Asia

The Philippines has emerged as the clearest example of what observers say is Japan’s shift towards a more active defence role abroad, with both countries deepening their military cooperation in areas ranging from joint drills to technological partnerships. Japanese forces are taking part for the first time in this year’s Balikatan military exercises hosted by the Philippines, while bilateral cooperation is set to expand after Tokyo eased its defence export rules on Tuesday. These activities...

Malaysia’s durian growers say they are in “survival mode” as an early bumper harvest collides with a surge in fuel and freight costs, squeezing an export trade built around getting premium fruit into China fast. Hot weather has brought harvests forward, swelling supply just as exporters face higher packaging, energy and transport costs, with the Iran war disrupting fuel supplies and making cargo more expensive. The strain is exposing the vulnerability of Malaysia’s durian industry, which has...

South Korea’s air force apologised on ⁠Thursday for a ⁠2021 mid-air collision involving two ⁠fighter jets, a day after auditors said pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologise to the public ‌for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman said in a press briefing, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action...

Indonesia’s new front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme has been welcomed by health advocates as a long-overdue measure to tackle excessive sugar, salt and fat intake. But experts said the labels were only a first step and would do little on their own to slow Indonesia’s growing burden of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and other diet-related diseases. A decree issued by the health ministry on April 14 requires ready-to-eat food and drink products to carry nutrition labels and health messages...

The jailing of two Vietnamese men who brokered a sale of 900kg (2,000lbs) of pangolin scales from Africa destined for the Chinese market has returned the spotlight to the illicit trade in an animal that has been poached to the edge of extinction. Prized for its meat and scales, the pangolin has almost disappeared from forests and their hilly habitats of Africa and Asia. Conservationists estimate around 1 million have been trafficked over the last decade, triggered by demand for traditional...

A common hand gesture in a South Korean army recruitment poster has prompted scrutiny of a little-known cultural sensitivity in the country. In the poster, a female model in a combat uniform poses with her hand resting under her chin. All quite innocent – except her thumb and index finger form a shape that many South Koreans associate with man-hating, according to The Korea Herald. The finger pinching gesture is known as the “Megalian hand”, after the radical South Korean feminist group that...

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi complained she was not getting enough sleep, a veteran politician who met her on Thursday said. The remark came as Takaichi’s premiership recently reached the six-month mark. After winning her ruling party’s leadership election in October, putting her on course to become Japan’s first female prime minister, she vowed to “work, work, work, work and work”, a phrase that became a catchphrase in 2025. “I want to get a little more sleep,” the 65-year-old prime...

The Iran war has done in two months what years of climate policy could not: make green hydrogen look economically viable. Soaring oil and gas prices since February’s outbreak of hostilities have narrowed the cost gap between the zero-emission fuel and its fossil rivals, paving the way for wider uptake across Asia. The eight-week US-Israeli war on Iran, Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex have sent Asian fuel...

In March 2024, the Bank of Japan raised interest rates for the first time since 2007, lifting borrowing costs out of negative territory and calling time on decades of ultra-loose monetary policy as Japan emerged from a long period of entrenched deflation. At the time, inflation had been above the central bank’s 2 per cent target for 22 months. Fast forward to today, and inflationary pressures continue to build. Although headline inflation fell to 1.3 per cent in February, this was because of the...

More than 80,000 people have signed a petition calling for a renewed investigation after a 19-year-old woman died by suicide in late February following a South Korean police decision to drop her sexual assault case. As of Thursday, the petition posted on the National Assembly site on April 16 has collected 80,900 signatures, surpassing the 50,000-signature threshold that requires the legislature to formally review it. The case centres on a woman who filed a criminal complaint in December 2025...

The ruler of one of Malaysia’s nine royal states said on Thursday that the government should continue to function “as usual”, using a speech to project calm after four powerful traditional chiefs claimed they had removed him in one of the country’s strangest palace disputes in years. The row began on Sunday, when the four chiefs publicly declared that Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, the ruler of Negeri Sembilan, had been deposed over alleged “misconduct”, without providing details for their...

A court has convicted an Italian man of human trafficking by tricking a Singaporean woman into sex work in Dubai, after rejecting his defence arguments attacking the victim. Achraf Arjaouy, 31, had claimed trial to one count of recruiting a person by means of deception for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Dubai. The victim’s identity is protected by a gag order. The prosecution’s case was that Arjaouy had targeted a woman he met on Tinder by pretending to be a wealthy pilot from Qatar who...

The number of Chinese tourists deciding to travel during the five-day Labour Day holiday at the start of next month could rival or exceed last year’s headcount despite higher global fuel prices, analysts said, adding travellers were likely to prefer shorter trips to save on transport costs. Domestic flight bookings were up about 8 per cent year on year and domestic package-tour reservations were about 10 per cent higher ahead of the break, even after fuel prices shot up because of the war in...

Malaysia’s king said he would select a new anti-corruption chief, the first official confirmation that current head Azam Baki’s term will not be renewed when it ends next month. “I will determine who is the best candidate to lead the MACC from now on,” Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor, the current monarch, said in a social media post on Thursday, referring to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. He added that “there is no need for any party to politicise the matter”. Representatives for the...

As Southeast Asia’s tourism sector takes a hit from the Iran war, a pivot to serving as alternative flight hubs may help to save the industry. The region’s major airlines are seeing rising demand for European routes as travellers avoid Middle Eastern hubs amid disruptive drone and missile attacks, according to Reuters. Singapore Airlines has joined other major Asian carriers, such as Cathay Pacific, Korean Air and Qantas Airways, in posting strong performances on Europe flights in March. The...

For more than three years, the numbers on their screens told a convincing story. Steady gains, smooth withdrawals and returns of up to 5 per cent every fortnight. Encouraged by the early outcome, many doubled down, pumping in more of their hard-earned savings into a scheme they thought was the answer to luxury and a comfy retirement. Then, almost overnight, the kill switch was flicked and they lost it all to a scheme that swindled ­victims across the globe of close to 100 billion ringgit (US$25...

The US military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters and is redirecting them away from their positions near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, shipping and security sources said on Wednesday. Washington has imposed a blockade on Iran’s trade by sea while ‌Iran has fired on ships to prevent them sailing through the Strait of Hormuz waterway at the entrance to the Middle East Gulf. Nearly two months after the US and Israel began their war on Iran, there is little sign...

At a beachfront resort on Koh Samui, photo-obsessed travellers can book private sessions, with a dedicated photographer guiding them to the resort’s most camera-ready spots during a 20-minute shoot. Elsewhere, at Centara Life properties, late-night noodle bowls cater to regional tastes. Across Centara Hotels & Resorts, such offerings are becoming more tailored. They reflect a shift towards Asian travellers – and their preferences – at a time when European visitors are staying away, reshaping...

Plastic bags stuffed with rotting chicken from a smugglers’ boat washed ashore in Thailand have hinted at shortages inside Cambodia, as formal trade between the neighbours has collapsed amid their border conflict and illicit cargo flows surge instead. While demand appears high for smuggled Thai oil, fruit, meat and consumer items like soap, the Cambodian public is maintaining a boycott of Thai businesses in a nationalist backlash that reveals the depth of the enmity now staining relations...

Families of victims of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs hailed as a “vindication” on Wednesday the International Criminal Court Appeals Chamber’s refusal to throw out the crimes against humanity case against him. Duterte has been held by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague since March 2025 over killings linked to his anti-drugs campaign while he was in office. His lawyers argued that the court had no authority to try him because the Philippines...

Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio came under fresh pressure on Wednesday after Philippine lawmakers examining complaints that could lead to her impeachment were shown evidence of bank transactions far larger than the wealth she and her husband had publicly declared. At a House hearing, the Philippines’ anti-money-laundering watchdog said the couple’s bank records from 2006 to 2024 showed 4.4 billion pesos (US$73.2 million) in inflows and 1.5 billion pesos in outflows, despite a declared net...

Nepal’s home minister stepped down on Wednesday over growing criticism of his finances after less than a month in office he won on an anti-corruption platform. Sudan Gurung, a key figure in the Gen-Z protests last September that toppled Nepal’s previous government, said he was stepping down to ensure a “fair investigation”. “I have resigned from the position of Home Minister with effect from today,” the 38-year-old posted on his social media accounts. “For me, morality is greater than a position...

The bourse operators of Hong Kong and Malaysia are exploring a range of collaborations, from dual listings and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to Islamic finance, to forge closer ties between the city and the Southeast Asian country. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting and Bursa Malaysia CEO Dato Fad’l Mohamed unveiled their joint development plans in a media briefing in Hong Kong on Wednesday as HKEX hosted the 40th Asian and Oceanian Stock Exchanges Federation (AOSEF)...

The United Nations voiced alarm on Wednesday at the number of people being executed in Singapore for drug-related offences, saying it was incompatible with human dignity. UN rights chief Volker Turk said there had been a general shift away from the use of capital punishment in Asia, and Singapore was one of only a few countries imposing the death penalty for drug-related crimes not involving intentional killing. The death penalty is mandatory in Singapore for drug trafficking above certain...

Asia is entering a dangerous summer for food production as scientists warn of a “super El Nino” suppressing rainfall while the war on Iran drives up energy and fertiliser costs for farmers. India’s Meteorological Department has forecast a below-average monsoon, after two successive years of above-normal rains, while in Australia – a major wheat producer and exporter – a shortage of farm inputs and persistent dryness has reportedly pushed planting acreage to a seven-year low. Farmers across South...

Flights between China and Japan faced even more cancellations in March – with further cuts expected during the coming Labour Day holiday – as political tensions between the Asian neighbours continue to simmer. A total of 2,691 China-Japan flights were scrapped last month, according to figures from the data platform DAST cited by Chinese media outlet Yicai. That brought the cancellation rate to nearly 50 per cent, 1.1 percentage points higher than February. Only 2,711 flights between the two...

In the spring of 2026, amid a fragile ceasefire in the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump continues to insist that the United States is untouched by disruptions in the Persian Gulf. “We don’t use it”, he has claimed, echoing years of “energy dominance” rhetoric. The numbers tell a different story. The United States remains a net importer of crude oil. Its refineries are engineered for the medium sour barrels that flow through the Hormuz Strait. And the global price shock triggered by the...

The magnitude 7.7 earthquake that hit Japan on Monday has renewed worries on Indonesia’s holiday island of Bali, which sits on the same Pacific Ring of Fire. Hours after the quake, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a special advisory warning of a slightly elevated risk of a temblor with a magnitude of 8 or stronger in the coming days. It said there was a 1 per cent chance of a megaquake, compared with 0.1 per cent at other times. Monday’s temblor came just days after the Bali Meteorology,...

The geopolitical fallout from the Strait of Hormuz chokehold in the Middle East is just a “dry run”, with the Pacific being where the real action will occur if superpowers were to clash, Singapore’s top diplomat has warned. Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan also revealed on Wednesday that Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia shared an interest in keeping the Strait of Malacca open, even under the spectre of tolls being imposed on the strategic Southeast Asian waterway. His stance however...

Schools in India’s capital must ring regular bells to remind schoolchildren to drink water as the megacity gears up to face heatwave conditions, a new city order has said. Summer heat in the world’s most populous nation can be brutal – putting millions of people at risk, with nearly 11,000 people dying due to heatstroke between 2012 and 2021, according to government data. A heatwave in May 2024 in New Delhi saw temperatures match the capital’s previous record high: 49.2 degrees Celsius (120...