Asia

Authorities in the Philippines are investigating Thomas Markle, father of Meghan, the ⁠wife of Britain’s Prince ⁠Harry, the Philippine justice undersecretary said ⁠on Friday, after allegations he possessed child sexual abuse images. “Our Anti-Trafficking and Anti-OSAEC (online sexual abuse and exploitation of children) task force in Cebu is currently investigating the matter,” Nicholas Ty, Philippine justice undersecretary, said. Thomas Markle could not be immediately reached for comment but he...

Fatimah Zainal had already paid for her flights and accommodation when videos of the unrest in France made her jittery about the Paris leg of her European holiday. “The videos definitely made me panic,” said Fatimah, who plans to visit the French capital solo from October 31 to November 3 after travelling through Belgium. The press officer for an international organisation said the Malaysian government’s travel advisory gave her second thoughts, and changing her flight would cost up to an...

Indonesia’s warnings of curbing energy exports to countries it deems disrespectful amid regional tensions have put Singapore and other Southeast Asian buyers on notice, exposing the risks of relying on a neighbour increasingly protective of its resources. But analysts see little chance of Jakarta following through on the threat, given its own economic interests and the mutual benefits of regional energy cooperation, including the long-planned Asean Power Grid. On Thursday, Coordinating Minister...

Recent youth-led protests in New Delhi and other cities in India have fuelled allegations that they are connected to unrest in France and elsewhere in Europe, with an influential Hindu nationalist organisation warning of foreign forces seeking to destabilise societies. While analysts caution against concluding that foreign interference played a role in demonstrations in India, they say protesters in Europe and India share similar concerns, reflecting their mounting anger that education and hard...

The Philippine government put a bounty on Friday on the head of the top enforcer of ex-president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody anti-drug crackdown, nearly a year after the International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered his arrest. Former Philippine police chief and sitting Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa had mostly been in hiding for months before The Hague-based tribunal unsealed the November 2025 arrest warrant against him in May and put him into flight. The bounty comes just over a month before...

Paper straws, widely promoted as an eco-friendly alternative to plastic, may actually have a greater environmental impact than conventional plastic straws, according to a South Korean government-commissioned study that has renewed debate over whether switching materials truly reduces waste. The Comprehensive Study on Single-Use Straws, commissioned by South Korea’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, was disclosed on Wednesday by opposition People Power Party lawmaker Kim Wi-sang, The...

The Philippines is turning to the United States to build its oil stockpile amid the global energy crunch, with observers saying the move could also serve Washington’s military interests and deepen strategic ties. A bilateral deal could deliver more immediate benefits than a broader Asean stockpile, which would entail coordination hurdles, analysts said, but questions remain over how quickly Manila could establish such a reserve and whether it would meaningfully reduce long-term dependence on...

Malaysia’s oil-rich Sarawak state will dissolve its assembly on Monday in a test of political strength for a powerful regional coalition whose support has become crucial to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government. Anwar is facing growing pressure following electoral setbacks for his own coalition in Peninsular Malaysia, while over in Borneo, ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) continues to press for greater autonomy and control over the state’s vast oil and gas resources. Sarawak Premier Abang...

The world’s oldest cave paintings on the Indonesian island ⁠of Sulawesi are under threat ⁠as heat and smoke from the ⁠country’s worst wildfires in more than a decade risk accelerating the deterioration of the more than 67,000-year-old works of art, according to researchers. Indonesia is battling its most intense forest and land fires since 2015 as a severe El Nino drives up temperatures and reduces ‌rainfall, leaving its forest and peatland vulnerable to fire. While the islands of Sumatra and...

US and South Korean officials see the chances fading of ⁠a meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this year, according to five people with knowledge of the situation. Trump, the only US president to have met a North Korean leader, has been eager to jump-start talks with North Korea, but Pyongyang has shown little interest in diplomacy aimed at containing its nuclear programme. The US has received no response from North Korea on holding a Trump-Kim meeting, and...

Japan’s communications ministry on Friday unveiled draft guidelines outlining measures for 13 major social media operators to help reduce the impact of misinformation and disinformation that could undermine fairness during elections. The guidelines also include measures such as requiring operators to establish eligibility requirements and strict screening procedures for users of monetisation features, suspend monetisation when content that harms the fairness of elections is posted, and add...

Embattled Negeri Sembilan chief minister Ismail Lasim has denied claims that he has resigned, as a constitutional crisis in the Malaysian state spiralled further following a move by his executive council to challenge their sacking by the state’s ruler in court. The state has been all but paralysed by a dispute that began in April over who has the right to sit on Negeri Sembilan’s throne, bringing down a state government aligned with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH)...

Australia said on Friday it had sanctioned two North Korean individuals and companies over the use of “fraudulent” IT workers and cybercrime to earn cash for the isolated nuclear-armed state. The two men are alleged to be key operators in Pyongyang’s cybercriminal activities overseas, estimated by analysts to bring in billions for the country’s weapons programme. “The North Korean entities and individuals sanctioned today facilitate North Korea’s use of fraudulent IT workers to raise revenue for...

The son of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi said she sounded “fairly healthy” after speaking to the detained ex-democratic leader on Thursday for the first time in more than five years. Suu Kyi, 81, is under house arrest in the capital, Naypyidaw, according to Myanmar authorities, where she has been sequestered since being unseated in a 2021 military coup. “She was sounding fairly healthy,” Kim Aris, who lives in the UK, said after the telephone conversation. It was the first time he had spoken to his...

The United Nations’ climate loss and damage fund moved to provide US$20 million in aid sought by flood-stricken Nepal – the first time it has set aside money for any country – in a key test of the body’s credibility. In an extraordinary meeting on Thursday, the fund’s board agreed to earmark the modest sum for the Himalayan country, which was hit in August by tsunami-like floods triggered by a climate-induced ice and rock avalanche that killed more than 1,400 people and left over 5,000...

A wind energy partnership between Vietnam and Denmark has fuelled expectations of the Southeast Asian country boosting its competitiveness in renewable electricity to serve overseas and domestic markets. Vietnam is well placed to grow its renewable electricity sector by tapping its large pool of engineering talent and abundant wind resources with help from Denmark, a global leader in wind energy, according to analysts. On Tuesday, the two countries signed a comprehensive strategic partnership...

With one eye on her baby in a stroller, Minae Kamata operates an arcade machine in a Tokyo suburb, manipulating a claw to grab not a stuffed toy but a pack of toilet paper. As inflation weighs on Japanese households, huge arcades on the outskirts of major cities are installing claw machines filled with eggs, rice, laundry detergent and other necessities. The “shop-and-play destinations” merge essential buying with entertainment so that families do not feel a choice between bringing home the...

Organisations in Singapore have been urged to immediately fix two critical security flaws in a widely used programming language amid reports of widespread attempts by hackers to exploit the vulnerabilities. The flaws in PHP, which powers many websites and online services, could allow attackers to take control of web servers, steal data or disrupt services without needing login credentials, Singapore’s Commissioner of Cybersecurity Gwenda Fong said on Thursday. “The threat is immediate,” Fong,...

Indonesia’s government has resisted mounting calls to declare widespread forest and land fires a national disaster, insisting it can handle the crisis alone as residents report worsening health impacts and disaster experts warn that a broader, coordinated response is needed. Critics suggest the reluctance may stem from concerns that a national declaration could force Jakarta to redirect funds from other political priorities, while exposing the administration to greater scrutiny over its disaster...

India’s planned acquisition of four large amphibious warships would strengthen its ability to support naval logistics and humanitarian missions across the Indian Ocean, with security experts saying their value depends on how the navy could effectively utilise them during a crisis. The Indian Navy has invited bids for four landing platform docks (LPDs), each with a displacement of more than 30,000 tonnes. Indian Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar said at a media briefing on Monday that a...

In the wake of Indonesia’s worst stock-market rout since the 1998 Asian financial crisis, President Prabowo Subianto’s administration has turned to appeals to economic nationalism to shore up confidence, urging citizens to rally behind the country’s battered stock market. The government has promised reforms in response to warnings from global index provider MSCI that Indonesia could be downgraded from emerging-market to stand-alone-market status. But analysts say its patriotic appeals will do...

As wildfires rage across Sumatra and Kalimantan, frustrated Indonesians are turning to performance art to call for greater government action and draw global attention to the destruction of both the country’s rainforests and rich cultural heritage. In South Sumatra, local art collective Jaga Api recently launched a project titled Tarian Kehancuran Budaya (the Dance of Cultural Destruction), using traditional performance to convey the human and environmental toll of the fires, as reported by The...

A man has been charged with threatening an Australian lawmaker’s staff with nunchucks, police said on Thursday, days after another legislator was critically injured when a man repeatedly hit her with a car. The incidents are heightening concerns about female politicians’ safety and raising concerns about security in a country where lawmakers are highly accessible to the public. Police say that a 56-year-old man entered Western Australian state government minister Hannah Beazley’s electorate...

Australia and East Timor signed a defence deal on Thursday to boost cyber and maritime security as Canberra seeks to curb China’s influence among its island neighbours. Australia is East Timor’s largest defence and security partner and the agreement will significantly increase defence exercises, Defence Minister Richard Marles told reporters. “This is a time to double down on friendship, to double down on family,” he said in East Timor’s capital Dili. Australia will provide A$62 million (US$44...

Runners in Malaysia are swapping their usual routes through parks and city streets for laps around shopping malls, commandeering air-conditioned corridors to keep up their training as a stubborn blanket of haze makes exercising outdoors increasingly hazardous. The switch comes as smoke from forest and peatland fires continues to foul the air across parts of Southeast Asia, with Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding districts among the hardest-hit areas. By 9am on Thursday, 15 of...

Malaysia’s highway authority is working to resolve technical disruptions affecting its TuJu navigation application following a sharp increase in users. In a statement on Thursday, the Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia (LLM) said the matter was being resolved together with the application provider Prosignal Consortium. LLM said the surge in users came after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim suggested that the public consider using a locally developed navigation application instead of Waze. “We apologise for...

The two Koreas appear to be coming closer to an armed clash along their poorly marked military dividing line after a series of increasingly hostile warnings from the North, observers say. Back-to-back statements on Wednesday and Thursday by Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, appear aimed at building a case for blaming Seoul for any future exchange of fire, they say. “The two sides appear to be edging closer to accidental armed clashes,” said Oh Gyeong-seob, a...

Malaysian police have arrested a 16-year-old student after he live-streamed an attack on a teacher with an axe at a private school in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak state. CCTV footage shows the teenager entering a classroom at around 7.50am on Wednesday, hitting the female teacher with an axe before leaving. He re-enters through a second door and swings the axe at students as they flee the room. As the teacher tries to intervene, he attempts to hack at her again but is subdued by two male...

South Korean publishers are calling for stronger copyright protections and compensation as bulk book purchase requests suspected of being linked to artificial intelligence training raise concerns over intellectual property theft. Publishing groups are investigating suspicious orders and seeking a coordinated response. However, authors and publishers face a fundamental obstacle: they often cannot know for sure whether their books are being used to train AI systems. Kyobo Book Centre, a bookstore...

Southeast Asian nations are seeking to make it easier for businesses and consumers to operate across borders in the digital economy, but achieving the goal will depend on whether governments can align their domestic laws under a proposed pact, according to analysts. Targeted to be signed during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila in November, the Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) is aimed at improving compatibility between rules and systems governing...