Asia

Tokyo on Monday rebuked Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after he voiced opposition over the weekend to Japan’s drive for permanent membership of the UN Security Council, claiming the country was on a “path of militarisation”. Lavrov’s comments came as the security council, tasked with safeguarding peace, is facing calls for reform amid accusations it failed to prevent recent conflicts such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, due largely to the veto power of its five permanent members:...

Singaporean Najwa Alhabshi remembers spending her teenage years poring over literary classics such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and George Orwell’s 1984. The books introduced her to ideologies, philosophies and the American dream while expanding her vocabulary. But as work commitments grew, the pages of her books started yellowing. Finding time to read became harder, and her smartphone screen eventually took over. “I think I just fell out of reading,” the 35-year-old tutor said....

Six Singaporeans, including journalist Kirsten Han and Phua Chu Kang actors Lim Kay Siu and Neo Swee Lin, were charged on Monday with taking part in public assemblies. The assemblies were held in prohibited areas, with one held outside the State Courts in support of abolishing the death penalty, as well as candlelight vigils held outside Changi Prison for death row inmates. The six charged are Annamalai Kokila Parvathi, 38, Ten Leu Jiun Jeanne-Marie, 56, Howe Wen Khong Rocky, 31, Kirsten Han,...

In the latest milestone for China’s heavy-duty gas turbine manufacturers, Shanghai Electric has secured a turnkey contract to supply equipment to a power plant in Malaysia, giving it a foothold in a market dominated by established foreign suppliers amid a global supply crunch. The state-owned conglomerate, based in the Chinese financial centre, hailed the deal reached earlier this month as evidence of the competitiveness of its integrated solutions and its capacity to design and manufacture...

Malaysia is pushing to take durian, whose powerful smell delights its lovers and repels its haters, beyond its roadside stalls and family orchards to convince fans of the spiky fruit that its varieties are worth seeking out. Devotees savour durians like wine. For Malaysian ones, the taste of their rich and creamy flesh varies widely across types. Some are prized for their sweet custard and fruity notes, others for a hint of bitterness, an alcohol tinge, or even a peanut butter...

At least two people had been killed and 14 remained missing after an avalanche at Nepal’s Himlung peak, an official said on Monday, as rescuers resumed their search. The avalanche swept through the base camp of the 7,126-metre (23,400-foot) peak near the Chinese border early on Sunday, burying tents under deep snow. “Two bodies were found as rescuers worked until 6pm last night,” said Tul Singh Gurung, president of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association. “The search continues for 14...

Malaysian police were set to begin questioning 10 former Negeri Sembilan state officials on Monday over a disputed bid to remove the state’s long-time ruler. It comes a week after Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir dismissed the 10 ex-members of the executive council, which serves as the state’s cabinet, for breaching their oaths of allegiance by backing his removal. Negeri Sembilan, south of Kuala Lumpur, has been locked in a months-long struggle over its throne that helped bring down the previous...

Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, the wife of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, died on Monday aged 100. Her family confirmed her death after she was admitted to the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur. The cause of death was not immediately clear. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose decades-long feud with Mahathir defined modern Malaysia’s politics, said on Monday that Siti Hasmah would be granted a state funeral. “The nation will always remember her maternal presence and cherish...

City Developments (CDL), the Singapore property group controlled by one of the country’s wealthiest families, said it wants to invest S$5 billion (US$3.9 billion) in Singapore, China and Japan by 2029 as part of measures to regain investor confidence after a feud within the clan. The firm also aims to sell S$6 billion of assets within the same period either via outright divestments or seeding suitable assets into managed vehicles, according to an exchange filing on Monday. It wants to set up a...

A proposal to upgrade meals for foreigners awaiting deportation at Incheon International Airport has divided immigration officials, with frontline officers raising safety concerns and some questioning whether better food is appropriate for those ordered to leave South Korea for violating the law. According to immigration authorities on Sunday, the Incheon Airport Immigration Office under the Ministry of Justice is considering providing in-flight meal boxes to foreign nationals awaiting...

This year’s haze crisis has added to the heat woes squeezing livestock farmers in Malaysia and Indonesia, as they struggle to keep their animals cool, fed and productive. While it is difficult to separately assess the effects of haze-related smoke from heat, water shortages, feed and disease, farmers and industry groups say the cumulative strain is severely affecting animal health, productivity and their finances. In Selama, Perak, poultry keeper Zaiful Zakaria, 42, had begun installing...

Around 100,000 ornamental koi carp ready for sale were swept away after heavy rain caused by a typhoon breached some levees at a lake in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo, it has been revealed as authorities assess the widespread damage to local farming and fisheries. Typhoon Dujuan, which approached the region about a week ago, inundated rice paddy fields and other farmland while flooding facilities where carp and eels were being cultivated near Lake Imbanuma in northern Chiba. Kenji Tani, who runs...

Indonesia is considering lifting a statutory cap on government spending that has been in place for more than two decades, as President Prabowo Subianto pushes for faster economic growth. Supporters argue that greater room to borrow and spend would let Southeast Asia’s largest economy invest its way towards Prabowo’s target of 8 per cent annual growth by 2029. Economists counter that weakening the rule could push up borrowing costs and dent investor confidence. At issue is the mandatory ceiling...

South Korea’s presidential office has demanded an official explanation and apology from Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of disclosing the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea and then falsely denying ‌that the two sides had agreed to keep the move confidential. “The presidential office expresses strong regret over Ukraine’s unilateral disclosure and its subsequent false announcement that there had not been a non-disclosure agreement,” Seong Ghi-hong, senior presidential secretary...

Afghanistan’s defence ministry said on Sunday its forces had killed 28 fighters and wounded 32 in the eastern province of Nuristan after a group it said included Islamic State militants travelled from Pakistan. The ministry alleged Pakistani militias ‌had supported the fighters and that most of them were former Afghan government security personnel. Pakistan’s information ministry rejected the allegations, describing them as “frivolous, baseless and devoid of any truth” in a post on social...

Deep floodwaters in Bangkok drove thousands of residents into shelters as others scrambled to buy groceries or dry out their homes on Sunday after days of heavy rain inundated markets, roads, and residences. Pedestrians in plastic rain ponchos waded through murky knee-deep water in the Thai capital, some venturing into a supermarket while others floated their belongings in plastic tubs. “People cannot get out of their homes. We are running out of food, so I came out to purchase some,” Aduenan...

Bangkok residents stranded by neck-deep floodwaters on Sunday appealed for clean water and food, as Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul cut short a diplomatic trip to the United Kingdom to monitor the response amid growing criticism online. In the worst floods to hit the Thai capital in 15 years, life has ground to a standstill in parts of the city since Friday evening, prompting the town hall to declare a disaster in all 50 districts. Days of incessant rains that overwhelmed Bangkok’s...

Stories of the manananggal, a creature said to split its body in two, and the tiyanak, which takes the form of an infant, are part of the folklore many children grow up hearing in the Philippines. Now, they are among the mythological creatures featured in DreamWorks’ animated film Forgotten Island, which opened in the Philippines on Wednesday and two days later in the United States. The film, described as the first major Hollywood production to showcase Filipino culture and mythology, offers a...

A video installation built around the testimony of a former Japanese soldier on the killing of civilians and sexual assault in wartime China will go on display in London in October, even as its creator struggles to find a museum willing to exhibit the award-winning work in Japan. Created by contemporary artist Meiro Koizumi, “The Angels of Testimony”, has won acclaim overseas, but Japanese museums have been reluctant to exhibit the work, which confronts memories of violence committed by Japanese...

Indonesia is considering Chinese investment to help build a massive 2,772km (1,722 mile) railway network through the vast, resource-rich region of Kalimantan, following the completion of Southeast Asia’s first high-speed line between Jakarta and Bandung, state media and analysts said. However, analysts noted that any future commercial agreements were likely to be negotiated cautiously, given the financial strains that dogged the high-speed line and the challenges that stalled a proposed...

In a village on the outskirts of Kota Bharu, in Malaysia’s deeply conservative northeastern state of Kelantan, Rozi* has learned to ignore what people say about her daughter. She had known for years that Hana* was different. As a child, Hana preferred girls’ clothes and spent most of her time with girls. Later, after leaving Kelantan to study, she began transitioning and eventually returned home, living openly as a woman. Rozi, 58, struggled to accept it at first, but what troubled her more was...

After a decade of start-stop negotiations, the European Union and the Philippines have found their way to a “substantial agreement” on free trade – one that analysts say could pave the way for Brussels to lock in an Asean-wide pact. The breakthrough, announced on Tuesday, capped talks that began in 2016 and stalled a year later, only to resume again in 2024. “I am proud to say we have delivered a substantial agreement that reflects the ambition both sides brought to the table,” EU trade chief...

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a roadside police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 11 people and wounding about 30 others, officials said, in a sign of increasing violence in the region bordering Afghanistan. The attack occurred in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial emergency service. Local police chief Safdar Baloch said most of those killed and wounded were...

Entire Bangkok neighbourhoods were inundated on Saturday as the city government declared a flood disaster after the worst rains in years overwhelmed the Thai capital, submerging roads, cars and forcing thousands to leave their homes. Bangkok is flood-prone, especially during the monsoon season, but waters rarely linger for long. Nonetheless, the city’s drainage is notoriously ill-equipped to handle storm bursts as it struggles to cope with waters that have reached at least two feet (60cm) and...

China’s technology companies face a question that no pricing strategy can answer: what will their success do to their trading partners? In Europe, that question has become politically urgent. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warns of a “second China shock”, linking persistent trade imbalances to the erosion of Europe’s industrial base. Europe’s dispute carries a broader warning: affordable products can coexist with deep anxiety over the loss of productive capability. If...

For over two decades, Pakistan has waged countless counterterrorism campaigns against Taliban and Baloch insurgents in its western regions bordering Afghanistan and Iran, yet remains mired in a cycle of violence it cannot break. Scores of soldiers, policemen and civilians are killed every month in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces, where near-daily attacks on security personnel, government officials and other prominent figures are carried out by...

At a zoo a short drive south of Bangkok, Charoon Youngprapakorn has spent a lifetime taking the pulse of Thailand’s tourism industry from an unlikely vantage point: the open jaws of crocodiles. Handlers at his Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm & Zoo have long thrilled onlookers by coaxing tips from the audience and carefully placing the money into the mouths of animals capable of taking off an entire hand. The crocodiles at this open-air, fan-cooled throwback to 1980s showmanship still take their tips...

US President Donald Trump raised concerns about yen weakness at a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday, offering an unusually detailed account of the leaders’ talks on currencies. “At the recent Japan-US summit meeting, President Trump expressed concern about the yen’s weakness,” Katayama said at a regular news conference, adding that she was disclosing the exchange for the first time after consulting with the ‌Prime...

The good news is, when US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Washington this week, neither chose confrontation. Amid the high pomp and ceremony, what China has called “constructive strategic stability” continues. Even an uneasy truce in great power relations can be useful. Both recognise the considerable incentive to prevent their economic rivalry from spiralling out of control. Even limited understandings can reduce risks in artificial intelligence (AI) and other...

India’s “cockroach” youth movement is testing whether it can turn anger over education and jobs into a broader challenge to the country’s political establishment, two months after its protests helped force an education minister to resign over alleged entrance exam leaks. Its latest target is another powerful institution: the country’s election watchdog. The shift marks a transition for the movement from high-profile demonstrations in New Delhi to a more diffuse campaign of school audits,...