This Week in Asia

Health & Environment

Lifestyle & Culture

Crew members onboard the naval combatant INS Surat, a stealth guided missile destroyer of the Indian Navy. Photo: AFP

Politics

India’s bet on AI-enabled warships needs boost to counter China, experts say

While India’s first AI-enabled warship enhances its capabilities in the Indian Ocean, experts warn that more vessels are needed to counter China’s growing presence.

7 minutes ago

Rubio says US committed to Philippines but could Trump change course?

2 hours agovideocam

‘I do’ … at last: LGBTQ couples in Thailand marry as same-sex unions legalised

4 hours agovideocam

Politics

Last laugh? Muslim comedian faces backlash over ham joke in Malaysia

Harith Iskander’s joke about ham sap kopi – a coffee drink – offended some Muslims, leading to police reports and calls for his social media suspension.

59 minutes ago

Malaysian comedian Harith Iskander performs. Photo: Facebook/Harith Iskander

Politics

South Korea’s prosecution asked to charge Yoon Suk-yeol over martial law order

The development comes after the country’s anti-corruption agency was unable to grill Yoon Suk-yeol over his failed martial law bid.

3 hours agovideocam

Politics

Philippines ‘blindsided’ by mounting security woes amid fresh espionage claims

Officials ‘connecting the dots’ between arrest of alleged Chinese spy, underwater drones and Pogos as analysts call for stronger legal frameworks.

23 Jan 2025 - 12:58PMvideocam

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Politics

Malaysia’s Anwar faces heat over ‘absurd’ rules on anti-corruption rally

Civic groups and the prime minister’s supporters berate him for imposing strict conditions on the march in a bid to obstruct the event.

23 Jan 2025 - 12:41PM

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has come under fire for imposing restrictions on an anti-corruption rally in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: EPA-EFE

Economics

Asia’s energy markets may stay volatile over Trump’s oil ambition and sanctions

Benchmark oil prices have experienced wild swings after the US and the UK imposed sanctions targeting the supply of Russian oil.

1 hour ago

People

Japanese mum hopes Trump will get Kim to release her daughter after 48 years

The family of Megumi Yokota, who was 13 when she was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977, met the US president previously in Tokyo.

23 Jan 2025 - 9:30AMvideocam

Lifestyle & Culture

Teenage girls groped by Japan’s ‘chikan’ train perverts offered exam resits

It follows widespread reports of train gropers targeting students who were heading to university entrance exams over the weekend.

23 Jan 2025 - 8:00AM

Young Japanese women wearing kimono stand in a train in Yokohama earlier this month. Photo: EPA-EFE

Politics

Yoon Suk-yeol in spotlight again over soldiers praising him at birthday event

The soldiers sang popular hits with tweaked lyrics to the president at the event in 2023, a South Korean media report says.

22 Jan 2025 - 10:27PMvideocam

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol attends his impeachment trial for the first time in Seoul on Tuesday. Photo: Kyodo

Lifestyle & Culture

Indian hotel chain’s married couples-only room policy sparks freedom debate

The OYO Hotels chain says the policy will only apply in the city of Meerut but might be extended to more locations depending on the response.

22 Jan 2025 - 7:57PM

Economics

Does Indonesia have ‘bargaining chips’ to navigate Trump tariff threat?

Indonesia faces an uphill battle to secure a free-trade deal unless it can bring ‘the right incentives’ to the discussion table, analysts say.

23 Jan 2025 - 12:49AM

Politics

Singapore takes first step towards election, analysts predict midyear polls

The next election – the first since Prime Minister Lawrence Wong took office – is likely to centre on bread-and-butter issues, analysts say.

22 Jan 2025 - 5:19PM

Voters in Singapore queue to cast their ballots at a polling station during the general election on July 10, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

Economics

Malaysians call out ‘profiteering’ as Lunar New Year service charge goes up

Angry diners question whether the extra levy truly benefits workers or boosts profits of restaurant owners.

22 Jan 2025 - 1:17PM

Malaysians have criticised restaurants for increasing service charges to 15 per cent during the Lunar New Year holiday. Photo: Shutterstock

Politics

‘No chance’: in Myanmar, Asean’s pleas for peace fall on deaf ears

Despite Asean’s call to prioritise peace over a sham election, Myanmar’s military rulers appear bent on clinging to power no matter the cost.

22 Jan 2025 - 12:00PMvideocam

Politics

‘He’s a nuclear power’: Donald Trump’s North Korea remarks upend US doctrine

Donald Trump’s convention-busting acknowledgement of North Korea as a nuclear power bucks years of US policy – and sets South Korea on edge.

22 Jan 2025 - 9:38AMvideocam

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Economics

China’s Himalayan mega dam deepens India’s water worries

Just as ties seemed to be on the mend, a US$137 billion hydropower behemoth on the Yarlung Tsangpo River threatens to muddy the waters.

18 Jan 2025 - 9:30AMvideocam

The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in Tibet. Photo: AFP

Politics

Tariffs, turmoil and Trump: untangling Malaysia’s Asean chair to-do list

Can Anwar Ibrahim’s diplomatic finesse help Malaysia steer Asean through the storm of rising trade tensions and regional crises?

11 Jan 2025 - 8:00AM

Politics

‘We are a frontline state’: how the Philippines is preparing for a US-China war

The US treaty ally is spending billions to arm itself for a conflict over Taiwan or the South China Sea it hopes will never come.

4 Jan 2025 - 8:16AMvideocam

Economics

Thailand’s hi-tech utopia starts to take shape – but will it deliver?

At its launch seven years ago, the Eastern Economic Corridor was marketed as a solution to Thailand’s economic malaise. But concerns persist.

3 Jan 2025 - 12:30PM

Thailand’s once-thriving economy, which grew an average of 5 per cent annually in the early 2000s, has been battered by two decades of political turmoil and coups. Image: Huy Truong

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LATEST Asia NEWS

Southeast Asia

4 people die in Cambodia in Lunar New Year gift crush

5 hours ago

A crowd gathers at the mansion of Cambodian tycoon Sok Kong to receive red envelopes filled with money ahead of the Lunar New Year, in Phnom Penh. Photo: AFP/Fresh News

Politics

Rubio says US committed to Philippines but could Trump change course?

2 hours agovideocam

US and Philippine Marines fire Howitzer artillery during a live-fire exercise as part of the joint US-Philippines annual military Balikatan drills in Laoag on Luzon island’s northwest coast in May 2024. Photo: AFP

Lifestyle & Culture

‘I do’ … at last: LGBTQ couples in Thailand marry as same-sex unions legalised

4 hours agovideocam

LGBTQ+ couple Chatchai Aunthaya, 40, and Nitinai Buathong, 32, pose for photos after they receive official marriage certificates in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Australasia

Thousands in Australia queue for plant’s ‘amazing’ stink of death

4 hours ago

The rare and endangered corpse flower, nicknamed Putricia, blooms at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. Photo: EPA-EFE

Global Economy

Philippine official ‘positive’ on trade with China despite political friction

4 hours ago

China and the Philippines are working to maintain strong trade relations despite their political tensions. Photo: SCMPOST

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Asian Angle | Manila must put brakes on car-centric policies, seek viable transport solutions

19 Jan 2025 - 10:00AM

Archanun Kohpaiboon,Prasert Vijithnopparatand

Asian Angle | How Thailand can tackle influx of Chinese imports beyond tariffs and bans

18 Jan 2025 - 12:00PM

Asian Angle | Malaysians’ embrace of Mandarin is a win for multiculturalism

James Chai

13 Jan 2025 - 8:22AM

Asian Angle | Vietnam’s private banking sector has a ‘chronic disease’. Can it be treated?

Le Hong Hiep

11 Jan 2025 - 12:00PM

My Take | Can Johor-Singapore SEZ be a flag-bearer for Southeast Asia’s economic clout?

Joseph Sipalan

10 Jan 2025 - 10:30AM

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Yoon’s martial law case referred to South Korean prosecutors

Thai PM uses AI to ‘speak’ Mandarin

Thailand’s same-sex marriage law takes effect

How Wynn is transforming Macau

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TRENDING TOPICS

The Philippines

South China Sea

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