Asia

Starbucks stores across South Korea will close for half a day next week for staff to attend a history lesson following a promotional campaign gone awry, the coffee giant said on Monday. Starbucks Korea, with more than 2,000 stores nationwide, found itself embroiled in public uproar last month when it ran a “Tank Day” promotion evoking a deadly military crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising. The day of the reusable cup promotion – May 18 – coincided with the 46th anniversary of the Gwangju...

Four people have been arrested in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor after videos circulating online appeared to show an Indonesian domestic worker being slapped, punched and verbally abused inside a private home. The footage has renewed concerns about the treatment of Indonesian helpers in Malaysia – where about 60,000 are registered to work in private homes – and prompted calls for Jakarta to intervene. Two sisters and their husbands, aged 30 to 34, were arrested at a house in Taman Johor,...

This article was published on June 13, 1991. Thousands evacuated after massive explosion in Philippines Volcano’s plume soars 25km by Michael Bociurkiw in San Narciso Theresita Santiago and her neighbours dealt with the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines yesterday (June 12, 1991) the only way they could: they grabbed their children and a few belongings and walked 20 kilometres to sanctuary in Olongapo City. “I’m feeling very nervous right now,” Mrs Santiago said, as her...

Japan fans left the stands spotless after their World Cup opener against the Netherlands in Texas on Sunday, saying it was “Japanese culture” to tidy up after themselves. Spectators stayed behind after the 2-2 draw to make sure they left the stadium as they found it, meticulously picking up litter and stuffing it into blue plastic bags. It was a habit first learned at primary school, Japan fan Eita Tanaka said. “We have to think about everyone. Japanese people think that when we use a certain...

Mariko was a teenager the day she found herself alone in a near-empty carriage with a man who sat across from her, exposed himself and began to masturbate. Terrified that fleeing or crying out might provoke something worse, she fixed her gaze elsewhere and waited for the next station. “There was nothing I could do,” said Mariko, now 33, who asked that her family name not be published. “I was terrified that he might attack me, so I kept quiet.” The memory has never entirely left her. It still...

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent Pyongyang visit may ultimately be remembered as a turning point in the international debate over North Korea’s nuclear weapons. While most headlines focused on the visit’s timing and the many pledges made by the two leaders aimed at expanding cooperation, the most significant development may have been what was left unsaid. Throughout the visit, neither side publicly referenced the denuclearisation issue. On the contrary, Xi called for expanded cooperation in...

China is capable of a direct missile strike on Australia and the threat is growing as Beijing amasses long-range and hypersonic weapons and builds islands in the South China Sea, an Australian think tank said on Sunday. A Lowy Institute report found the main threat to Australia was from Chinese missiles fired from ships, submarines and a new intermediate-range ballistic missile that could reach the island continent from China. China’s capacity to strike Australia would grow over the next decade...

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hailed increasing defence cooperation with the UK during a meeting with her British counterpart Keir Starmer on Sunday, amid uncertainty about a new fighter jet programme. “The UK is a very important partner to Japan given the deepening of ties across a wide range of fields, including security and defence,” Takaichi said as she met with Starmer in London. “Given the GCAP project, I think we have reached a level that we can call a near-alliance,” she said,...

A powerful earthquake that killed at least 61 people in the Philippines this week raised the seabed by as much as two metres (6.6 feet), exposing coral and harming marine life, the environment department said on Sunday. The 7.8-magnitude tremor in southern Mindanao island on Monday has also left at least 40 people missing, according to updated tolls from the disaster agency. Local residents first reported the geological phenomenon known as “coastal uplift” two days after the quake, which...

The sudden viral rise of India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical movement seeking to push young Indians from online protest into politics, has fuelled speculation that it could mark the start of broader youth-led unrest, similar to the uprisings that shook Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. But while political analysts say the party reflects a deep undercurrent of anger among young Indians, they argue it is unlikely for now to become a mass movement on that scale because it has yet to...

The drowning of two university basketball players in the Philippines has raised concerns about the extreme training conditions and pressures surrounding student athletes in the country’s highly commercialised collegiate sports industry. Incoming rookie player Rene Baterbonia, 19, and Nigerian student-athlete Divine Adili, 21, died on Monday during a school-sanctioned “team-building activity” in Dipaculao, Aurora, on the east coast of Luzon island. Both played for the Blue Eagles of Ateneo de...

South Korean first lady Kim Hea-kyung remains largely out of the spotlight one year into President Lee Jae Myung’s administration, adopting a low-key public role that contrasts sharply with the high-profile approach of her predecessor, Kim Keon-hee. Kim Hea-kyung has limited her public appearances and stayed away from political issues – a strategy political observers describe as prudent, given that presidential spouses, despite holding no official constitutional role, can shape public...

In the contest for influence in Southeast Asia, the United States and China agree on one thing: the region is indispensable. Yet beneath the flurry of high-level summits lies a quieter divergence in how each cultivates knowledge about the region. The US is hollowing out the university-based programmes that have long trained its students in Southeast Asian languages, history and politics. China, conversely, is elevating area studies into a top-tier, state-backed academic field. Beyond a shift in...

It was a gesture that was equal parts diplomacy and theatre: Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul coaxing a melody out of a traditional Vietnamese t’rung xylophone at a Hanoi state banquet on Monday. The real music, however, had been made in the meeting rooms. Two days of talks between Anutin and his Vietnamese hosts produced a pledge to nearly double bilateral trade to US$25 billion within four years – and eventually to double it again. Supply chains would be stitched together across...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s latest message of reassurance to Russian President Vladimir Putin, coming shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pyongyang, constitutes a form of strategic hedging, according to observers. The letter suggested that Pyongyang-Moscow ties were evolving beyond a largely transactional relationship into a firm military alliance, even as North Korea sought to rekindle its traditional “blood alliance” with China, they said. In a congratulatory message...

Indonesia sits at the confluence of the world’s busiest sea lanes. Its coastline stretches nearly 55,000km (34,000 miles) and its waters encompass the Malacca and Lombok straits, chokepoints through which trillions of US dollars in global trade pass annually. Yet for years the nation’s navy has lacked the subsurface awareness to monitor, let alone counter, what moves beneath the waves. Japan intends to change that. Tokyo confirmed on June 5 that the two countries had agreed to begin formal talks...

Five Indian air force personnel were killed when a military plane crashed while landing at a base in the country’s remote northeast on Saturday, the military said in a statement. “The Indian Air Force deeply regrets the loss of five personnel in the An-32 accident at Jorhat”, a city in Assam state, the air force said in a statement. It did not say how many people were on board at the time, or whether there were any survivors. However, an air force official, speaking on condition of anonymity as...

In a blaring nightclub in wartime Myanmar, partied-out revellers doze until dawn by the dance floor, wary of journeying home despite the end of a post-coup curfew. Lasers streak the smoke-filled air and music is cranked up to 150 decibels, according to one DJ – as loud as a jet engine at take-off – but the weekend clubbers slumbering on sofas dotted around the warehouse-sized Yangon venue do not stir. “That became a habit, they’re used to it,” said one 29-year-old veteran of the capital’s elite...

Chinese investors in Indonesia’s nickel industry recently sent a formal protest letter to President Prabowo Subianto. The message reflects their concerns over Indonesia’s political and economic direction, and the long-term trajectory of Chinese investment and Indonesia’s industrialisation programme will hinge on how Indonesia resolves them. The letter, submitted by the China Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia (CCCI), complained about a series of government policies, including proposed royalty...

Two major Japanese chemical manufacturers could halt production of a gas crucial to AI chipmaking starting next month, as supply tightens and prices surge amid Beijing’s export controls on tungsten. The price of tungsten hexafluoride has jumped more than 200 per cent year on year because of supply bottlenecks, coupled with rising chip demand, market data showed. The gas is a critical precursor in the semiconductor industry, where it is used to develop the microscopic connections inside advanced...

A woman swimmer was ⁠seriously injured in a shark ⁠attack at a Sydney beach on ⁠Saturday, authorities said, in the latest of a spate of such encounters off Australia’s coast. Emergency services were called to Coogee Beach in the east of Sydney, Australia’s largest city, in the morning on reports that the 35-year-old had been bitten by a large shark about 30 metres (100 feet) from the shore. “The woman was pulled from the water by members of the public, who commenced first aid,” police said in a...

Bangladesh’s new leader is set to visit Malaysia and China later this month in a trip that Dhaka says reflects its independent foreign policy – with the decision to skip India seen less as a snub than a bid to strike a diplomatic balance. Tarique Rahman, who became Bangladesh’s 11th prime minister in February, plans to visit Malaysia on June 21–22 before a three-day official visit to China from June 23 on his first overseas trip since taking office. The Malaysia leg, scheduled ahead of any visit...

When Natasha Ann Lum was growing up, there was no place for Singlish – an English-based creole language in Singapore – at home. Her father was adamant that Lum and her brother not speak with broken grammar or use conversational markers such as “lah”, “lor” or “eh”. “He didn’t have the luxury of education and felt like he missed out on work opportunities because he didn’t speak English at a level that was required, so he wanted to make sure my brother and I would be better off,” said the software...

The International Criminal Court ordered a medical assessment of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to determine whether he is fit to stand trial, with proceedings set to start in November. It is the second time that Duterte, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity over his drug war that killed thousands of people, will undergo a health check ordered by the court. The ICC’s pre-trial chamber found in January that the former leader, who ruled the Philippines from 2016 to 2022,...

A possible meeting next week between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump offers a chance to reset ties following a year of strained relations over tariffs, Pakistan, and now, the Iran war. US forces this week attacked three Indian-crewed vessels in the Gulf of Oman region, killing at least three sailors and prompting protests from New Delhi. Modi and Trump would likely want to contain the latest tensions and avoid derailing efforts to get relations back on track...

As Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi heads to the G7 meeting in France next week, she is expected to hear rumblings of discontent over Tokyo’s apparent diplomatic outreach to Moscow. With European Union member states and most Nato nations united in their resolve to push back on Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine and isolate Moscow, Japan’s very different approach to Vladimir Putin’s regime has not been overlooked. Senior officials from Japan’s foreign and trade ministries travelled...

Dan Rae Hugo has never heard of the Asean Petroleum Security Agreement. All he knows is that his diesel costs have doubled, his profit margins have evaporated and the rice on his neighbours’ tables now costs 20 per cent more than it did before the Iran war. The 43-year-old has been farming the fields of Iloilo, the Philippines, for 18 years. He has never worked harder for less. “It’s all the inputs: the diesel, the labour for operating the machines, the transportation when we harvest … It’s the...

Sushila Devi sat sobbing on the floor of her house in Deoria, northern India after authorities told her that her husband was one of three sailors killed in a US attack on a ship off Oman. “If he had told us about the dangers, I would have called him back,” she cried out as women from the family gathered around to console ‌her. “The government should not allow people to go there.” India on Friday took the rare step of lodging a second protest with the US over the strike that took place more than...

Japan’s transport ministry on Friday reprimanded Japan Airlines and urged it to compile preventive measures by July 17 after an incident in which two cabin attendants drank the day before a flight in May, delaying a scheduled flight for about 40 minutes. The female JAL employees had falsely reported in an internal investigation that they had not consumed alcohol in violation of company regulations, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The ministry determined...

The Philippines’ confrontational approach to maritime territorial disputes, such as its championing of the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling, has not only failed to resolve regional tensions, it also risks undermining Asean centrality. In May, addressing Japan’s National Diet, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr announced that Manila would mark the ruling’s 10th anniversary in July, an occasion he said “embodies our determination to resolve disputes through peaceful means”. That is...