Asia

⁠An ⁠earthquake of magnitude ‌5.9 struck Indonesia’s Flores region ⁠on Monday, the ‌German Research ‌Centre for Geosciences ⁠said, ⁠hitting ‌at a ‌depth ‌of ‌10km (six miles). The aftershock comes two days after a magnitude 7.7 quake shook six regencies on Flores, a predominantly Catholic island in the Muslim-majority country. Rescue teams in eastern Indonesia recovered six more bodies on Sunday, raising the death toll to 53, authorities said, as many of the thousands of displaced people spent...

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...

US President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon on Sunday to scale back planned joint military exercises with South Korea after the Republican president said South Korea declined to help denuclearise Iran. Trump said in a social media post that the exercises scheduled to begin this week are costly and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” while Trump has been in the White House. “Therefore, and based on the...

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...

After last year’s border conflict with Cambodia, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers left Thailand, exposing how dependent parts of its economy had become on cross-border labour. Thailand has tried to ease the squeeze by holding on to workers already in the country, especially Myanmar nationals. But figures from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and warnings from employer groups point to a deeper problem: a workforce built around proximity, familiarity and low travel costs cannot...

For Asian musicians, the Grammy Awards represent the ultimate dream and recognition of success in the global music industry long dominated by their Western counterparts. When BTS, widely regarded as the world’s most famous Asian pop act, decided not to submit their music for consideration at next year’s Grammys in an apparent protest against the creation of a new best Asian pop music performance category, it created a dilemma for their K-pop and regional peers. Should K-pop and Asian pop artists...

The cables that link Australia with the rest of the world lie mostly unseen, stretched across the seabed and threaded through some of the Indo-Pacific’s busiest and most contested waters. This vulnerability could also become a strategic advantage, a new report says, urging Australia to position itself as an “Indo-Pacific preferred cable hub” as threats to submarine cables raise economic and national security risks across the region. That view is echoed by regional analysts, who say Canberra...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday his government would provide free online coaching lessons for competitive exams, weeks after massive youth-led protests forced the education minister to resign. Modi said the initiative was aimed at easing the financial burden on millions of families caught up in the country’s fiercely competitive education system. The 75-year-old leader made the announcement while speaking from the ramparts of New Delhi’s imposing 17th century Red Fort to...

For decades, the three days of summer considered the hottest of the year were among the busiest for South Korea’s dog meat restaurants, as diners sought traditional stamina-boosting foods to endure the heat. The third “boknal”, or hot day, of 2026 on Friday carried an added sense of finality. It was the last before a nationwide ban on the breeding, slaughter and sale of dogs ‌for meat takes full effect in February 2027. At the Moran Market in Seongnam, once the country’s best-known hubs for dog...

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he would speed up the pace of reforms and strengthen an anti-corruption drive as he sought to rebuild public support after a string of electoral defeats and party departures. Anwar acknowledged shortcomings by his administration that had led to frustration among Malaysians. While the economy grew 6 per cent last quarter and unemployment was low, Anwar said he “won’t deny” that Malaysians faced higher living costs. “The economic numbers are not winning...

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung proposed talks with North Korea to formally end the long-running Korean war, as Pyongyang deepens ties with Russia while asserting its status as an “irreversible” nuclear state. The two Koreas remain technically at war because their 1950-53 conflict, triggered by a North Korean attack, ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Lee made the proposal in his speech at a ceremony marking the anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s 1910–45...

Third plenums are ordinarily the quiet part of Vietnam’s political calendar. Between its five-yearly congresses, the Communist Party of Vietnam governs through numbered plenums of its Central Committee (CC): the first two settle personnel decisions, and the third, six months on, usually does no more than ratify the term’s work programme. This time, the third plenum of the 14th CC, held from July 20 to 24, did more. It set out the next phase of the country’s most sweeping administrative overhaul...

At one of the world’s biggest electronic dance music festivals in Belgium, entranced revellers recently found themselves dancing to sounds more often heard on a Singapore commute than a Tomorrowland stage. They included the MRT warning to “Sila berhati-hati di ruang platform” (“Please mind the platform gap” in Malay), familiar to millions who ride the city state’s metro system, and the piercing, repetitive call of the Asian koel, a bird whose cry is instantly recognisable in many Singapore...

A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia early Saturday, killing at least 47 people, collapsing buildings and homes as well as causing panic in a region prone to deadly quakes. Authorities said more than a dozen people were injured. Authorities issued a tsunami warning but later lifted it when Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said monitoring showed no significant sea-level changes that would pose a threat to coastal communities. The US...

When Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah recently stripped his daughter-in-law of a royal title, the move drew attention for its unusually public glimpse into discipline inside one of the world’s few remaining absolute monarchies. But it also offered a small example of what analysts who study Southeast Asia’s royal families describe as a wider challenge for the region’s monarchies: how to preserve authority through tradition and adaptation as public expectations change. An official announcement...

More than 86,000 football fans passed through Kai Tak Stadium over two nights recently as Manchester City faced Inter Milan and Chelsea took on Juventus. Supporters filled nearby malls and restaurants, with some merchants reporting foot traffic three to four times higher than usual. For those few hours, Kai Tak offered a glimpse of what Hong Kong’s day-to-night economy could become: international visitors and local residents arriving early and extending the occasion beyond the stadium. The...

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Saturday skipped a visit to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine and sent an offering instead, but Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and three other Cabinet members went there on the 81st anniversary of the end of World War II. Despite Takaichi, a conservative, staying away from the shrine that honours convicted war criminals along with the war dead, China said it “deplores” and strongly protests the moves. South Korea also expressed regret and...

With its padded leather and gold “CC” lock, Coco Chanel’s instantly recognisable bag is practically part of the uniform for any self-respecting Bangkok property agent – an apt accessory for a city that recently edged into the top 10 anywhere for luxury spending. But in chastened economic times liquidity and luxury are no longer in lockstep, challenging many of those with expensive tastes to find new ways to keep up appearances while balancing their books. Jirapun Ngam, 42, works in the...

At least eight workers have died following a toxic gas leak at a ship-breaking yard in the southeastern Bangladeshi district of Chattogram, officials said on Friday. The incident occurred at the Ferdaus Steel Shipbreaking Yard in Sitakund subdistrict, an area that hosts many ship-breaking yards where old vessels mostly imported from around the world are dismantled. Soon after the leak, many workers lost consciousness and were rushed to a local hospital. Six out of seven people taken to...

Vladimir Putin’s unprecedented visit to the disputed southern Kuril Islands signals a broader joint effort by Moscow and Beijing to pressure Japan, according to analysts. They said the coordinated push aimed to target Tokyo over a range of friction points, including Western sanctions on Russia and Japan’s stance on Taiwan. The Russian president paid a symbolic visit to the Kurils – a volcanic chain north of Hokkaido that Japan calls the Northern Territories – on Thursday, just ahead of...

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr on Friday said talks with China on joint oil and gas exploration had “moved forward” – signalling hopes of a deal before he leaves office in mid-2028, despite ongoing tensions in the South China Sea. Marcos also confirmed for the first time a “provisional understanding” with Beijing over resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre at Second Thomas Shoal, although he insisted this did not mean Manila was seeking China’s permission or surrendering...

For Indonesian families who lost loved ones in the 2018 Lion Air crash that killed 189 people, the latest development in the US courts has deepened their pain that justice remains out of reach. Keith Griffin, a Californian lawyer who worked with disgraced Hollywood celebrity lawyer Tom Girardi in compensation suits related to the crash, was sentenced by a federal court in Chicago last week to one day in prison with credit for time served, meaning he avoided any further time behind...

A tunnel under construction at a hydropower project in India’s northern hill state of Uttarakhand collapsed overnight, leaving at least seven workers dead, officials said on Friday. A rescue operation was launched after a sudden rush of water and debris entered the tunnel at the Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydroelectric project in Chamoli district later on Thursday night, said top district official Gaurav Kumar. Of 22 people who were working in the tunnel, 12 have been rescued alive and another three...