Asia

India’s Akasa Air and Malaysia’s AirBorneo are pressing ahead with expansion plans despite soaring jet fuel prices and disruption from the Middle East conflict, in a development that analysts say is a sign smaller Asian carriers are finding room to grow as larger airlines grapple with capacity constraints. Akasa Air, India’s youngest airline, said last week that it was seeking to raise 10.5 billion rupees (US$110 million) through equity and debt, including loans from state-run banks, to fund the...

A tornado tore through an industrial site in Batam, Indonesia, ripping roofing from workshop facilities and sending helmeted workers running for cover as weather officials warned that unstable conditions could trigger further sudden storms. The short-lived wind vortex, described locally as a puting beliung, struck VME Process in Tanjung Sengkuang, Batu Ampar, at about 10am on Wednesday, damaging workers’ shelters and scattering construction materials across the site, according to Indonesian...

Southeast Asia’s governments have spent months trying to blunt the effects of war-driven energy shocks from the Middle East, but renewed fighting between the United States and Iran has exposed how limited those defences are, analysts have warned. The latest flare-up has revived fears of a second round of fuel disruption across the region, where many economies remain heavily dependent on imported oil and shipping routes linked to the Gulf. Southeast Asian leaders expressed “grave concern” over...

Malaysia has ordered the UN refugee agency to stop registering new refugees while it builds a biometric identification system that officials say will give them greater control over a population of more than 215,000 displaced people. But rights advocates warn the freeze risks leaving newly arrived asylum seekers with no way to prove they need protection, opening a dangerous gap in a country that does not accord them formal legal status. The cabinet ordered the United Nations High Commissioner for...

Japan’s move to establish a new bureau to boost defence cooperation with allies is part of Tokyo’s wider policy to deepen deterrence against China, analysts say, adding that the internal reform was also long overdue for the government. The new unit will be under the defence ministry to oversee international coordination with like-minded countries, according to government and political sources cited by local media earlier this month. The move is said to be aimed at strengthening the ministry’s...

First, the US-Israeli war on Iran sparked a Diet Coke shortage in India by squeezing supplies of aluminium cans, triggering an unusual wave of “Diet Coke parties” in one of the world’s largest consumer markets. But now, the fizzy drink is getting pricier. Across India, Coca-Cola has hiked prices of ‌Diet Coke – sold predominantly in aluminium cans in the country – by more than 10 per cent due to the ongoing Middle East conflict, which has choked its supply chain. As a result, the company had...

A ⁠South ⁠Korean court ⁠on Friday ordered SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay his former ‌wife Roh Soh-yeong 944 billion won (US$644 million) in a divorce-related property division case, lower than a previous 1.38 trillion won ⁠award that had drawn scrutiny of his stake in the group’s holding company. If finalised, the ruling from the Seoul High Court would be South Korea’s most expensive divorce ever. Chey is worth about US$5.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with his...

Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin, a former ally of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, will resign on Friday halfway through his term, according to his spokesman. The president’s office is a largely ceremonial post and Shahabuddin is quitting much before the end of his tenure in April 2028. The decision comes after Hasina announced her plan to return in December to surrender following a court conviction. “As a result of his illnesses, it is no longer possible for him to discharge his...

Malaysia’s ambassador to the United States was ⁠summoned by the ⁠US State Department to explain ⁠Kuala Lumpur’s position on Israel, state media reported, citing the country’s foreign minister. Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Ambassador Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob told the State Department that Malaysia’s long-standing policy of not recognising ‌Israel was not new. “It has always been Malaysia’s policy. Our immigration policy does not recognise the State of Israel or the Zionist regime....

Barely four months into its implementation, South Korea’s new labour-friendly law is coming under growing scrutiny as workers’ demands for bonuses tied to a fixed percentage of corporate profits spread across the country. If left unchecked, critics warn, the revised Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act – commonly known as the Yellow Envelope Act – could fuel labour disputes, create uncertainty for businesses and threaten an economy that is only beginning to recover. At the heart of...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet pledged to step up a crackdown on transnational online scam networks, but warned the criminal syndicates were adapting by fracturing into smaller, decentralised cells across the region. Authorities had already shut down more than 670 illegal scam operations while expanding intelligence sharing with key international law enforcement partners, he said, including during a visit this week with US Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel. “We will make...

A potent cocktail of domestic and international political headwinds continues to weigh on the Philippines’ economic recovery, even as inflation eased in June. Economists point to turmoil in the Senate and a recent corruption scandal that rocked the nation as internal shackles holding back an already fragile economy reeling from energy shocks and extreme weather. Dutch financial think tank ING said in a recent report that political uncertainty was compounding the Philippines’ economic pressures,...

Australia said on Friday it would pump an additional US$3.2 billion into building the country’s nuclear-powered submarines, part of a controversial defence pact with the United States and Britain. Under the 2021 Aukus deal, Australia’s most expensive defence project, the country will receive three nuclear-powered submarines from the United States. Australia and Britain will then build a new class of submarine in the 2040s. But the deal has faced scrutiny over whether slow submarine production...

Almost two years after six travellers died and one survivor was left blind from suspected methanol-tainted drinks in Laos, the criminal case is finally moving forward, with charges filed against a distillery owner – as victims’ families continue to demand answers and stern punishment. The distillery owner, whose products are thought to have caused the deaths, was charged last Friday with running an illegal business and selling harmful food products. He faces a jail term of three months to four...

Canada’s decision to join the next-generation Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) as an observer has eased Tokyo’s fears over its fighter jet future, while Germany is also reported to be exploring membership of the project, which already involves Britain, Italy and Japan. The moves could give fresh momentum to GCAP, a programme to develop a next-generation fighter that analysts say Japan sees as critical to replacing its ageing F-2 fleet and avoiding a gap in its air defences. Tokyo has been...

Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk ended a 26-day hunger strike on Friday over leaked medical school entrance exam papers that protesters say enabled cheating, but demonstrations demanding the education minister’s resignation were set to continue in the biggest youth-led challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Youth protesters, led by the self-named Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, demand that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resign over the leaks that affected some 2...

A social media post over an unpaid phone bill has triggered a data-protection investigation in Malaysia, after one of the country’s most recognisable influencers questioned how a stranger obtained details from his telecoms account. The episode involving Khairul Amin Kamarulzaman, better known as Khairul Aming, has raised uncomfortable questions for telcos about how tightly they manage customer account information and how quickly private details can be exposed when those controls fail. Khairul...

South Korea has abandoned its campaign prioritising pressure on the North to dismantle its nuclear weapons, a minister said on Thursday, marking a fresh overture by Seoul’s dovish government. President Lee Jae Myung has reversed the stance of his hawkish predecessor since taking power in Seoul in June 2025, offering nuclear-armed Pyongyang talks without preconditions. The hermetic leadership of North Korea has yet to respond to his repeated offers. But in a Thursday meeting with local reporters,...

The elevation of ties between the Philippines and New Zealand to a comprehensive partnership gives both countries a wider framework to deepen cooperation, as Manila expands its network of middle-power partners and Wellington steps up its engagement in Southeast Asia, analysts have said. The upgrade also builds on rapidly tightening defence ties, giving Manila another security partner and New Zealand a stronger foothold in an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific, observers add. New Zealand and the...

Nearly one in three younger Singaporean men either agreed or were neutral when asked if spousal violence could ever be acceptable, according to preliminary survey findings, raising questions about whether more men may not reject the idea of physical abuse in certain circumstances. The findings from the Gender Norms Perceptions Study were conducted by SG Her Empowerment (SHE), a Singaporean NGO, as reported by Channel NewsAsia (CNA) on Thursday. Among men born in 1981 or later – the millennial...

Indonesia’s push to rewrite its copyright law for the age of artificial intelligence has opened a new front in the battle between news publishers seeking compensation for their work and technology companies warning against overreach. At stake is who gets paid when AI systems and digital platforms use news, images, software and other copyrighted works – and how much human involvement is needed before AI-assisted output qualifies for legal protection. Last week, the House of Representatives said...

For the most dramatic change in a benchmark index in financial markets in recent years, look no further than the stock markets of developing economies. Just over a year ago, mainland China and India had a combined weight of 50 per cent in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Fast forward to today, and it is South Korea and Taiwan that account for over half of the gauge. At the end of last month, the weight of South Korea in the index stood at nearly 24 per cent, four percentage points more than that...

A Japanese study has found that the locked zone in the Nankai Trough is not permanent but changes over time, further complicating the task of predicting megaquakes along the fault line. A locked zone is where tectonic plates merge, allowing stress to build up until it is released in an earthquake. In the case of the 900km (560-mile) long Nankai Trough off Japan’s Pacific coast, it is where the Philippine plate meets the Eurasian plate. The Philippine plate is slipping under the Eurasian plate at...

China’s durian imports rose 47 per cent, year on year, in the first half of 2026, with Thailand and Malaysia posting particularly strong gains, according to customs data, as Southeast Asian exporters offloaded a glut of the fruit that had sparked a price drop. Thailand exported nearly US$3.79 billion worth of the pungent spiky fruit shipped to China in the first half of 2026, the Chinese customs data showed, taking an 81 per cent share of the market. Thai shipments reached US$2.56 billion in the...

Thai authorities said on Thursday they are searching for the people responsible for an attack in the country’s troubled deep south region that killed five soldiers and injured several civilians. About 10 attackers opened fire and threw pipe bombs at soldiers at a security checkpoint near a residential area in Narathiwat province on Wednesday evening before fleeing, according to the regional Internal Security Operations Command. Six civilians were injured during the attack, including a...

Japan’s largest convenience store operator has issued a warning to its 7-Eleven franchisees nationwide that unauthorised resale of merchandise featuring popular anime and game characters may be rampant, multiple sources close to the matter said on Thursday. Some owners and employees have been caught setting aside merchandise before its release or buying up large quantities to sell on resale sites. Such activity is seen as a betrayal of consumer trust and likely to call into question the...

The Philippines’ push to establish a cross-border grid with Indonesia highlights the growing urgency of securing energy supplies amid soaring electricity costs, marking another step towards a long-delayed regional power network. Analysts hail the move as crucial for addressing domestic energy woes and unlocking mutual interests between neighbours, though they also point to geographical and supply-chain challenges. Manila’s Department of Energy said last month that efforts were under way to...

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has rebuffed a threat by eight US lawmakers to suspend military training funds unless Kuala Lumpur reverses its long-standing restrictions on Israeli nationals. Muslim-majority Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel and has long been one of Southeast Asia’s most vocal supporters of Palestinian statehood. Anwar said Malaysia was exercising its sovereign right to control entry and rejected the lawmakers’ assertion that his government was violating...

Labour unions are rallying across South Korea after Samsung Electronics caved in to protests and agreed to hand out bonuses of more than US$400,000 to some of its employees. Just this week, assembly-line workers at Hyundai Motor staged a three-day partial strike as they seek up to 30 per cent of consolidated profit to be set aside for bonuses. Meanwhile, unions at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and telecoms operator LG Uplus want payouts equivalent to at least 30 per cent of operating profit, while...

Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appears to be fraying, with two new opinion polls suggesting voters are losing patience with a leader who won a sweeping mandate in February but has since spent political capital on conservative causes instead of tackling cost-of-living pressures. Analysts said the problem was not simply that Takaichi’s honeymoon period was ending, but that she had used her commanding position to push through legislation dear to the most conservative...