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This Week in Asia

Health & Environment

Lifestyle & Culture

A Rafale jet fighter takes off from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. Photo: AP

Politics

India’s Rafale fighter jet deal: a maritime power play against China, Pakistan?

Analysts say the new jets represent a major upgrade, replacing the ageing and accident-prone MiG-29K fleet on India’s aircraft carriers.

1 hour agovideocam

Did Japan kill 30 million? US historian’s book ignites nationalist fury

3 hours ago

Casualties and a Kremlin call: North Korea’s Ukraine war admission unpacked

10 minutes agovideocam

Politics

Singapore election: race, foreign meddling hot topics with seats too close to call

Singapore’s election sees cost of living and foreign interference take centre stage as PM warns against weakened government amid tight races.

28 Apr 2025 - 9:57PM

Singapore’s Merlion statue. Singapore’s election sees cost of living and foreign interference take centre stage. Photo: Shutterstock

Politics

Why flags on Sandy Cay symbolise latest flashpoint in South China Sea dispute

Experts interpret Manila’s counter flag-raising as an effort to resist Beijing’s creeping jurisdiction.

28 Apr 2025 - 7:50PMvideocam

Politics

Trump’s Quad allies in Asia fret over tariffs as China factor complicates ties

Even as Japan, India, and Australia face US tariffs, they are also being pressured by Washington to rebalance their ties with China.

28 Apr 2025 - 5:00PM

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People

Man’s rescue from Mount Fuji twice after bid to retrieve phone sparks anger

Many in Japan are demanding that the 27-year-old Chinese man, who lives in the country, pay for the costs of rescuing him twice.

28 Apr 2025 - 4:37PMvideocam

A man had to be rescued twice from Mount Fuji by Japanese authorities after he attempted to climb the mountain and felt ill. Photo: Getty Images

Health & Environment

Japanese police warn of lethal Chinese-made toy guns sold online

Authorities say 16 models marketed as toys are capable of firing live ammunition with deadly force like real handguns.

28 Apr 2025 - 3:52PMvideocam

Politics

Maldives joins Malaysia in call for ‘legitimate’ Palestinian state amid Gaza war

The Maldives reiterated call for a Palestinian state comes two weeks after the island nation implemented an entry ban on Israeli passport holders.

28 Apr 2025 - 3:51PM

Politics

Defence pact tops Japan PM’s agenda during high-stakes Philippines trip

Shigeru Ishiba is expected to push for full ratification of a reciprocal access agreement, paving the way for expanded military cooperation.

28 Apr 2025 - 3:01PMvideocam

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters in Tokyo earlier this year. Photo: Kyodo

Politics

In quest for lean ‘new era’, Vietnam’s leader takes torch to bureaucracy

Communist Party chief To Lam is reshaping bureaucracy by merging provinces, boosting efficiency and extending influence.

28 Apr 2025 - 4:16PM

Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam delivers a speech at a green summit conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, on April 16. Photo: EPA-EFE

Lifestyle & Culture

Biting, kicking, sex harassment: inside the abusive world of Japanese nursing

Japan’s nurses hope a high-profile case will finally force change in their abusive workplaces.

28 Apr 2025 - 8:00AM

People

The Southeast Asians facing exile from the US to a land they’ve never known

After surviving a CIA-led war and building lives in America, Laotian migrants are now being detained and deported with little warning.

27 Apr 2025 - 8:00PM

People

Remembering Nora Aunor: actress, ‘rebel’ and the Philippines’ ‘Superstar’

Filipino screenwriter Ricardo Lee pays tribute to Aunor, who spent her career fighting stereotypes and giving voice to the marginalised.

27 Apr 2025 - 5:00PM

Filipino actress Nora Aunor at a photocall for “Sinapupunan (Thy womb)“ during the 69th Venice Film Festival in September 2012. Photo: AFP

Politics

Why do people keep getting into trouble over Malaysia’s flag?

Recent inaccuracies in the national flag’s depiction have upset the public, where even small errors are seen as national insults.

27 Apr 2025 - 12:30PM

Giant Malaysian national flags are seen inside a shopping mall ahead of Malaysia Day celebrations in Kuala Lumpur in September 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

Politics

Why a proposed Japan-US unified defence zone makes South Korea uneasy

Despite US enthusiasm, South Korea fears being drawn into conflicts beyond the Korean peninsula, such as the Taiwan Strait.

28 Apr 2025 - 8:31AMvideocam

Economics

Pakistan’s mining push: a chance to equal Indonesia’s nickel success?

A landmark deal unlocking vast copper and gold reserves has Pakistan eyeing a transformative economic shift.

26 Apr 2025 - 10:02PM

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People

Exclusive | Bangladesh’s new leader dreams big, with a little help from China

A popular revolt that ousted the kleptocratic Sheikh Hasina thrust Muhammad Yunus, 84, into power. Now he’s looking to China for help.

26 Apr 2025 - 8:33AM

Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus. Illustration: Huy Truong

Politics

From Bandung to Brics: Indonesia’s evolving quest for Global South autonomy

Seven decades after hosting a summit that birthed the Non-Aligned Movement, Indonesia prioritises pragmatic ties over grand gestures.

19 Apr 2025 - 8:00AM

Economics

Asean’s ‘illusion of solidarity’ splinters amid Trump’s tariff threats

While Malaysia calls for a united front, the reality is a race for bilateral deals, with Vietnam leading the charge – as China watches on.

13 Apr 2025 - 12:21PMvideocam

Politics

Myanmar’s double disaster: an earthquake and a heartless junta

As quake survivors dig through the rubble for loved ones with their bare hands, the military bombs villages and seeks diplomatic openings.

7 Apr 2025 - 11:00AMvideocam

People in Sagaing, the epicentre of the March 28 earthquake, reach out for food aid being distributed on Thursday. Photo: AFP

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LATEST Asia NEWS

Asia

Asia urged to seek new markets, boost local spending to survive trade war

2 hours ago

A woman walks past the Asian Development Bank’s headquarters in Manila. Photo: AFP

Politics

India’s Rafale fighter jet deal: a maritime power play against China, Pakistan?

1 hour agovideocam

A Rafale jet fighter takes off from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. Photo: AP

Politics

Did Japan kill 30 million? US historian’s book ignites nationalist fury

3 hours ago

Japanese troops are seen in Nanking after the city’s conquest, in a photographic imprint dated 1937. Photo: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

South Asia

Nepal to demand experience for Everest climbers in new safety push

59 minutes agovideocam

A mountaineer holds on to a rope during an ice climbing session at Everest Base Camp in Nepal earlier this month. Photo: Reuters

Politics

Casualties and a Kremlin call: North Korea’s Ukraine war admission unpacked

10 minutes agovideocam

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attend a Gala concert in Pyongyang in June 2024. Photo: TNS

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Asian Angle | How Asean can turn short-term tariff pain into long-term gain

Paul Teng

27 Apr 2025 - 10:00AM

Opinion | Trump world: the unravelling of American global leadership

Pou Sothirak

26 Apr 2025 - 8:00PM

Asian Angle | Why ignoring China’s Southeast Asia pivot could cost the Philippines

Enrico Gloria

26 Apr 2025 - 10:00AM

My Take | As US tariffs put jobs on the line, can Malaysia afford to cut petrol subsidies?

Joseph Sipalan

25 Apr 2025 - 10:30AM

Opinion | Can the PAP stem a rising opposition tide in Singapore’s election?

Han Fook Kwang

24 Apr 2025 - 5:16PM

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North Korea admits sending soldiers to Ukraine war

North Korea hails soldiers in Russia as ‘heroes’ in first official statement

Thai rice farmers brace for US tariffs

‘We won’t survive’: Thai rice farmers brace for impact of US tariffs

South Korea says DeepSeek sent data and prompts to China

South Korea says DeepSeek sent data to ByteDance-owned servers in China without consent

India downgrades ties with Pakistan after Kashmir attack

India and Pakistan rivalry intensifies after deadly Kashmir attack

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A member of Indian security personnel stands guard on a street in Srinagar, Kashmir, on Monday. Photo: Reuters

India, Pakistan trade fire for fourth night amid hunt for Kashmir militants

New Delhi says it retaliated against ‘unprovoked’ shelling as security forces detain hundreds following last week’s deadly attack on tourists.

28 Apr 2025 - 6:53PMvideocam

Philippines’ Bulusan Volcano erupts, spewing ash 4.5km high

28 Apr 2025 - 2:59PM

Fancy a Michael Jackson? A ‘tiger bites lion’? Malaysian drinks names, explained

28 Apr 2025 - 9:34AM

The world’s smallest park is in Japan and it only has space for 1 person

28 Apr 2025 - 10:37AM

A still from a Guinness World Records social media video shows the world’s smallest park in Nagaizumi, Japan’s Shizuoka prefecture. Photo: X/GWR

Singapore negotiates US chips access, seeks pharmaceutical tariff concessions

28 Apr 2025 - 12:45PMvideocam

The Singapore flag flies against the skyline of the city state’s financial district. Singapore faces a 10 per cent levy from the US despite a bilateral free trade agreement. Photo: EPA-EFE

Video | ‘We won’t survive’: Thai rice farmers brace for impact of US tariffs

28 Apr 2025 - 8:55PMvideocam

Thai rice farmers are bracing for the impact of US tariffs on their industry.

‘They’re all heroes’: North Korea breaks silence on troop deployment to Russia

28 Apr 2025 - 2:24PM

North Korean soldiers march in a parade in Pyongyang. Photo: AP

Questions are being raised over whether Taiwan’s strategic value to the United States is being judged primarily by what the island can deliver economically and militarily. Photo: AFP

SCMP Highlights

Taiwan tariff blow, Bangladesh’s new leader, sex therapy: 5 weekend reads

From the effects of tariffs to the benefits of sex therapy, here are five stories you may have missed over the weekend.

28 Apr 2025 - 12:28PM

Yemen prepares ‘biggest offensive ever’ against Houthi rebels with US support

26 Apr 2025 - 7:30PMvideocam

Singapore election: do politicians ‘abandon’ residents when they switch wards?

27 Apr 2025 - 9:40AM

Philippines urged to ‘strategically’ work with China amid US tariff tensions

26 Apr 2025 - 12:54PMvideocam

Singapore election rallies are back, but will they sway voters?

28 Apr 2025 - 8:32PM

Containers and cranes in Manila on April 8. US President Donald Trump kicked off a potentially ruinous global trade war earlier this month with harsh levies on trading partners. Photo: AFP

The Philippines

Philippines urged to ‘strategically’ work with China amid US tariff tensions

It follows a call from a Chinese envoy for the Philippines and fellow Asean members to be united in safeguarding free trade.

26 Apr 2025 - 12:54PMvideocam

South Korea, US aim for ‘July package’ to resolve tariff disputes

25 Apr 2025 - 8:00PMvideocam

Malaysia vows to buy more US goods in break from united Asean front on tariffs

25 Apr 2025 - 5:08PM

Indonesia stays committed to EV battery hub goal despite LG’s ‘significant’ exit

25 Apr 2025 - 7:28PM

An electric car at an Indonesian auto show in 2023. Indonesia will keep its plan to build its electric vehicle battery supply chain despite LG’s exit from a mega project. Photo: EPA-EFE

AI-generated image of durian farm in Malaysia raises stink over land dispute

25 Apr 2025 - 5:15PMvideocam

A worker harvesting a durian that has been secured with rope at a farm in Raub in Malaysia’s Pahang state. Photo: AFP

Japan’s World Expo struggles with low visitor figures amid a litany of woes

24 Apr 2025 - 8:30PMvideocam

Visitors walk past the Japan Pavilion at the Osaka 2025 Expo on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Malaysia urged to invest in Uganda’s untapped oilfields as its reserves dwindle

24 Apr 2025 - 1:24PM

An aerial view of Uganda’s Kingfisher Oil Field run by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation in Kikube. Photo: Xinhua

A man has been arrested in South Korea following a stabbing spree in a supermarket in Seoul that left one woman dead and another injured. Photo: Shutterstock

‘I’m sorry’: man arrested after fatal Seoul supermarket stabbing spree

Local police are investigating whether the suspect has a history of mental illness and the reason for the attack.

25 Apr 2025 - 2:54PMvideocam

Malaysian journalist in bribe scandal returns, vows to report ‘without fear’

23 Apr 2025 - 2:18PM

Indonesians mourn Pope Francis’ death: ‘we were so proud of him’

22 Apr 2025 - 6:12PM

Lee Jae-myung leads South Korea polls amid political turmoil and US tariffs

22 Apr 2025 - 9:18AMvideocam

‘We grieve like orphans’: Filipinos mourn death of Pope Francis

22 Apr 2025 - 5:35PMvideocam

A captured soldier presented as Chinese is seen in an image released by the Security Service of Ukraine on April 9. Photo: Ukrainian Security Service/XGTY/AFP

Opinion | Chinese fighters in Ukraine and the global pipeline feeding Russia’s war machine

Recruitment videos in Mandarin promise high pay and heroism, as Moscow’s desperate need for manpower fuels a global marketplace of fighters.

20 Apr 2025 - 10:00AMvideocam

Opinion | Will Trump’s chaos galvanise the Global South?

21 Apr 2025 - 3:12PM

Opinion | Decoding Trump’s tariffs and the world’s multipolar future

13 Apr 2025 - 10:18AM

Asian Angle | The ‘Tariff Man’ cometh: Vietnam’s misplaced faith in Trump 2.0

12 Apr 2025 - 11:00AMvideocam

US President Donald Trump stands during an arrival ceremony in Hanoi in 2017. Photo: AFP

My Take | Is Trump’s tariff reprieve a false dawn for small Asian nations?

11 Apr 2025 - 10:30AMvideocam

Vietnamese garment factory workers stitch apparel at a factory in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: AFP

Opinion | Whose lives matter? Navigating aid and ethics in a divided world

6 Apr 2025 - 3:00PM

Internally displaced Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, on Thursday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Asian Angle | Can Indonesia’s Batam hold its own against Johor-Singapore SEZ?

5 Apr 2025 - 3:00PM

Shipyards on Batam island in Indonesia’s Riau Islands province. Batam’s economy has been on the mend since the pandemic. Photo: Reuters

Health & Environment

A woman browses biscuits and sweets in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: AFP

1 in 3 Malaysian children are overweight as nation’s sugar addiction worsens

A new health ministry survey shows that one third of Malaysians aged 5 to 19 are overweight, with high-sugar diets blamed.

24 Apr 2025 - 6:30PM

Indian man mistakenly operated on, hospital investigated for mix-up

22 Apr 2025 - 5:41PM

Malaysian teen’s seizure after vaping reignites debate on device ban

22 Apr 2025 - 10:57AM

‘Fly high, Riley’: Philippine eaglet dies 3 months after birth

16 Apr 2025 - 7:11PM

Iran’s meth cartels target Australia via Malaysia’s Port Klang

14 Apr 2025 - 8:34AMvideocam

Lifestyle & Culture

Bill O’Reilly hosts the No Spin News channel on YouTube. Photo: Instagram/Bill O’Reilly

Malaysians poor? ‘We have free healthcare, grandpa,’ they tell Bill O’Reilly

The US political commentator drew the ire of Malaysians by suggesting they were too poor to buy a hat or afford a proper meal.

25 Apr 2025 - 5:17PM

Japan’s World Expo struggles with low visitor figures amid a litany of woes

24 Apr 2025 - 8:30PMvideocam

Police suspect noise dispute behind deadly South Korea flat fire

25 Apr 2025 - 2:27PMvideocam

Malaysian journalist in bribe scandal returns, vows to report ‘without fear’

23 Apr 2025 - 2:18PM

Malaysiakini journalist B. Nantha Kumar has returned to work. Photo: Facebook/Nantha Kumar Balachandram

Malaysia’s plan to teach Asean languages in schools sparks parental backlash

23 Apr 2025 - 12:48PMvideocam

Malaysian students seen with their bags during the first day of schooling for the 2020 session at the Taman Tun Dr Ismail National School. Photo: DPA

Indian man mistakenly operated on, hospital investigated for mix-up

22 Apr 2025 - 5:41PM

A hospital in India. Photo: AFP

‘Do not be racist’: Thai park ranger sacked after ‘ni hao’ tourist clash

22 Apr 2025 - 8:27PM

In this screengrab from his video, Siranudh Scott warns the foreign tourist not to be racist. Photo: Instagram/Psiscott