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Asia

This Week in Asia

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

Politics

North Korea missile launch hints at upgraded weapons exports to Russia

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

52 minutes ago

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

1 hour agovideocam

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

12 Aug 2026 - 8:00AMvideocam

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.

11 Aug 2026 - 6:45PM

Pakistani people and students hold flags to celebrate the Pakistan-Saudi Arab-Turkish joint defence pact on Monday. Photo: EPA

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.

11 Aug 2026 - 5:04PMvideocam

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.

11 Aug 2026 - 6:31PM

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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.

11 Aug 2026 - 9:30AM

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.

1 hour ago

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.

30 minutes ago

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.

11 Aug 2026 - 3:15PMvideocam

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.

11 Aug 2026 - 10:43PM

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.

11 Aug 2026 - 6:29PMvideocam

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.

11 Aug 2026 - 12:00PMvideocam

Russia & Central Asia

Ukraine says Russia fired North Korean missiles in deadly attack

‘The city was struck with North Korean ballistic missiles, Zircons,’ President Zelensky said of the strike on Zaporizhzhia that killed 7.

12 Aug 2026 - 3:30AM

Firefighters work at the site of an overnight Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Politics

South Korea aims to criminalise fictional AI porn after man’s acquittal

Lawmakers move to close a legal loophole by proposing a bill criminalising virtual porn of fictional characters.

11 Aug 2026 - 12:55PMvideocam

South Korean activists protest against deepfake pornography in Seoul in 2024. Photo: AFP

Lifestyle & Culture

‘Too backward’: why South Korean football is struggling for loyalty

Observers say the K League has fallen short of the standards European clubs have set for quality, spectacle and emotional connection.

11 Aug 2026 - 10:30AMvideocam

Asia

Malaysia’s Liow released; Lee Kuan Yew’s pen up for auction: 7 Asia highlights

From North Korea’s dog meat advice to Prabowo at odds with Indonesia’s rich, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting.

11 Aug 2026 - 12:37PM

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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.

8 Aug 2026 - 8:00AM

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.

1 Aug 2026 - 8:00AM

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.

27 Jul 2026 - 7:57AM

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.

18 Jul 2026 - 8:00AM

Illustration: Huy Truong

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Highlights from

THIS WEEK IN ASIA

Politics

North Korea missile launch hints at upgraded weapons exports to Russia

52 minutes ago

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

Politics

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

1 hour agovideocam

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (right) and Megawati Sukarnoputri in April 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE

Politics

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

12 Aug 2026 - 8:00AMvideocam

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

11 Aug 2026 - 6:45PM

Pakistani people and students hold flags to celebrate the Pakistan-Saudi Arab-Turkish joint defence pact on Monday. Photo: EPA

Health & Environment

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

11 Aug 2026 - 5:04PMvideocam

A forensic police officer marks a bullet casing as evidence at the site of a shooting at the Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organisation office on Monday. Photo: Reuters

MORE IN This Week in Asia

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The View | If India wants an edge on China, it must study education reform

Winston Mok

6 hours ago

Peter T. C. Chang

Opinion | Why Malaysia’s political turmoil matters to Beijing

Peter T. C. Chang

10 Aug 2026 - 5:30AM

Opinion | Japan’s defence white paper is the opening move in a longer game

Wenran Jiang

9 Aug 2026 - 9:33PM

Opinion | South Asia’s Gen Z protests offer one lesson in common

9 Aug 2026 - 5:30AM

Macroscope | Behind the AI stock market bubble lies a weak yen

Anthony Rowley

8 Aug 2026 - 4:30PM

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Filipino fishermen worry about Chinese nature reserve in disputed waters

Filipino fishermen worry about Chinese nature reserve in disputed waters

Centenarian becomes oldest person to climb Mount Fuji

Centenarian becomes oldest person to climb Mount Fuji

Cambodia unveils new Chinese-built airport

Cambodia unveils new Chinese-built airport

Ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra to serve 1 year in jail

Ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra to serve 1 year in jail

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