Asia

Singapore cabinet ministers K. Shanmugam and Tan See Leng hauled financial news outlet Bloomberg and one of its reporters to court on Tuesday for defamation over an article that mentioned their personal property transactions. According to statements of claim filed in the High Court, Coordinating Minister for National Security Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan said parts of the article, titled “Singapore mansion deals are increasingly shrouded in secrecy”, were false, baseless and calculated to...

Control of the seas has long defined power in the Asia-Pacific. From strategic chokepoints to contested fishing grounds, maritime space has shaped the region’s economic lifelines and geopolitical tensions. But a quieter contest is unfolding – less visible, yet potentially more consequential. It is not a contest over territory but over data. As satellite surveillance, digital tracking and advanced analytics transform how the ocean is monitored, a new question emerges: who controls the information...

When Filipino motoring journalist James Deakin recently posted a photo of his fuel receipt – more than 4,000 pesos (US$67) after topping up on nearly 39 litres – his message to followers was blunt: “I’m seriously looking at an EV [or] hybrid now. What’s your breaking point?” He is far from alone. As the Philippines grapples with a national energy emergency triggered by the war in Iran, record pump prices are forcing consumers to rethink their transport methods, and Vietnamese electric vehicle...

Much Western discourse on artificial intelligence has lately focused on establishing safeguards and installing guardrails against powerful new AI systems, algorithmic bias, the collusion of governments and tech oligarchs, and rising related environmental costs. The growing AI backlash in the West has been labelled a “botlash” in a recent commentary by Stanford University’s Marietje Schaake, who includes anti-AI movements such as “QuitGPT”, “Resist and Unsubscribe” and “Stealing Isn’t...

A daughter of Malaysia’s late finance minister Daim Zainuddin will be charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Tuesday. Lawyer Yu Ying Ying confirmed that Asnida Daim, who is in her 60s, will be charged under Section 36(2) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009. That section relates to the offence of failing to comply with a written notice from the MACC to declare assets. Court records indicate the case will be mentioned before Judge Rosli Ahmad at 9am. In a separate...

Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam has said he wished the United States had kept controversial blogger and child sex convict Amos Yee, warning that foreign media and rights advocates have mistaken a repeat offender, who was deported back to the city state, for a free-speech icon. Yee, who is listed on a US Department of Homeland Security website as among the “worst of the worst criminal aliens” the Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested, was deported from the US on March 19...

It’s bad enough that the company at fault considers the issue closed, but the Vietnamese government has effectively sided with a foreign corporation – and arrested those who dared to protest.

Bangladesh has launched an emergency ⁠vaccination campaign ⁠targeting more than a ⁠million children as a fast-spreading measles outbreak sweeps across the country. Health ministry figures show there have been 17 confirmed deaths from measles so far, with 113 suspected ‌deaths and more than 7,500 suspected infections nationwide. The campaign, led by the health ministry with support from Unicef, the World Health Organization and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, began in 18 high-risk districts,...

From sea transfers by smugglers and hoarding to stockpiling underground, profiteering from the oil crunch in Thailand has exacerbated a supply crisis that Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul warned on Monday was about to worsen, given the country’s reliance on fuel imports. As diesel pump prices hit an all-time high of around 50 baht (US$1.54) a litre on Monday, Justice Minister Major-General Rutthaphon Naowarat told reporters that “oil has definitely gone missing”, saying it was too early to...

In an echo of history, Iran hints at a war of attrition with the U.S. and its allies.

South Korea will send five Korean-flagged ships to the Saudi Arabian Red Sea port of Yanbu to help establish alternative oil supply routes to avoid the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, a ruling MP said on Monday. Oil prices have surged amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, raising growth and inflation risks for South Korea, which relies on Middle Eastern crude for around 70 per cent of its imports. Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz – a critical route for global crude oil and gas –...

Malaysia is facing renewed pressure to expand the use of palm-based biodiesel as the Iran war drives up fuel costs, but industry and academic observers say high infrastructure costs and slow roll-out make it an unlikely source of quick relief. That tension has sharpened as the government confronts a swelling fuel subsidy bill and greater exposure to imported supply shocks. The finance ministry last month said petrol and diesel subsidies could reach 4 billion ringgit (US$903 million) a month with...

South Korea’s jailed former president Yoon Suk-yeol has drawn sharp criticism for an Easter message from prison that opponents say amounted to comparing his downfall to the suffering of Jesus and showing his lack of remorse for his criminal acts. Yoon, who was removed from office a year ago after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024, released the message on Sunday through his lawyer, Bae Ui-cheol, urging the public to “hold onto the hope of salvation even if times are...

Southeast Asia’s largest low-cost carrier AirAsia X said on Monday it was raising ticket prices by as much as 40 per cent and cutting routes to cushion the impact of the war on Iran, but stressed demand for flights remained high. The Malaysia-based no-frills airline said about 10 per cent of its overall flights had been cut so far. It has raised fuel surcharges by about 20 per cent, while fare prices have increased between 31 per cent and 40 per cent. Average jet fuel costs have soared to about...

North Korea appears to be distancing itself from long-time partner Iran and carefully managing its public messaging to preserve the possibility of a new relationship with the US after the Iran war, South Korean lawmakers have said, citing the spy agency. Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said North ‌Korea had not sent weapons or supplies so far to Iran since the conflict started on February 28, and did not issue public condolences upon the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali...

The Japanese government is arranging summit talks with Iran, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Monday, with tensions mounting in the Middle East as US President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz approaches. “We are preparing dialogues at the leadership level at an appropriate time,” Takaichi told a parliamentary committee when asked by an opposition lawmaker about Japan’s diplomatic efforts regarding the US-Israeli war with Iran. “Japan will make every effort...

The government appears to have met its March 31, 2026, deadline for ending the Maoist insurgency. But it is too early to celebrate.

Singapore police have confirmed that a body recovered from the sea off the Indonesian island of Karimun is that of a 37-year-old man who has been missing since March 27 after a collision between two boats. The police said on Sunday that Indonesian authorities had found the body of Chua Muhammad Syafidi floating in the sea off the island to the southwest of Singapore at about 3pm on March 30, according to The Straits Times. “The body, believed to be the missing person from the collision between a...

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expressed regret to Pyongyang on Monday over drones sent into North Korea earlier this year, actions he called “irresponsible”. South Korea initially denied any official role in the January drone incursion – with authorities suggesting it was the work of civilians – but Lee said an investigation had revealed government officials had been involved. “Although this was not the intention of our government, we express our regret to the North that unnecessary...

Samira Muhammadi hopes an international investigation can “extinguish” her pain after a Pakistani bombing killed her son and hundreds of other Afghans in the capital Kabul last month. The March 16 attack hit a drug treatment centre and killed 411 people, according to Afghan officials. A United Nations source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had verified at least 250 killed, with more still missing. “There should be investigations on this … Like me, many mothers lost their sons,...

Repeat short-haul visits by Chinese travellers to South Korea are expected to rise after Seoul eased multiple-entry visa rules, but analysts say the immediate impact may be limited because of growing competition from Southeast Asia and higher airfares linked to the US-Israeli war in Iran. The South Korean embassy in Beijing announced that Chinese nationals who had previously visited South Korea would now be eligible for a five-year multiple-entry visa. Those holding residency status in 14 major...

The day that Taiki Hirokawa stabbed his former girlfriend to death in a Pokemon store in Tokyo had started like any other, his mother told police. She and her son had breakfast together and nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Hours later, security camera footage caught 26-year-old Hirokawa walking straight into the store, pulling out a knife, going behind the counter where Moe Harukawa, 21, was serving customers, and repeatedly slashing her in the neck and chest before turning the knife on...

The US-Israeli strikes on Iran and ensuing conflagration offer a window into how the US-led order works. For all its contributions, it functions like an air conditioner – cooling the American centre by pumping hot air into the periphery. Aggressive interest rate hikes export inflation to emerging markets. Proxy wars outsource geopolitical risk to distant theatres. The United States stays cool while the Global South absorbs the brunt of the heat. But the vents are closing: developing nations are...

Australia’s government has received guarantees from major fuel exporting nations in Asia that supplies will proceed as normal despite the disruptions caused by the war in Iran, Assistant Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said. In an interview with Sky News on Sunday, Thistlethwaite said that he had sought and received pledges from Japan, South Korea and Singapore that shipments of fuel to Australia would continue, amid concerns that some countries might curb exports to...

US President Donald Trump has appointed Nick Adams, the Australian-American social media influencer and self-styled “alpha male”, as special presidential envoy for American tourism, exceptionalism and values. “I look forward to serving as America’s brand ambassador, bringing the message of America’s excellence to the entire world,” Adams wrote on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “With America 250, the Fifa World Cup and the Olympics coming up, the world needs to be reminded of...

Three Indonesian peacekeepers killed in two separate explosions in southern Lebanon last week were laid to rest in their hometowns on Sunday. Peacekeeper Farizal Rhomadhon, 28, died when a projectile exploded on March 29 in southern Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting since Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war. Two other blue helmets, Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, 33, and Muhammad Nur Ichwan, 26, died a day later when an explosion struck a logistics convoy of the UN Interim...

While the Iran war has sent shock waves through energy markets across Asia, one corner of the region has been hit especially hard. South Asia’s reliance on Middle Eastern fuel and Gulf remittances threatens to push some of its most exposed economies to the brink, analysts warn, as the conflict drives energy and food costs to multi-year highs. For Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan, whose International Monetary Fund bailout programmes and thin fiscal buffers limit their ability to shield citizens...

As Russia comes to India’s aid amid the global energy crisis, a familiar mantra has resurfaced among officials and political analysts – that Moscow is New Delhi’s “all weather-friend”. Such a stance is anchored by deep strategic interests, with both countries viewing each other as vital to their balancing between China and an increasingly erratic United States, according to observers. On Friday, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said Moscow was well-positioned to ramp up oil and...

Among the stories Sarawak instrument craftsman Salomon Gau inherited from his elders is one that begins not with wood or strings but with spirits. He recalled being told how spirits first showed villagers how the earliest forms of the sape – a traditional carved wooden lute from Malaysian Borneo – should be made and played, at a time when the instrument was central to ceremonies, storytelling and social life. “The first one was the two-string version. The four-string one is already quite new,...

A dawn gloom hangs over the pier in Bangsaray, eastern Thailand, as buyers arrive to wait for the first fishing boats to return. But like everyone else relying on the day’s catch they have already lost money to someone else’s war. Thailand’s multibillion-dollar fishing industry has been brought to its knees by the runaway price of diesel, a result of Iran’s throttling of the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US and Israel’s attacks. Half of the kingdom’s vast fishing fleet is already docked,...