monetary policy panel voted in favor of raising interest rates by 25 basis points.

“I would say in general, one 25-basis-point move probably doesn’t do a whole lot for the economy,” she said. “So it’s probably some number of [movements]. But I don’t want to prejudge what that number is going to be.”

Hammack added that “I don’t know exactly where we will end,” adding that she thinks the current target range for the benchmark federal funds rate of 3.5% to 3.75% is not “meaningfully restricting” the economy amid stubborn inflation.

FED DISSENTERS WARN INFLATION COULD BECOME ENTRENCHED WITHOUT MONETARY POLICY TIGHTENING NOW

“When I’m talking to businesses, I’m not hearing that they’re sensing any restraint from investments in growth based on where interest rates are,” she said in the interview. “So to me that says that now is the time to act.”

Hammack said that the longer the central bank waits to address inflation through higher interest rates, the more difficult it will be to return inflation to the Fed’s 2% target.

Inflation has been running well above that target, with the consumer price index (CPI) up 3.5% through June, while the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge – the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index – was 3.7% in June.

FED’S KASHKARI SAYS CENTRAL BANK SHOULD RAISE INTEREST RATES NOW TO AVOID ‘ENTRENCHED INFLATION PROBLEM’

Hammack said in the interview that raising rates is similar to gradually applying the brakes when approaching a stop sign so as to glide to a stop, rather than slamming the brakes with a more dramatic policy move to stop price growth.

“I think that now is the time for us to start acting, to start bringing more restraint into policy,” she said.

“Nothing would make me feel better than to be wrong, that we need to change the stance of policy to help bring inflation back to target. But from where I sit, I just don’t see it coming back on its own,” Hammack added.

US ECONOMY UNEXPECTEDLY SHED JOBS IN JULY

The Cleveland Fed president also discussed the July jobs report, which showed a loss of 23,000 jobs when economists expected a gain of around 80,000 jobs, but said in the interview that she is “still not seeing a problem” with the labor market given that the 4.1% unemployment rate is near her estimate of full employment.

Fed policymakers will hold their next meeting in mid-September, and they’ll have fresh inflation data to parse in the meantime with the July CPI data set to be released on Wednesday and the PCE reading for the month due in late August.

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NEW YORK — Bitcoin traded lower on Tuesday, hovering near $63,482 after declining about 0.67 percent, or roughly $429, as investors positioned ahead of a key U.S. inflation report and responded to renewed pressure from higher oil prices tied to Middle East developments.

The cryptocurrency spent much of the session testing levels just above $63,000 after failing repeatedly in recent days to sustain moves above $65,000. Trading remained cautious across digital assets, with ether also posting declines as risk appetite softened.

Market participants pointed to several overlapping factors. Optimism about a rapid resolution to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz faded after signals that reopening the vital oil transit route was not imminent. That development helped push crude prices higher, including Brent futures moving above $89 a barrel in some sessions, raising concerns about renewed inflationary pressure.

Higher energy costs complicated the outlook for Federal Reserve policy just as traders prepared for the release of the Consumer Price Index data. Last week’s weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs figures had already reduced the perceived likelihood of a near-term rate increase, but the combination of rising oil and the approaching inflation print kept many investors on the sidelines.

U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded net outflows of approximately $144 million to $145 million on Monday, ending a multi-day streak of inflows that had provided steady institutional support. The shift removed one source of buying pressure at a time when broader trading volumes in cryptocurrencies sat near multi-year lows.

Additional selling emerged from other channels. Reports indicated that Strategy, a major corporate holder of Bitcoin, had sold 1,690 BTC between early and mid-August at an average price near $64,262. Liquidations of leveraged long positions, totaling more than $47 million in some tallies, amplified the downside once price rejected the $65,000 area.

Bitcoin has largely traded in a range between roughly $64,000 and $67,000 in recent weeks. Analysts described the repeated failures to hold above $65,000 as notable for the lack of aggressive follow-through selling, suggesting short positioning rather than widespread profit-taking by longer-term holders. Some market observers identified the $63,900 to $63,600 zone as an important near-term support area. A sustained break below that region, they said, could open the door to further declines.

Gold, by contrast, attracted safe-haven flows and climbed to nine-week highs near $4,435 an ounce as investors sought traditional defensive assets. The divergence highlighted a temporary preference for established stores of value amid macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty.

The broader crypto market mirrored Bitcoin’s weakness. Major tokens including ether and XRP posted losses exceeding 2 percent in some 24-hour periods. Open interest and order-book data showed clusters of liquidations and institutional orders around key technical levels, contributing to the choppy price action.

Looking ahead, Wednesday’s inflation figures are expected to serve as the next major catalyst. A softer-than-expected reading could revive expectations for easier monetary policy and support a rebound attempt toward $65,000 or higher. A hotter print, particularly if oil prices remain elevated, risks reinforcing inflation concerns and pressuring risk assets further.

Bitcoin’s longer-term context remains one of significant volatility following its all-time high above $128,000 in late 2025. The current consolidation reflects a market digesting mixed signals from institutional flows, corporate activity, leveraged trading and macroeconomic data. Volumes have stayed subdued relative to earlier periods of stronger momentum, limiting the force of both rallies and sell-offs.

Traders continue to monitor developments on the energy front closely. Any concrete progress toward restoring oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz could ease inflation fears and improve sentiment for Bitcoin and other risk assets. Conversely, prolonged uncertainty tends to favor defensive positioning.

Technical indicators offered a mixed picture. Daily relative strength readings hovered near neutral levels, while price action remained below certain longer-term moving averages that had previously acted as resistance. The 50-month exponential moving average near $65,800 was cited by some chart watchers as a meaningful overhead barrier.

Despite the near-term pressure, institutional interest through regulated products has not disappeared entirely. Earlier inflow streaks into spot Bitcoin ETFs demonstrated ongoing demand from traditional finance channels even as day-to-day flows fluctuate. Corporate treasury strategies and other large holders continue to shape supply dynamics in the market.

As the inflation report approaches, Bitcoin’s ability to defend the $63,500 to $64,000 region will be closely watched. A successful hold could set the stage for renewed attempts at higher levels once clarity on the data emerges. A decisive break lower would likely shift focus to deeper support zones and raise questions about the durability of the recent range.

The session on Tuesday illustrated the sensitivity of cryptocurrency markets to both traditional macroeconomic signals and geopolitical developments that affect energy prices and broader risk appetite. With trading volumes relatively light and positioning cautious, even modest shifts in sentiment produced visible price moves.

Bitcoin closed the period under review near $63,482, reflecting a modest decline that fit within a broader pattern of consolidation. Market participants now turn their attention to the inflation numbers and any further signals from the oil market for the next directional cue.

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LONDON — British media regulator Ofcom has ruled that Radio Caroline breached broadcasting rules after the station mistakenly aired pre-recorded announcements declaring the death of King Charles III during a May programme.

The incident occurred on May 19 during The Barry Marsh Show. A staff member performing routine maintenance on a studio computer accessed audio files prepared for use in the event of the monarch’s death and played them out of curiosity. The action interrupted the remote presenter’s stream and put the false announcements on air.

Listeners heard three messages. One stated: “This is Radio Caroline; we have suspended our normal programmes until further notice as a mark of respect following the passing of His Majesty King Charles III.” Another said the news media had confirmed the King’s death. The national anthem followed, after which the station’s DAB+ feed carried approximately 16 minutes of silence. AM listeners heard backup music instead.

Ofcom said that once the staff member realized what had happened, the person stopped the files, “panicked and left the premises.” A correction and apology were not broadcast until about 30 minutes after the inaccurate announcements first aired. The presenter told listeners: “I’ve just been informed that we’ve played in error some information a little earlier; I didn’t hear this myself, but it is incorrect, it’s a technical issue, and of course we apologise.”

In its ruling published on August 10, Ofcom found the station in breach of two sections of the Broadcasting Code. Rule 5.1 requires that news be reported with due accuracy. Rule 5.2 requires that significant mistakes be acknowledged and corrected quickly on air. The regulator described the false announcement as a “very significant inaccuracy” concerning a matter of “very high public interest.”

Ofcom received two complaints about the broadcast. The regulator noted that the files were accompanied by strict instructions for presenters and managers, yet they were still played. Radio Caroline has since reprimanded the staff member involved and permanently removed the sensitive files from the studio computer. The station has stated that correct procedures are now in place.

The error highlighted vulnerabilities in remote broadcasting setups used by some smaller stations. Because the show was being streamed remotely, the presenter did not immediately realize the local feed had been overridden. Radio Caroline acknowledged that a remote presenter would not know the programme had gone off air unless monitoring output through an internet feed.

At the time of the broadcast, King Charles was alive and carrying out official duties. He and Queen Camilla were beginning a three-day visit to Northern Ireland that included public engagements in Belfast. Images of the King meeting members of the public later helped confirm the radio reports were false.

Radio Caroline, originally a pirate station launched in the 1960s, now operates as a licensed service playing mostly rock music and is available on DAB+, AM and online. The station has previously broadcast royal Christmas messages and expressed hope of continuing to do so.

The Ofcom decision has prompted wider discussion within the radio industry about access controls for highly sensitive material and the reliability of remote and automated systems. Stations across the United Kingdom maintain pre-prepared protocols and audio files for the death of a senior royal, intended for immediate use only when the event is confirmed through official channels. The Caroline case has raised questions about how securely those materials are stored and who can access them during routine technical work.

Ofcom’s assessment focused on both the gravity of the inaccuracy and the delay in issuing a clear on-air correction. The regulator concluded that the combination of the false report on a subject of major national importance and the roughly half-hour gap before an apology constituted breaches of the code.

Radio Caroline’s response included the staff reprimand, removal of the files and an insistence that procedures have been tightened. The station had already issued an apology in May shortly after the incident, expressing regret to the King and to listeners for any distress caused.

The ruling does not involve a fine but serves as a formal finding that can be taken into account in any future regulatory action. For a community-oriented station with a long history, the case has drawn attention to the practical challenges of maintaining professional standards with limited on-site staffing and increasing reliance on remote presenters.

Broadcasting protocols for royal events are designed to ensure accuracy and appropriate tone during moments of national significance. The accidental activation of those protocols outside their intended context produced the opposite effect, leaving some listeners briefly under the impression that the country had entered a period of mourning.

Industry observers note that similar sensitive files exist at many stations. The Caroline incident has therefore prompted internal reviews elsewhere of password protection, file location, staff training and monitoring arrangements for remote broadcasts. Ensuring that curiosity or simple human error cannot place such material on air is now seen as a basic requirement of operational security.

The May broadcast and the subsequent Ofcom finding illustrate how a single unauthorized action in a technical environment can create a significant accuracy failure. While the station acted to stop the incorrect material and later apologized, the regulator determined that the initial error and the time taken to correct it fell short of required standards.

King Charles continues his public duties. The episode remains a notable example of the challenges independent radio stations face in balancing operational flexibility with the safeguards necessary for content of high public sensitivity.

Mumbai: Retail investors slowed equity purchases by nearly 15% in July, putting in ₹24,697 crore into mutual funds, compared with ₹28,973 crore of fresh commitments in June. Purchases of debt instruments, which experts attributed to seasonality, helped expand the total industry size. Growth in systematic investment plans (SIP) continued to be steady with investors allocating ₹31,961 crore, compared with ₹31,781 in the previous month.

Being the first month of the quarter, debt funds saw inflows of ₹1.88 lakh crore, inflows largely into liquid, overnight and money market funds. Due to this, assets under management (AUM) of the industry rose to ₹85.59 lakh crore from ₹82.22 lakh crore in the previous month.

Read more: IPO lock-in expiry could bring shares worth $7.6 billion to D-Street

Debt funds saw inflows of ₹1.88 lakh crore, compared with outflows of ₹1.09 lakh crore in the previous month. “The sharp reversal needs to be viewed in the context of the seasonal pattern in debt-fund flows, which typically see sizeable redemptions around the June quarter-end and tax-payment period before seeing flows return in the subsequent months,” says Kartik Jain, MD & CEO, Shriram AMC.

Liquid and overnight funds saw inflows of ₹1.49 lakh crore as corporate treasuries parked money in these low risk schemes being the first month of the quarter.
Money market funds too saw inflows of ₹21,180 crore, while ultra short duration funds saw investors add ₹8,039 crore.Small- and Mid-caps

Investors continued to allocate more money to mid- and small-cap categories, putting in ₹13.960 crore, or 56% of the total equity flows. That compares with ₹11,692 crore, or 40% of the flows, in the previous month. “There is a cautious stance on equity oriented MF given lower returns over past two year period,” says Akhil Chaturvedi, executive director and chief business officer, Motilal Oswal Asset Management.

Multicap schemes saw an increase in net inflows to Rs 3,227 crore from Rs 3,070 crore in the previous month. However, large cap funds saw outflows of Rs 1,322 crores, their first outflow in 30 months, as investors reduced their exposure to large cap positioning, given the low returns in the last couple of years.

Flows into Flexi Cap funds moderated to Rs 4,709 crores,lower than the previous month’s Rs 5,231 crore. Value/Contra Funds also saw outflows of Rs 145 crores, compared to Rs 687 crore in the previous month, while inflows into Sectoral/Thematic funds eased to Rs 1,328 crores, compared to Rs 1,469 crore in June.

Among hybrid strategies, aggressive hybrid funds which invest about 65-80% in equities and 20-35% in fixed income saw investors added Rs 1,986 crore slightly lower than Rs 2,121 crore in June. Other categories like multi asset allocation funds also added Rs 3,753 crore compared to Rs 4,811 crore in the previous month, while arbitrage funds added Rs 6,502 crore higher than June’s Rs 5,799 crore.

Gold ETFs saw lower flows of Rs 1,559 crore compared to Rs 3,443 crore in the previous month as investors preferred to stay on
the sidelines after the strong rally in precious metals over the last one year.