Asia

A former University of South Florida student has been charged with killing his roommate and the roommate’s girlfriend – two doctoral students from Bangladesh who disappeared earlier this month, authorities said Saturday. Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, is facing two counts of premeditated murder in the first degree with a weapon in the deaths of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, students at USF, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. He made an initial court appearance Saturday in Tampa,...

Hundreds of firefighters were battling wildfires in the forests of northern Japan on Saturday, as authorities urged more than 3,200 people to evacuate their homes, government officials said. As of Saturday morning, blazes in the mountainous areas of Iwate region had burned about 700 hectares (1,730 acres) since breaking out three days ago, local government officials said in a statement. A large column of smoke, which could be smelled 30km (20 miles) away, was seen rising up the valley near the...

A surge in fossil fuel ⁠prices since the Iran war is squeezing polyester suppliers and garment makers across India ⁠and Bangladesh, threatening to raise costs for fast-fashion retailers like Zara and H&M. Filatex, one of India’s biggest polyester yarn producers, is paying nearly 30 per cent more for the petroleum-derived feedstocks – purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and monoethylene glycol (MEG) – that it needs to make yarn, as Chinese suppliers raise prices and Middle East supply is disrupted,...

India and Germany’s new defence road map could give New Delhi fresh momentum in its long-running push to modernise its undersea fleet, while helping Europe expand its security role in the Indo-Pacific, experts say. The two countries signed a Defence Industrial Cooperation Road Map in Berlin on Wednesday, with Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, agreeing to deepen collaboration in development, production and niche technologies. The agreement was...

Malaysia on Saturday appointed a former judge as its new anti-corruption chief in an unprecedented move, as the government seeks to calm months of political turbulence over alleged misconduct linked to the watchdog’s outgoing head. Allies and opponents have hit out against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim since February following reports claiming that Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) boss Azam Baki was involved in a share ownership scandal and the agency’s officers were allegedly working...

Amid the rubble of the US-Israel war on Iran, a new Middle East appears to be taking shape as a constellation of regional powers jockey for a seat at the table. Led by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the grouping stretches from the Gulf across the Caucasus to Central and South Asia, binding together countries with overlapping interests, interlocking partnerships and a shared conviction: that the post-war order should not be dictated exclusively by the US-Israel alliance or Iran and its battered but...

Traditional public bathhouses in Japan are in deep water as soaring energy costs triggered by the Middle East oil supply disruptions threaten to extinguish the fires of a fading tradition, with some of them forced to shorten their hours or even shut their doors for good. Already struggling with a shrinking customer base and ageing owners without successors, the oil price surge is dealing a fresh blow to sento, as the communal baths are known in Japanese, with regulated pricing making it...

A turret explosion that killed three Japanese crew members inside a Type 10 tank during manoeuvres earlier this week has caused shock and confusion in military circles. Japan’s defence ministry and experts concur that a round detonating inside a tank turret is virtually unheard of and the cause of the accident will need to be traced before the Ground Self-Defence Force’s (GSDF) newest and most advanced tank can return to training. An analyst suggests the investigation will look closely at...

The plastic bag is an unlikely symbol of economic frailty. But in Indonesia, the soaring cost of that humble everyday item is raising uncomfortable questions about the country’s future growth prospects. At a market in Depok, south of Jakarta, the plastic bags Budi needs to sell his chicken have nearly doubled in price. “Plastic is really expensive right now,” he said in an interview on April 17. “Usually, I’d have to set aside at least 10,000 rupiah (58 US cents) for plastic bags, but now, I...

Another day, another big humiliation for William Lai Ching-te. The Taiwanese leader effectively had to cancel a visit to eSwatini, the island’s last partner in Africa, for the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession to the throne and his 58th birthday. Taiwan said the visit was “postponed” after the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar cancelled their previously approved overflight permission without warning. Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)...

Protesters gathered in Tokyo on Friday to rally against Japan’s decision to ease decades-old arms export curbs, which critics argue erode the country’s post-war pacifist tradition. The new rules permitting the sale of lethal weapons overseas signal a major shift, as Japan ramps up its defence ambitions and seeks to enter the global arms market in part to boost economic growth. The move, announced this week on Tuesday by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government, has been met with some criticism...

Australian mining giant BHP’s decision to adopt a yuan-denominated index for a major Chinese buyer poses a challenge to the US dollar’s long-standing dominance in iron ore pricing, delivering a hard-won victory for Beijing, analysts said. But while the agreement marked a breakthrough in Beijing’s push to gain greater commodity pricing power at a time when the United States faces growing “geopolitical isolation”, analysts stressed that its broader efforts to reshape the old order remained far...

A suspected Chinese underwater drone hauled out of Indonesian waters this month has sharpened global focus on a security race that analysts say has been years in the making across South and Southeast Asia: undersea surveillance. The torpedo-shaped device was found near the Lombok Strait, one of the few deepwater channels through which submarines can transit submerged between the Pacific and Indian oceans and a passage closely watched by the United States and Australia. Beijing said it did not...

Former Philippine vice-president Leni Robredo’s refusal to seek national office in 2028 has intensified the search for someone to unite the country’s fractured opposition against an early presidential bid by Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio. Robredo, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s strongest rival in the 2022 election and long seen as the opposition’s most recognisable figure, said she would not run for any state position when Marcos’ six-year term ends. Her decision shifts attention to a...

Indonesia’s blasphemy law has once again come under scrutiny after former vice-president Jusuf Kalla was reported to police over remarks linking past Muslim-Christian conflicts to beliefs about martyrdom. The case is unusual because it involves Christian complainants against one of the most senior Muslim figures in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation and reflects what critics have long called the law’s central flaw: its susceptibility to politicised use. Kalla, a career politician...

The US government has imposed sanctions on a Cambodian senator alleging he is at the heart of a sprawling scam network, as the Southeast Asian nation comes under intense pressure – including from China – to eliminate a cybercrime industry worth nearly US$20 billion a year. The US Treasury tagged Senator Kok An, a tycoon with close ties to former leader Hun Sen whose son is now prime minister, and 28 other associates as “specially designated nationals” suspected of controlling “scam compounds...

As my wife and I quaffed our way through a sumptuous five-course South African wine tasting dinner at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) early this week, the world food crisis and global food insecurity seemed a very long way away. Yet as the US war on Iran approached its third month, with the Strait of Hormuz still blocked and a host of critical commodities hostage to the conflict, our FCC wine dinners must surely be in jeopardy. More seriously, millions worldwide may face much...

As Southeast Asian leaders descend on Cebu in the Philippines for the 48th Asean summit on May 8, immediate concerns such as the global energy crunch will top the agenda. Yet a year-end deadline to finalise a long-delayed code of conduct in the South China Sea looms for bloc chair Manila. At a panel at Atma Jaya University in Jakarta on Thursday, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro stressed that completing the code this year was “something that we owe the world as well as the...

Although he was already married, a man began dating a domestic helper he was introduced to and later got married to her in Batam, Indonesia. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) caught wind of the bigamy and flagged the case to the police, who arrested both the man and the woman. Low Kok Peng, a 61-year-old Singaporean man, was sentenced to two months’ jail on Friday. He pleaded guilty to one charge of bigamy under the Women’s Charter. His co-accused, 50-year-old Indonesian woman Komariah, was...

US interceptions of Iranian-linked tankers in Asian waters suggest Washington’s maritime pressure campaign may be spreading eastward, raising new risks for Southeast Asian states overseeing crucial sea lanes. Analysts said that although Southeast Asian nations were not parties to the war, countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore were not insulated from rising US-Iran maritime tensions. For these states, the bigger risk may not be a Gulf conflict spilling directly into their waters,...

Burger King in Japan is tempting franchisees of rival fast-food brands like McDonald’s and Mos Burger by offering them 40 million yen (US$250,000) cashback to jump ship. The offer, under its franchise switching plan, is on the table until 3pm on September 30, according to a statement by the chain issued on Wednesday. Applicants must have been in business for at least three years, submit financial statements for the past three financial years and identify a general manager for the converted...

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik condemned US Republicans’ claim that South Korea was discriminating against e-commerce giant Coupang, calling it “interference in domestic affairs”. His remarks followed a letter sent by 54 US lawmakers in the Republican Study Committee to South Korean Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha, in which they claimed Seoul was taking discriminatory and unfair actions against the US-based company that is under police investigation and government scrutiny...

The death of a Bangladeshi gaming influencer in an alleged drink-driving crash involving a Malaysian soldier has sparked cries for justice and renewed demands for punitive laws, as anger grows over a second similar fatal case in less than a month. Muzahid Millad, 22 – better known as Advance Gaming – died on Wednesday after the suspect’s car reportedly veered into the opposite lane on the Maju Expressway, colliding with the e-hailing vehicle in which the content creator and his wife were...

India’s agreement to review Dhaka’s request for Sheikh Hasina’s extradition could hint at more flexibility over a deeply political issue, but observers warn that does not mean New Delhi is ready to hand the former Bangladesh ruler over just yet. The ex-prime minister fled to India in August 2024 after her regime fell to protesters. India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed on April 17 it was conducting a formal review of Dhaka’s extradition request. The announcement – a significant shift...

Indonesia’s top diplomat said the country will not pursue tolls on ships passing through the Strait of Malacca, seeking to calm concerns after its finance minister raised the idea this week. “As a trading nation, Indonesia supports freedom of navigation and expects open sea lanes,” Foreign Minister Sugiono said on Thursday in Jakarta. “So Indonesia is not in a position to impose such charges – that would not be appropriate.” Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa on Wednesday questioned whether...

The job ads posted on several Philippine military forums on Facebook in 2023 looked enticing. “We are hiring regional security researcher,” said a notice bearing the emblem of Janes – the well-known international aerospace and military technology publisher. It came with an eye-watering offer: “US$1,000-US$5,000.” “Send us your CV,” the ad urged, giving Viber and WhatsApp numbers as well as an email address. The hitch: while the ad was real, the recruiter was not. Researchers who traced the ad’s...

Fifteen years after one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters, this part of the Fukushima coast feels stuck in the aftermath. Empty lots where homes once stood. Signs warning of restricted access. Convoys of construction trucks carrying radioactive dirt and materials. And then, improbably, a tour bus. Visitors are flowing into barely inhabited towns, attracted for the most part by the very catastrophe that drove their residents away. The wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has become a...

Albert*, a 68-year-old retiree in the Philippines, was struggling to log into the country’s Social Security System app in August last year when a man rang to offer help. The caller said he worked for the government pension fund, the website was down for maintenance and a new app had just been rolled out. To prove he was genuine, he sent Albert his full name, Social Security number, and home address over the Viber messaging app, followed by a link to the “new” app. More than an hour after Albert...

A landmark warship deal between Australia and Japan is expected to drive further defence technology cooperation between the two Asia-Pacific nations, comparable in scope to Canberra’s security arrangements with Washington. Analysts say the agreement with Tokyo will also help Canberra address navy shortfalls and reduce its overreliance on the US at a time of great volatility. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi announced on Saturday that the...

US President Donald Trump reposted a video and comments from a conservative pundit calling India a “hellhole”, prompting the South Asian country on Thursday to criticise the remarks as “inappropriate”. The comments come ahead of a planned visit next month to India by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who would seek to turn the page on recent tensions between the normally friendly powers. Trump late on Wednesday reposted on social media a video and a screed apparently written by someone else...