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Asia - South China Morning Post

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

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Singapore Airlines profit nosedives amid Air India...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

Singapore Airlines on Thursday reported a sharp fall in first-half profit, hit by losses at its Indian associate Air India, higher costs and intensifying competition. The airline’s profit slid steeply in the second quarter to S$52 million (US$40.18 million) from S$186 million in the first quarter, highlighting Air India’s drag on performance. Singapore Airlines began accounting for Air India’s earnings in December 2024 after the integration of joint venture Vistara into Air India. The

South Korean farmers sue state utility, claiming its...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

Hwang Seong-yeol stood at the edge of a golden field, watching nervously as a combine harvester crawled through his rice, churning up mud and stalks. Its steady hum filled the damp autumn air as grain poured into a truck waiting at the other end of the muddy paddy. It was the final day of what Hwang said was one of his toughest seasons in three decades of farming. He and other farmers feel helpless against increasingly erratic weather that they link to climate change and damage to their

Takeaway from Cop30: climate action needs to be up...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

Spectating from afar during the Cop30 UN climate summit in Belem on the edge of Brazil’s Amazon forests, it is easy to despair. Despite 30 years of concerted global diplomacy and exhaustive scientific evidence of the gravity of global warming, carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, as do global temperatures. Brazil’s rainforest continues to burn. Global oil and gas production remains robust. Governments procrastinate and funding promises still fail to materialise. Worst of all, the

India-Pakistan conflict risks surge amid terror...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

Tensions are again mounting in South Asia after suspected terrorist attacks in Pakistan and India triggered a furious exchange of accusations, including claims of proxy warfare conducted through Afghanistan. Analysts are cautiously optimistic that renewed conflict can be averted, following deadly clashes between Pakistan and India in May and skirmishes between Pakistani forces and the Afghan Taliban in October. The hope is that restraint and international diplomatic pressure may yet stave off...

Malaysian economy’s hot run continues despite Trump’s...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/14

Malaysia predicts growth this year is likely to approach 4.8 per cent after a resurgent exports sector defied the impact of US tariffs in the third quarter. The nation’s growth rate in 2025 is set to be “closer to” the upper range of the official forecast of 4 per cent to 4.8 per cent, and may even exceed it, Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said at a briefing in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. An expansion in household spending and sustained investment activity will drive the...

‘Empty and numb’: Laos methanol poisoning survivor...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

A year after her childhood friend died in a mass methanol poisoning incident in Laos, British traveller Bethany Clarke is still grappling with grief and a lack of answers.On November 12 last year, Clarke had joined 28-year-old lawyer Simone White and another friend for a spontaneous side trip to Vang Vieng, a riverside party town popular with backpackers. After a night out at a hostel serving complimentary shots, all three fell dangerously ill. White would not survive. Six tourists died in...

‘Leave Japan’: xenophobic note to Malaysian teacher...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

A Malaysian English teacher living in Yokohama has gone viral in Japan after sharing photos of a hate-filled message taped to his front door and car, sparking both outrage and an outpouring of support amid growing concern over anti-foreigner sentiment in the country. Written in Japanese and signed “Yokohama City Conservative Faction”, the flier read: “To foreigners, please leave Japan. You are not welcome here. Japan doesn’t need immigrants. Japanese taxes are not paid for you. Go back to

How Asean quietly became China’s buffer against US...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

The signing of the Asean-China free trade agreement upgrade last month looked procedural. It wasn’t. The protocol adds chapters on digital trade, the green economy, supply chain connectivity, and the nuts and bolts of trade facilitation. These elements matter more than tariff cuts. As US tariffs on Chinese goods remain high, including on electric vehicles (EVs), batteries and solar cells, agreements that reduce friction, harmonise standards and streamline certification are becoming strategic...

Stale food, tiny rooms, falling badges: South Korean...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

After last month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) events in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang province – which saw up to 19,000 police officers deployed daily from across South Korea – Kim Keon-pyo, director of the Korean National Police Workers Council, said the reports he received from officers on the ground were far from commendable. “They said they were treated like homeless people,” Kim said. Angered by their accounts, Kim began collecting photos of the poor working conditions

India’s Tejas fighter jet gets US engines to battle...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

India has secured a contract with the US to supply engines for its indigenous Tejas fighter jets, reinforcing defence ties despite trade tensions – even as military analysts say that Pakistan’s superior Chinese-supplied warplanes remain a formidable threat. State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Friday announced it had signed an agreement with US-based General Electric Company (GE) for the supply of 113 F404-GE-IN20 engines and a support package for India’s Tejas Mk1A light combat...

Nvidia and Apple supplier Foxconn posts 17% rise in...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, posted a 17 per cent rise in third-quarter profit on Wednesday, beating market forecasts, on sustained strength in demand for artificial intelligence servers. Net profit for the July-September period for Nvidia’s biggest server maker and Apple’s top iPhone assembler was T$57.67 billion (US$1.89 billion), higher than the consensus estimate of T$50.4 billion compiled by London Stock Exchange Group. Taiwan-based...

Malaysia’s Anwar faces a tough fight as bellwether...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

Malaysia’s election season kicks into full gear this weekend, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration forced to juggle national priorities with a push for greater autonomy in Sabah, as “Sabah for Sabahans” sentiment gains momentum in the make-or-break state. The November 29 election in Sabah, one of two states on Malaysian Borneo, is widely seen as a gauge of Anwar’s popularity beyond his strongholds in the peninsula and a potential indicator of how well he could do in his presumed...

‘Our neighbour will help us’: Australia, Indonesia...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

Australia and Indonesia agreed on Wednesday to sign a new security treaty, which includes closer military cooperation, the two countries’ leaders said following talks in Sydney. Canberra has drawn ever nearer to long-time ally Washington, bolstering its military in an attempt to deter the might of a rising China in the Asia-Pacific region. Jakarta has walked a more neutral path, wary of drawing too close to Washington and far less willing to needle Beijing. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese,...

Chen Zhi’s firm breaks silence, denies tycoon’s...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

A Cambodian conglomerate whose founder has had more than US$15 billion of allegedly ill-gotten assets seized said it “categorically rejects” claims he amassed his fortune running an internet scam empire. A frenzy of asset confiscations in Europe, the United States and Asia has targeted Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group – with authorities alleging its founder Chen Zhi was running a transnational criminal organisation. The US Justice Department in October unsealed an indictment against the

‘Prolong his power’: South Korea’s Yoon accused of...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

Yoon Suk-yeol’s former spy chief was arrested on Wednesday on charges of concealing evidence, intensifying the fallout from the ex-president’s failed martial law decree. Cho Tae-yong, who led South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) until Yoon’s impeachment and removal from office earlier this year, was taken into custody after the Seoul Central District Court issued a warrant citing the risk of evidence destruction. His arrest marks a major milestone in prosecutors’ efforts to hold...

Rapper Namewee and influencer Iris Hsieh had ‘special...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

Malaysian rapper Namewee and the late Taiwanese influencer Iris Hsieh had a “special relationship”, according to police. “They are friends and they have other relationships that I will not get into,” Kuala Lumpur police chief Commissioner Fadil Marsus said when he met reporters after a Deepavali celebration at contingent headquarters on Tuesday. “I do not need to reveal the full extent, but it is a ‘special’ relationship.” He added that her body has yet to be claimed and police were still...

South Korea gets tough on hate-spewing influencers,...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

Foreign content creators planning to film about South Korea are getting a new cautionary note: their words now carry higher stakes. During a cabinet meeting this week, Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho said the government may restrict entry for foreigners who make hateful or derogatory comments about the country. “We will review comprehensive measures to restrict entry for foreigners who express hate towards South Korea from overseas,” Jung said. Under this new enforcement, an influencer whose...

East Timor’s membership marks a new chapter for Asean

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

On October 26, East Timor officially acceded to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) at the opening of the annual summit, as the 11th member of the regional bloc. Known officially as Timor-Leste, the country gained full independence on May 20, 2002, after a United Nations-supervised referendum in 1999. With a population of 1.4 million and its capital in Dili, East Timor is rich in oil and natural gas reserves located in the Timor Sea. The country also exports coffee, vanilla and...

Returning expats fuel Hong Kong’s luxury rental...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

Hong Kong’s luxury residential rents are likely to climb another 3 to 5 per cent next year as growing numbers of returning Western expatriates and home-grown professionals drive demand for high-end accommodation, according to Savills. Deals were expected to exceed the 660 last year, said Jack Tong, the property consultancy’s director of research. “The outlook remains cautiously positive,” he added. For next year, Savills expected “stable to gently rising luxury rents as the supply of prime

‘Could’ve come from anywhere’: why did spiders appear...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/12

More than 3,500 venomous spiders – including black widows and redbacks – have been exterminated at a US military base in western Japan, alarming residents and officials already struggling with a rise in invasive species across the country. The record number of spiders, found between July and October at the US Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, included three known venomous species and prompted local authorities to demand urgent action to prevent the infestation from spreading beyond the

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