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Asia - South China Morning Post

Breaking news, analysis and opinion from the SCMP"s Asia edition.

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11 dead, 12 missing after landslide hits Indonesia’s...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/15

A landslide on Indonesia’s Java island killed at least 11 people, an official said on Saturday, updating a previous tally as rescuers scrambled to find 12 others who were still missing. The landslide, caused by heavy rainfall, hit three villages in Central Java province on Thursday, burying some houses and damaging others. “As of Saturday afternoon, the number of victims who were found dead is 11, while 12 more are still being searched for,” said local search and rescue chief Muhammad...

From TV dramas to diplomacy, Bangladesh-Turkey ties...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/15

In a recording studio in Dhaka, voice-over artist Rubaiya Matin Gity dubs the latest Turkish soap opera to become a megahit in Bangladesh – a pop culture trend that reflects growing ties between the two countries. “Yasmeen! Yasmeen! I have fallen in love ...” the 32-year-old actor cried in Bangla, her eyes fixed on the screen playing new episodes of the Turkish drama Kara Sevda, or Endless Love, which has captivated millions of viewers in the South Asian nation. The success of Turkish shows,...

Justice or chaos? Bangladesh on edge as Hasina...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/15

Bangladesh is bracing itself for a landmark court verdict on Monday that could see its self-exiled former leader Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death for crimes against humanity, with the case potentially fuelling an already combustible political climate ahead of national elections. The outcome could either deliver long-awaited justice for the 1,400 people killed during a brutal crackdown last year or spark a repeat of the chaos, according to analysts. Hasina, 78, fled to India in August 2024

Singapore’s Temasek invests in WeRide, Pony.ai to...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/15

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, opened positions in two of China’s leading autonomous driving companies in the third quarter of this year. The state-owned company bought about 1.4 million shares of WeRide and 14,500 shares of Pony.ai in the September quarter, according to its 13F filings released on Friday. The total value of the shares was around US$13.7 million. Temasek has a history of investing in autonomous driving companies. These

Malaysia’s start-ups shiver through a venture capital...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/15

Once awash with venture capital, Asia’s start-up ecosystem is now weathering a deep freeze as investors reassess their risk exposure amid global economic uncertainty and China’s growth slowdown. For regional entrepreneurs, the flight of risk capital has turned into a crisis, with funds seeking refuge in safer markets. Malaysian venture capitalists told This Week in Asia that fierce competition for a dwindling pool of funds had become the new normal. “What winter? It’s the constant weather

Pikachu protest at Cop30 takes on Japan’s fossil fuel...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/15

Protesters in Pokemon costumes stomped around the United Nations climate conference on Friday to send a message to Japan: end financing of coal and natural gas projects across Southeast Asia and other regions of the Global South. The Stop Japan’s Dirty Energy Plans protest aligned with the first of two thematic days with a focus on energy during the annual climate conference known as Cop30, held this year in Belem on the edge of the Brazilian Amazon. Organisers of the protest said the...

Blast kills 9, rocks India’s Kashmir police station,...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/15

A cache of confiscated explosives detonated inside a police station in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least nine people and injuring 32 others, police said on Saturday. The blast occurred in the Nowgam area of Srinagar, the region’s main city, late on Friday when a team of forensic experts and police were examining the explosive material, said Nalin Prabhat, the region’s police director-general. He ruled out any foul play, saying it was an accident. The dead included six police and...

After Bucheon market crash, can South Korea curb...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/15

At Jeil Market in South Korea’s Bucheon, Gyeonggi province, few ever imagined that a truck would surge into the crowd, as one did on Thursday, killing two people and leaving 19 others injured. “The truck came barrelling in just as I stepped forward to help a customer checking radishes,” a vendor said. “If I had stayed where I was, I could have died. Later, I told her how grateful I was.” Police have attributed the crash to driver error on the part of the 67-year-old at the wheel of the 1

Why Singapore’s PAP is taking aim at opposition WP so...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/15

It has been six months since the national polls concluded in Singapore, but the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) is not resting on its laurels. A popular line among party faithfuls is that the PAP begins preparing for the next election the day after winning one. But a recent series of salvoes against its main opponent, the Workers’ Party (WP) and leader Pritam Singh suggests a new intensity, if not strategy. Observers point to a calculated PAP approach outside election season as its...

Why a document on South Korea-US trade, security...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/15

South Korea and the United States have released a long-awaited joint document detailing their recent trade and security agreements, including Washington’s approval for Seoul to build nuclear-powered submarines. However, analysts warn that key gaps in the fact sheet could lead to both governments interpreting their partnership very differently, particularly on sensitive defence provisions and the feasibility of South Korea’s submarine ambitions. The publication comes two weeks after President

Asean, China, Japan and South Korea hold...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/15

Southeast Asian economies, along with China, Japan and South Korea, have a “transformative” opportunity to enter the world’s critical mineral supply chain, said Yasuto Watanabe, director of the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO). Critical minerals – essential raw materials for the production of hi-tech gadgets, cars and aerospace equipment – will make the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean) supply chain “more resilient and sustainable”, said Watanabe, who also...

Climate collapse: Southeast Asia’s new normal?

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/15

For four long months and counting, the residents of Bang Ban, a low-lying district in Thailand’s ancient city of Ayutthaya, have lived their lives under water. Elderly residents must be ferried to safety by raft, schools stand closed and under the muddy surface, ruined rice fields rot. Even Ayutthaya’s 700-year-old stupas have been submerged, their crumbling towers jutting through a murky brown deluge that shows no sign of retreat. Annual floods are not unusual here. Each monsoon season, the...

Flooded Thai restaurant lets customers dine with live...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

A restaurant in central Thailand was bursting with a stream of customers coming for a unique dining experience: enjoying a meal while sitting in floodwaters, surrounded by live fish they bring into the establishment. Since an adjacent river breached its banks 11 days ago, the flooded riverside restaurant has become an internet sensation, drawing customers keen to pose in the lapping brown water or toss fish food to photograph the feeding frenzy. Families enjoyed lunch at Pa Jit restaurant in...

Trump calls Thailand and Cambodia after new clashes...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

US President Donald Trump called Thailand and Cambodia on Friday to bolster the peace deal he brokered after fresh clashes erupted between the Southeast Asian neighbours, the White House said. Trump co-signed a truce between the two countries on October 26 during a tour of Asia, touting it as one of several peace deals around the world that he believes should win him the Nobel Prize. But Thailand suspended the deal on Monday after a landmine blast, and the two sides traded accusations of new...

Beijing warns Japan after PM’s Taiwan comments fuel...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

Beijing on Friday expressed deep concern and issued a stern warning to Tokyo against shifting its non-nuclear policy, after comments by the Japanese prime minister about Taiwan sharply escalated tensions. Sanae Takaichi, who took office on October 21, has been considering revising Japan’s long-standing non-nuclear weapons principles, Japanese media reported on Friday citing government sources. This came after Japan’s defence minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, urged the country to consider acquiring...

‘I saw her die before my eyes’: Namewee breaks...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

Malaysian rapper and filmmaker Namewee says he did everything he could to save Taiwanese influencer Iris Hsieh, but to no avail. “I saw a human being die before my eyes for the first time. “I did everything I could to save her but nothing could be done. This image will remain in my mind forever,” Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, said in a Facebook post on Friday. This was his first public statement since he was released from detention over the police investigation into Hsieh’s...

Fugitive ex-Philippine official accuses Marcos of...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

A fugitive former Philippine lawmaker has accused President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr of directing him to add 100 billion pesos (US$1.7 billion) worth of dubious public works projects to the national budget, a claim that throws new fuel on the corruption scandal that has dogged his administration for months. Analysts say the explosive allegation, made in a video sent to reporters by ex-appropriations chairman Zaldy Co, could feed a wider destabilisation push by rival political blocs, including

Why China need not fear US-led ‘Squad’ evolving into...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

The Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur witnessed major geopolitical developments, including a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia presided over by US President Donald Trump. Eager to mend recently strained relations with Washington, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, chairman of the regional body this year, also signed a new trade deal with the United States. However, one of the most crucial meetings took place on the sidelines of the summit. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, met

Megan Khung’s father sues influencer in Singapore...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

A Singaporean influencer who has set up a children’s charity drive and named it after his late daughter Megan Khung, a victim of horrific child abuse, has sparked a debate over the move, culminating in a legal spat between him and another online personality. Some online users questioned his sincerity, accusing Khung Wei Nan, who goes by the moniker Simonboy, of using his four-year-old daughter’s name for publicity, while others pointed to his imprisonment for drug use and said that he had

Modi’s alliance poised for Bihar poll win, boosting...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling coalition is headed to win a key state election in a vote seen as a crucial test of Modi’s popularity in one of the country’s poorest yet most politically influential states. Partial results on Friday from the Election Commission of India, the country’s election watchdog, showed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) expected to take 208 seats of the 243-member legislature in the eastern state of Bihar. A simple majority

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