Asia

An increasing number of hotels in Japan are offering “sleep tourism” experiences – stays designed to promote high-quality and restful sleep. The trend, which started gaining popularity overseas several years ago, provides hotels with an opportunity to attract new health-conscious guests. A sleep retreat plan called totono-ne, featuring the relaxing effects of tea, is proving a popular offering for Hotel 1899 Tokyo in the capital’s Shimbashi business district. The guests answer a set of simple...

A high school student carrying two firearms shot to death a fellow student before killing himself on Tuesday in a high school in a university campus in the southern Philippines where hundreds of students were evacuated to safety, officials said. Zamboanga city Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso said the suspect apparently wore a body camera to live stream the attack at the high school on the Ateneo de Zamboanga University campus in his city. Two other people were injured, he said. “A [seventh-grader]...

Loaves of sourdough bread now fill the display window of Suchart and Friends Gun, a firearms shop-turned-bakery in Bangkok’s old quarter where pistols and rifles once lined the glass case. Like all the gun shops in Thailand, it ‌has been banned from importing firearms since a 2023 shooting at a Bangkok mall – one of several mass shootings, including at a school and a childcare centre, that have periodically prompted tighter regulations in a country with the second highest private gun ownership...

President Donald Trump’s decision to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea does not just slight a long-time ally but raises broader concerns about the security interests of the United States in Asia and elsewhere. Trump explained his decision by citing South Korea’s refusal to join his war against Iran and pointing to what he said was his good relationship with North Korea’s reclusive dictator Kim Jong-un, a transactional and personal approach to foreign policy that has defined...

Indonesia’s next electric-vehicle push will test whether President Prabowo Subianto can turn rising demand, nickel wealth and consumer subsidies into an integrated domestic industry that captures more value at home, or merely make imported and locally assembled EVs cheaper to buy. Analysts warn that without stricter local-content rules and stronger links between nickel processing, battery production and vehicle assembly, the incentives risk reinforcing Indonesia’s role as a large EV market...

Moscow said on Monday it had summoned the Japanese ambassador after Tokyo condemned President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to Russia’s far-eastern Kuril Islands, which are also claimed by Japan. Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945. Putin, 73, travelled to the islands after visiting the nearby Russian island of Sakhalin, prompting Japan to summon Russia’s ambassador in...

Since Chinese container ships began plying the Northern Sea Route three years ago, the Arctic shipping lane has gained global importance. Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea later that year disrupted traffic through the Suez Canal – the fastest route between Europe and Asia – in what was the most serious conflict-driven disruption since the Arab-Israeli war nearly six decades earlier. The 5,600km (3,480-mile) Northern Sea Route spans Russia’s Arctic coast, from the Barents Sea to...

Russia is looking into a solution for a problem that has become hard for India to ignore: how to keep oil and other strategic goods moving when sanctions, war and maritime chokepoints threaten the world’s busiest energy routes. Moscow’s proposal for a direct rail link to India through Central and South Asia remains exploratory, but analysts say it points to a wider scramble by major powers to build trade corridors beyond the reach of the Strait of Hormuz, the Bosphorus and Western pressure. The...

US President Donald Trump’s call to “substantially” reduce US-South Korea military drills has revived speculation that he is trying to persuade North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un to attend another summit between them even though Kim has expressed no such interest. Trump’s comments in a social media post on Sunday came as South Korea and the US began their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise on Monday, putting Seoul in an awkward position of defending the alliance while not undercutting his latest...

Malaysia may finally scrap the university law that generations of students have blamed for stifling campus dissent, but activists and academics say the harder fight will be over what comes next. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has promised to abolish the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971, better known by its Malay acronym AUKU, a law that has long sat at the centre of arguments over how much freedom Malaysian students should have to protest, organise and challenge university...

Global commercial real estate investment markets are roaring back to life. In the first half of this year, direct investment in commercial property rose 27 per cent in annualised terms. The sharpest increase was in the Asia-Pacific, where transaction volumes were up 38 per cent to US$92.5 billion, the strongest half-yearly performance on record, according to data from JLL. While there have been many positive surprises in Asian real estate since the eruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, the...

Thousands of people have rallied in Singapore against plans to build homes on two forested sites in a large public display of concern over how the land-scarce city state should balance housing demand with conservation. The projects have brought renewed urgency to a long-running debate over land use: activists say remaining mature forests should be protected, while the government says conserving more greenery would mean fewer homes for Singaporeans. Residents, nature lovers and conservation...

All pilots working for flag carrier Malaysia Airlines tested negative for drugs, owner Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) said on Monday, adding that its cabin crew would be tested next. The mandatory screening process was ⁠ordered after a Malaysian Airlines pilot was arrested in Indonesia on drug trafficking charges on July 28. Authorities found 26kg (57lbs) of the mind-altering drug MDMA in his luggage upon his arrival in Jakarta from Kuala Lumpur. Urine tests also showed the pilot had been under...

A simple pat on a child’s head has sparked debate in Singapore after an elderly man was shoved to the ground by a girl’s father. Police said on Sunday they had identified a 40-year-old man in connection with the incident at a food court on Saturday afternoon, CNA reported. “Members of the public are advised not to speculate on the incident or its circumstances, and to allow the police to conduct investigations and establish the facts of the case,” they told the broadcaster. The incident on...

A deadly stampede broke out at a Hindu temple in eastern India’s Bihar state on Monday after a snapped electric wire reportedly triggered panic among worshippers, officials said, killing seven people and injuring more than a dozen. The incident occurred near Ashok Dham Temple in Lakhisarai district, as thousands of devotees gathered to offer prayers on the third Monday of Shravan, one of the holiest months in the Hindu calendar. The period, which usually falls between July and August, is...

The Philippines is looking to India as a model of defence self-reliance as it continues building its capabilities to manage maritime disputes following the purchase of its first BrahMos missiles from Delhi. While India’s experience is useful, it is more practical for Manila to cooperate with Delhi in stages than push quickly to manufacture its own weapons, according to analysts. Speaking at a forum organised by Indian think tank Observer Research Foundation on August 12, the Philippine...

Australia is slowing the issuance of new “working holiday” visas popular with backpackers as the government looks at policies to cut migration to the country. “They are still being processed, but they are being processed more slowly than they were previously,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Sunday. The visas allow people to come to Australia to work and travel for a set period of time, and are popular with European and Japanese citizens. Applications for people from 24 nations with an...

Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto is presiding over celebrations marking the 81st anniversary of the country’s independence, with a flag-raising ceremony at the presidential palace in Jakarta, followed by a military parade.

South Korean shipbuilders could be among the first US partners to benefit from President Donald Trump’s push to rebuild America’s naval industrial base, analysts have said. Trump last week signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum allowing foreign shipbuilders with US investments to build up to two vessels at their parent shipyards – a move aimed at quickly addressing gaps in US Navy capacity while restoring the country’s own shipbuilding sector. The directive comes as Washington seeks...

Thousands of people were still waiting for aid on the Indonesian island of Flores as the country marked its 81st Independence Day on Monday, days after a powerful earthquake killed at least 68 people, injured more than 200 others and damaged hundreds of homes and other buildings. Many residents on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara province spent the day mourning victims and waiting for aid to arrive to communities still cut off by the deadly quake. During Indonesia’s Independence Day ceremony...

Japan is looking beyond the United States to enhance its defence capabilities, as mounting doubt over American munitions supplies pushes Tokyo to seek deeper industrial ties on this front with Australia and India. Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s visits to the two countries this week are set to advance cooperation spanning warships to stealth technology and drones, analysts say, pointing to how prolonged conflict in the Middle East and the Ukraine war could drain stockpiles for US...

South Korea’s defence ministry said on Monday that its joint military exercise with the United States had started after President Donald Trump’s announcement it would be scaled back. “The UFS exercise is proceeding as planned,” the ministry said in a brief statement to reporters, referring to the annual drill named Ulchi Freedom Shield. As always, North Korea has reacted sharply to the annual exercise involving about 18,000 South Korean military personnel. The 11-day joint drill is scheduled to...

In 2022, Ukraine asked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to activate Starlink coverage around Sevastopol to support an attack on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. He refused, saying SpaceX would become “explicitly complicit in a major act of war”; he later also cited US sanctions covering Crimea. At the moment that mattered, one private actor had the final say. It exposed a question hidden inside every chokepoint. We usually ask where dependence is concentrated: a strait, mineral, technology, network. But three...

A silver Montblanc fountain pen owned by Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew has sold for S$461,500 (US$360,000), nearly 10 times its highest estimate, after drawing 111 bids at an auction. Singapore auction house Hotlotz said the sterling silver Montblanc Meisterstuck No 146 fountain pen, engraved with “SM Lee Kuan Yew”, sold on Sunday at its “Interiors & Collectibles – August, Fine Art Focus” online auction. The pen had a presale valuation of S$30,000 to S$50,000, with bidding...

Australia’s foreign minister attacked the policies of the far-right One Nation party, arguing that its call for a monoculture would damage social cohesion at home and relations with friends and allies abroad. “The call for a monoculture is a call for Australia to curtail our choices and cut off our connections,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a speech on Friday in Sydney. “At a time where external and internal forces are seeking to divide us, turning Australians against each other makes us...

A crucial ally of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling alliance voted on Sunday to stay in government, giving him breathing room after months of uncertainty over whether the biggest party in the coalition would remain in cabinet. But the Democratic Action Party’s (DAP) decision also raises the stakes for its own political survival. Analysts warn that the party risks further erosion of its credibility unless it can unless it makes sure to push through concrete reforms before the next...

More than 700 trucks carrying international humanitarian aid arrived in Afghanistan via Pakistan despite a near-total closure of the land border between the two countries following clashes in October, the United Nations said on Sunday. The convoy was carrying “food and other critical humanitarian items,” Olga Cherevko, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan, told reporters. United Nations Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan...

Bangladesh said on Sunday that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would not visit India until New Delhi extradited Sheikh Hasina, the Bangladeshi former premier who fled during a 2024 uprising. The countries have had a strained relationship since deadly anti-government protests brought down Hasina’s government and prompted her to escape to neighbouring India, where she remains. She faces the death penalty in Bangladesh after being convicted of crimes against humanity, and Dhaka has repeatedly...

Tencent Holdings’ WeChat is already the undisputed super-app for over a billion people in China, handling everything from splitting dinner bills to hailing taxis. Now, Tencent is embedding an artificial intelligence agent named Xiaowei into the platform, adding a hands-free, automated assistant to its vast digital ecosystem. In its latest earnings results announced on Wednesday, Tencent highlighted Xiaowei for the first time, touting its focus on user privacy and inference efficiency. After...

Melania Nius was at her husband’s hospital bedside on Indonesia’s Flores Island when a powerful quake shook their town to its core, sending patients fleeing into the chaos outside. Melania, 56, recounted how she prayed as she fought to get her family to safety. “The four of us – my husband, our two children, and I – were on the bed,” when the 7.7-magnitude rattler struck just north of Flores island at around 5.30am on Saturday. At least 48 people were killed in the quake and dozens injured. “The...