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This Week in Asia
Army soldiers pose in front of a captured fire department station in Myanmar’s eastern state of Kayah in August last year. Photo: AP

Politics

Myanmar steps up civilian attacks with drones and paragliders, UN says

The attacks rose ahead of elections held in December and January, according to a team of UN investigators.

Japanese authorities feel strain of bear-related complaints as fear grips locals

Will Philippines win race to secure Pax Silica hub before neighbours do?

Politics

Veteran Malaysian MP quits Anwar’s party over ‘toxic politics’

Wong Chen, a three-term MP who had spent nearly 20 years in PKR, says he is joining Rafizi Ramli’s Bersama to ‘defend democracy’.

Wong Chen (left), joins Rafizi Ramli (centre) and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad at a press conference at Bersama’s headquarters on Wednesday. Photo: Iman Muttaqin Yusof
Wong Chen (left), joins Rafizi Ramli (centre) and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad at a press conference at Bersama’s headquarters on Wednesday. Photo: Iman Muttaqin Yusof

Politics

North Korea missile launch hints at upgraded weapons exports to Russia

North Korea usually reports launches but its silence in the recent tests raises the possibility they involved a top-secret new missile.

Politics

Showdown in Solo: the new front in Indonesia’s Jokowi-Megawati feud

Analysts say the 2029 parliamentary bid will test whether Widodo can convert his personal popularity into lasting family influence.

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Politics

Vietnam’s To Lam eyes trade, defence boost during trip to Australia, New Zealand

China’s actions in the South China Sea will be discussed but unlikely to be explicitly condemned, observers say.

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) greets Vietnamese President To Lam at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday. Photo: AAP/dpa
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) greets Vietnamese President To Lam at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday. Photo: AAP/dpa

Politics

‘Islamic Nato’? Why Pakistan’s new defence pact has India on edge

Analysts say the pact could evolve into a broader ideological military bloc that could extend its influence to the Indian Ocean region.

Health & Environment

Bullets and bloodshed: why Thailand is struggling to tackle gun violence

The recent school shooting and killing of an official have raised the tally to 12 in three weeks in the tiny province of Nonthaburi alone.

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People

South Korean star Ha Young sorry for row over ancestor’s pro-Japanese ties

The actress’ agency confirms her great-grandfather, Ahn Sang-ho, was listed as a councillor of a pro-Japanese association in 1916.

South Korean actors Jung Hae-in (left) and Ha Young in a still from Netflix’s “Our Sticky Love”. Photo: Netflix

People

How a new UK law left overseas medical students ‘completely stranded’

The rule change has upended expectations that a NUMed degree could offer graduates a pathway to practising medicine in Britain.

Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia. Photo: Google Maps
Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia. Photo: Google Maps

Southeast Asia

Doctor and friend jailed for taking drugs at Singapore villa party

A judge rejected the pair’s claims that their drinks had been spiked with Ecstasy pills.

Southeast Asia

On This Day | Singapore wins first ever Olympic gold in 2016 – SCMP archive

On this day 10 years ago, Joseph Schooling outswam Michael Phelps to bring Singapore its first Olympic gold medal.

Politics

Malaysia’s Anwar slams ‘political drama’ over Tabung Haji debate walkout

Opposition lawmakers had asked for the special session on the pilgrimage savings fund to be postponed until the prime minister’s return.

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Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim attends a plenary session of the Russia-Asean Summit on June 18. Photo: EPA

Southeast Asia

Philippine VP Sara Duterte faces criminal charge over Marcos death threat

She was hit with a ‘grave threats’ charge in an ongoing Senate impeachment trial over an alleged assassination plot against the president.

Sara Duterte-Carpio, Philippine vice-president and daughter of former leader Rodrigo Duterte, speaks during a protest outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague in July. Photo: AP
Sara Duterte-Carpio, Philippine vice-president and daughter of former leader Rodrigo Duterte, speaks during a protest outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague in July. Photo: AP

Politics

Can India and China rally Brics to ease Strait of Hormuz tensions?

Analysts say a unified Brics could support Oman-led talks for a resolution and provide an alternative to US diplomacy.

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Politics

US swaps ideology for ‘flexible realism’ and deterrence in Southeast Asia

Pentagon’s Colby urges allies to invest more in defence as Washington prioritises pragmatic Indo-Pacific partnerships over moral values.

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People

Malaysia’s royals rise to the fore in a changing nation

Unstable coalitions have created greater room for the country’s royal institutions to influence government formation, observers say.

Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar salutes the guard of honour at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur on January 31, 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE
Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar salutes the guard of honour at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur on January 31, 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

Politics

Ready player 3: India offers Asean a US-China alternative

India pitches trade, missiles and room to hedge as the US and China vie for regional influence.

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Economics

‘A matter of survival’: Indonesia’s push for a financial hub in Bali

Luhut Pandjaitan wants investors to imagine kamikaze drones over Abu Dhabi, then picture themselves in Bali instead.

Health & Environment

Asia’s AI boom has a dirty secret: the coal that powers it

In the rush to build the digital future, regional tech hubs are digging up the past.

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Illustration: Huy Truong
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Highlights from
THIS WEEK IN ASIA

Politics

Myanmar steps up civilian attacks with drones and paragliders, UN says

Army soldiers pose in front of a captured fire department station in Myanmar’s eastern state of Kayah in August last year. Photo: AP

Health & Environment

Japanese authorities feel strain of bear-related complaints as fear grips locals

A bear seen on a riverbank in the city centre of Morioka in Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan, last October. Photo: Kyodo

Politics

Will Philippines win race to secure Pax Silica hub before neighbours do?

A protester holds a sign during a rally on a road leading to the US embassy in Manila on July 13, expressing opposition to Philippines-US defence agreements and the US-led Pax Silica initiative. Photo: EPA

Politics

Veteran Malaysian MP quits Anwar’s party over ‘toxic politics’

Wong Chen (left), joins Rafizi Ramli (centre) and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad at a press conference at Bersama’s headquarters on Wednesday. Photo: Iman Muttaqin Yusof

Politics

North Korea missile launch hints at upgraded weapons exports to Russia

People in Seoul watch a news broadcast about a North Korean missile launch on Wednesday. Photo: EPA
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