Asia

Thirty charred bodies found inside a burned passenger ferry in the western Philippines arrived at a port Saturday for identification after a ship fire killed at least 35 people and left more than 50 others missing earlier this week. Retrieval operations will continue as more bodies are still inside the MV June Aster, coastguard officials said without providing a count. There were 43 survivors among the 132 people on board. The ferry sailed from the capital, Manila, and was off the village of...

Coffee bars. Water parks. Retail therapy. ⁠North Korea – a country few would associate with leisure or pleasure – is experiencing an ⁠unlikely outbreak of fun. Leader Kim Jong-un, himself no stranger to indulgence, is orchestrating new ways for his citizens to spend ⁠their wealth. North Korea’s imports of massage equipment have surged 40-fold over the past decade, according to Chinese customs data. Treadmill shipments jumped over 600 per cent. Pianos and even bumper cars are pouring in, too. The...

Farmer Pema Dema had never even heard of hazelnuts when she was first recruited to begin growing them on her land in Bhutan’s Thimphu region. “I wondered what sort of a nut it was,” the 58-year-old said with a laugh, looking out over the deep valley and terraced rice fields that unfold below her farm. Now she has more than 140 hazelnut trees on the steep slope overlooking her home, and incorporates them into Bhutan’s traditional salted suja tea when guests visit. Pema is one of thousands of...

Irma smells the fire before she sees it: a column of thick, yellow-tinged smoke rising above the tree line near her small wooden home. She pulls on heavy rubber boots, checks her equipment and drives straight into the impenetrable smog emanating from wildfires devouring the peatland and ancient forests of Borneo. “I am terrified that the flames will reach residential areas. It is extremely dangerous,” the 39-year-old mother told This Week in Asia, moments before disappearing into the murk that...

A two-hour commute for a 14km (8.7-mile) journey. For Julius Dalay and millions of other Filipinos, this is just how public transport works in Manila: a mishmash of jeepneys, trains and buses that commuters are left to figure out for themselves. Dalay, an environmental planner, is resigned to the chaos. Reaching his destination usually involves hailing a jeepney, then cramming into a packed train and enduring a slow bus crawl along the capital’s main thoroughfares. “You either wait the jeepney...

North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles ⁠from the Wonsan area towards the sea off its east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Saturday. The missiles were launched at around 5.20am and flew about 250 km (155 miles), the JCS said in a statement, ‌adding that South Korean and US authorities were conducting a detailed analysis of their specifications. South Korean and US intelligence authorities had tracked and shared information on the launches from the...

Dr Asma Zafirah doesn’t need satellite images to know when Kalimantan is burning. She sees it in the watery eyes and laboured breaths of the patients at her clinic in Sarawak, and the children who are kept home from school to protect them from the toxic air. Southeast Asia’s transboundary haze crisis was meant to have been brought under control six years ago. But Borneo is once again belching out dangerous emissions, as fires in the peatlands and forests of Kalimantan – Indonesia’s section of...

As Singapore considers joining a China-led body on artificial intelligence, analysts say membership would give the city state a bigger say in global governance matters related to the technology but may invite an unfriendly response from Washington. Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo revealed in parliament earlier this week that Singapore had received an invitation to join the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (Waico). Singapore would consider the...

Philippine rescuers recovered ⁠30 bodies from a burned-out ferry on Friday, raising the death toll from the blaze to 35, authorities said. Firefighters found the remains after they gained access to the vessel for the first time, having extinguished a fire that had hampered search and rescue efforts since Wednesday night. Responders in protective suits were seen carrying black body bags from a small boat onto a coastguard vessel, video footage released by the coastguard showed. Thick smoke and...

President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is set to be the first Philippine leader to join the Brics Summit in New Delhi this weekend – presenting him with the perfect “low-risk opportunity” to engage the grouping as Manila continues to diversify its ties, analysts say. “The president seeks to ensure that our modern partnerships remain open, resilient and capable of delivering prosperity to our people,” Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Analyn Ratonel said in a press briefing on...

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol was acquitted on Friday in a case related to a marine’s drowning death in a rare reprieve in one of the criminal cases brought against him following his ousting for imposing martial law. The independent counsel’s indictment had alleged Yoon deliberately appointed former defence minister Lee Jong-Sup as his ambassador to Australia to help him leave the country and evade a criminal investigation into the death of Corporal Chae Su-geun, who drowned during...

Chinese President Xi Jinping is heading to India for the first time since 2019 and finalising plans for a US trip as he works through his busiest month of international travel in years. Xi will attend the annual Brics summit in New Delhi over the weekend and meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Russia’s Vladimir Putin and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa are among other leaders going to the event, which gathers some of the world’s biggest energy producers and users. The India trip gives Xi...

Tokyo police arrested two American women for allegedly smuggling US$1 million worth of cannabis, with one suspect claiming she was motivated by a free trip to Japan, an official and media reports said on Friday. The pair, both 25, arrived at Tokyo’s Haneda airport from New York last Saturday with two suitcases in which “cannabis-like dried plants were secretly stored”, a police spokesman said. Japan has some of the world’s strictest drug laws and smuggling or possession of illegal narcotics can...

Malaysia’s once-dominant Umno party has given its clearest indication yet that it will break with the country’s current ruling alliance, after its president called on Friday for a general election to be held immediately. The call comes as the United Malays National Organisation deepens ties with opposition Islamist party the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), buoyed by recent state victories and growing talk of a new alignment to consolidate the Malay vote. “The time has come for the [national...

Indonesian authorities are working to repatriate five baby orangutans allegedly trafficked to India, where they were found motherless in a forest, Jakarta’s forestry ministry said on Friday. The critically endangered animals were found on Tuesday by rangers patrolling in the Balasore district of India’s eastern Odisha state. Authorities suspect the primates, known for their shaggy red fur, were trafficked into India, sparking a criminal investigation. The youngsters, estimated to be about...

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has come under intense social media scrutiny after photos resurfaced showing him wearing a high-value amulet created by a senior monk now at the centre of a fraud and sex scandal. The photos were taken in October 2023 while Anutin – then serving as deputy prime minister and interior minister – was leading a group of Bhumjaithai Party MPs to watch the hit horror-comedy The Undertaker, local outlet ThaiRath reported. Anutin publicly displayed the Thai...

Malaysia’s Pardons Board has postponed discussions on disgraced former leader Najib Razak’s pardon application, days after widespread public outrage over the possibility that he could walk free from his corruption conviction. The country has been in an uproar since it was revealed earlier this week that Najib’s application for clemency was on the agenda of the board’s meeting, chaired by King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar. However, Putrajaya said on Friday the king, constitutionally empowered to grant...

Any sign of domestic violence must never be dismissed, with families, friends and neighbours urged to step in and help without judging victims, Malaysia’s Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Lim Hui Ying said on Thursday. Lim said support should be given carefully, prioritising the victim’s safety, as this could be crucial in helping someone seek protection. She said domestic violence was not a private matter that should be hidden or endured alone. “It is a serious form of...

India’s proposal to put ⁠health warning labels on some food products has sparked a nationwide debate over how the country came to rely on cheap packaged food while companies sold more nutritious versions of the same brands in other markets. With an income per household well below the global average, Indians are keen consumers of cheap food products such as Nestlé-owned Maggi instant noodles and Coca-Cola Co’s Thums Up – giving big food manufacturers a huge market with little pressure to apply...

At a market in Bangkok, stallholders say they had no idea initially about a boxy structure covered in gunmetal grey panels that was quickly built and installed opposite their stalls. According to them, nauseating oil began to waft through the area, where a hospital is also located, several months ago along Rama XI, an arterial road in the heart of the Thai capital, prompting complaints that led to the revelation that a new data centre might have been set up. More worryingly for the stallholders,...

Japan’s hugely popular Sapporo Snow Festival is shifting its focus towards protecting the environment and sustainability, with a climate expert warning that global warming and reduced snowfall across Hokkaido will make it increasingly difficult to stage the event. In August, organisers unveiled a new logo, official mascot and revised concept for the 77th snow festival, an eight-day event running from February 4 next year. The updated branding expresses appreciation for the annual snowfall the...

A fraying global economic order could push South Korea and Japan towards deeper trade integration, with business leaders and analysts saying the two neighbours stand to benefit from such a partnership despite lingering historical wounds. The two countries could draw closer as the era of relatively open global trade gives way to tit-for-tat tariffs and supply-chain disruptions due to conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. SK Group chairman and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman...

The ocean looks like peace from afar and truth up close, they say. But beneath the waves, the map of the world’s oceans is far less settled than it looks. Today, dozens of sea borders remain unresolved. Like so many conflicts, they owe their origins to complicated questions of where one country’s territory ends, and another’s begins. Many involve overlapping claims to areas rich in resources; and a disproportionate number concern the waters of the Global South. Africa’s coastline is a stark...

Six orangutans including two nursing infants have been rescued from fires raging on Borneo island in the past week, Indonesian authorities and rescuers said on Thursday, bringing the total to 15 in a month. The apes were saved from plantations in deep rural West Kalimantan province, on the Indonesian part of the island, where they got stuck after fires cut off access to their forest home, according to the forestry ministry and the YIARI wildlife rehabilitation foundation. A large fire was...

A former Malaysian minister overseeing religious affairs will be charged with corruption next week, the country’s anti-corruption agency has said, as authorities close in on once-powerful figures believed to have stolen from the nation’s haj pilgrim fund. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) confirmed on Thursday that Jamil Khir Baharom – who served as religious affairs minister under disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak – would face three charges on Monday for misappropriation...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter and apparent successor is believed to have a younger sibling, South Korea’s spy agency has said, offering a more detailed view of the ruling family’s line of succession. Seoul’s spy agency previously said Kim was thought to have three children, but some uncertainty remained on the number of offspring as well as the order of their birth. The Kim dynasty is now in its third generation ruling the closed-off nation, and the current leader’s children would...

Indonesia’s wildfires are creeping towards Nusantara, the country’s new capital under construction on Borneo island, challenging its promise of becoming an eco-friendly “smart forest city”. The Southeast Asian nation is battling what officials call its most intense wildfire season in 11 years. Nearly 202,000 hectares (499,000 acres) of forest and peatland have been razed nationwide from January to June, according to Sipongi, the Indonesian forest ministry’s monitoring platform. Sipongi data...

Malaysia’s Umno has been drawn deeper into a royal row in Negeri Sembilan, after the president of the dominant Malay nationalist party denied attending a meeting reportedly linked to a bid to remove the state’s ruler. The controversy has put the new Umno-led state government under pressure barely six weeks after taking office, reviving the same royal crisis that helped bring down its predecessor and force a snap election in August. The episode is particularly sensitive for Umno, which has long...

China signalled a willingness to help set up a meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the South China Morning Post reported exclusively. Beijing is playing an “active” and “constructive” role in rebuilding US-North Korea diplomacy, the SCMP said on Thursday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. A Trump-Kim meeting could potentially take place at the November Apec summit in Shenzhen, China, one person said. A US envoy visited the city and...

Hundreds of Thais, led by a veteran political activist, rallied outside the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok on Thursday in a rare public protest against a group of foreign nationals. The protest follows months of complaints about illegal landholding, disrespect towards local culture and proliferation of religious houses for Israelis, echoing those made by some locals in the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Israelis have been flocking to Thailand since the war on Gaza that followed the October 7 Hamas...