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Asia - South China Morning Post

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

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Thailand rolls out US$300 fines for daytime drinkers...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/08

People in Thailand wanting to quench their thirst with an afternoon tipple risk steep fines from Saturday under amended alcohol control legislation that strengthens enforcement and significantly tightens restrictions around marketing and advertising. Alcohol sales in Thailand have been banned between the hours of 2pm and 5pm at most retail outlets and supermarkets since 1972, but changes to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act that take effect on Saturday now mean individuals can be fined

EPIC win for Singapore battery recycler in Hong Kong...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/08

A Singaporean battery recycling start-up has been crowned overall winner at this year’s EPIC start-up investment competition hosted by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp. One hundred semi-finalists from 28 countries and regions gathered at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal on Friday as they competed for the top cash prize of US$60,000 and valuable exposure to dozens of the region’s top investors. This year’s EPIC – short for Elevator Pitch International Competition – marked the ninth...

Philippines’ Marcos ‘the main casualty’ of political...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s sharp decline in public trust and approval, set against Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s steadier numbers, underscores the shifting balance of power between two of the most influential political dynasties in the Philippines.While both leaders remain broadly popular, analysts say the latest figures suggest Duterte-Carpio’s camp may be regaining momentum as Marcos grapples with scandals, governance missteps and waning confidence in his leadership – deepening

Iris Hsieh’s death in Malaysia: publicist mourns...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

The publicist of Taiwanese influencer Iris Hsieh, who was found dead in a Kuala Lumpur hotel room shared with Malaysian rapper Namewee, has paid tribute to his friend, hitting back at a cascade of “outrageous” rumours about the former nurse that have filled the information gap left by Kuala Lumpur police. Hsieh, 31, who shot to fame over TikTok and OnlyFans, was found dead in a bathroom of the Banyan Tree Hotel on October 22. She had arrived two days earlier in Malaysia to reportedly work on

3 dead as 60-metre tower collapses in South Korea...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

A 60-metre (196-foot) tower collapsed during demolition work at a decommissioned thermal power plant in the South Korean city of Ulsan, killing three people and leaving at least two others presumed dead, officials said on Friday. Five people remain trapped under the rubble, including two whom officials have yet to locate. Nine people were working at the site when the boiler tower collapsed on Thursday afternoon. Rescuers pulled two to safety shortly after responding, but another worker

Multiple explosions rock Jakarta school mosque,...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

Explosions at a mosque in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta that injured dozens of people during Friday prayers could have been an attack, officials indicated, with a 17-year-old student identified as the suspected perpetrator. Police said 55 people were in hospitals with a range of minor to serious injuries, including burns, after the blasts at the mosque inside a school complex in the Kelapa Gading area. Deputy House Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, speaking to media after visiting a hospital, said the...

Trump ending Cambodia weapons ban slammed as ‘beyond...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

The US lifted its arms embargo on Cambodia, the latest sign of Washington’s renewed engagement with the Southeast Asian nation after it backed President Donald Trump’s peace accord with Thailand. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the decision “based on Cambodia’s diligent pursuit of peace and security, including through renewed engagement with the United States on defence cooperation and combating transnational crime”, the State Department said in a notice Thursday. The announcement comes a...

North Korea prepared for war after South’s drone...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

South Korea flew military drones over Pyongyang just weeks before then-president Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law last December, a provocation that triggered North Korea to prepare for war, according to Seoul’s defence intelligence agency.The revelation, disclosed in a closed-door parliamentary briefing on Wednesday, adds to mounting scrutiny over Yoon’s final months in office, with opposition lawmakers accusing him of attempting to fabricate a national security crisis to justify an...

Man jailed for slashing Singapore actor Ryan Lian...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

A man who slashed actor Ryan Lian over a staring incident outside Singapore’s NEX shopping centre was sentenced to nine months’ jail on Friday. Aaron Samuel Yukon, a 22-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty to one count of causing grievous hurt. A second charge of possessing a karambit (curved blade) knife was taken into consideration. The court heard that the victim, Lian Yong Yi, better known as Ryan Lian, was smoking near the sheltered walkway outside NEX shopping plaza in Serangoon Central

Madani or Mamdani? New York mayor’s name mix-up goes...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

When New York elected its first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, on Tuesday, Malaysians were quick to notice how many Americans blundered in pronouncing his surname as “Madani”, the slogan Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has spent three years trying to brand as the heart of his government. The viral gaffe began when a right-wing US podcaster, intending to refer to the newly elected mayor, claimed on Wednesday that “Madani” had tried to ban the late conservative commentator Charlie Kirk from an

Whisky, limos, missing millions: how Chen Zhi’s...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

In 2021, while China-born businessman Chen Zhi was building a multibillion-dollar empire now enmeshed in multiple criminal allegations, staff at his family office in Singapore ran into seemingly minor technical glitches. At first, some of them struggled to connect to the office copier. Days later, the door badges stopped working. After they regained access, staffers quickly realised they had a much bigger problem: millions of dollars had been siphoned from Chen’s bank accounts. While the

Malaysian, Singaporean clients lose US$239,500 to...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

Dozens of disgruntled customers have come forward after claiming they were duped by a Malaysian influencer who sold them lab-grown diamonds instead of the real deal. MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Michael Chong said that at least 30 of the victims had lost a collective amount of around 1 million ringgit (US$239,569) since 2023 to the influencer. He explained that the influencer offered jewellery and good fortune trinkets to her customers but had used misleading terms to...

Indonesia tackles used-clothing imports to protect...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

Indonesia is intensifying a crackdown on illegally imported second-hand clothing blamed for battering its domestic textile industry, a move that has been welcomed by manufacturers but rattled thrift sellers and shoppers struggling with shrinking purchasing power. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa announced plans to issue a new regulation reinforcing a 2022 Trade Ministry ban on used clothing imports. The measure would allow authorities to blacklist importers caught smuggling in used...

North Korea slams US for ‘wicked’ hostility over...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

North Korea has denounced new US sanctions targeting its cybercrime networks, accusing Washington of harbouring “wicked” hostility, but analysts have said Pyongyang’s unusually restrained response suggests it is leaving the door open to future dialogue. “Now that the present US administration has clarified its stand to be hostile towards the DPRK to the last, we will also take proper measures to counter it with patience for any length of time,” read a statement by North Korean Vice-Foreign...

Japan, US join forces to mine deep-sea rare earths...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/07

Japan and the United States are preparing to jointly tap deep-sea rare earth deposits near Minamitorishima, in what analysts see as a strategic bid to insulate their hi-tech sectors from China’s grip on critical minerals and fortify supply chains amid rising geopolitical rivalry.Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi confirmed Tokyo’s intention to cooperate with Washington on seabed exploration and resource development after meeting US President Donald Trump in Tokyo on October 28. The two sides

Hong Kong leader John Lee to speak at family business...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/06

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu is scheduled to speak in a fireside chat on Friday during the third Family Business Summit in Hong Kong, as the city burnishes its role as the offshore fundraising hub and ‘superconnector’ between the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world. The speech is the highlight of the conference, curated by the South China Morning Post and Blue Pool Capital, with UBS as the presenting partner. The attendees – by invitation only – comprise about 150 private business...

Amid fragile markets, how to predict when the bubble...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/06

Economist Paul Samuelson famously quipped that stock markets accurately predicted nine of the last five recessions. The same could be said of financial economists. So-called leading indicators like market sentiment swing with the daily news. Optimism is the default option but bull markets die hard. Still, most seasoned financial economists now recognise that stock markets are becoming more fragile. And so does the crowd. The frequency of online searches for “stock market bubble” has surged

Deadly Typhoon Kalmaegi in Philippines raises more...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/06

The latest deadly typhoon to tear through the Philippines has killed more than 100 people, raising fears among experts that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense, and harder to prepare for.Typhoon Kalmaegi – the most recent in a string of late-season cyclones to batter the country in recent years – left a trail of devastation across the central Visayas region this week. The storm follows a worrying pattern of high-impact tropical cyclones that have struck the

US’ nuclear submarine nod gives South Korea massive...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/06

The United States has given South Korea the green light to build nuclear-powered submarines – a landmark decision that could significantly boost Seoul’s naval capabilities and place it among a select group of nations with such assets. Analysts say the move could reshape Northeast Asia’s strategic landscape in ways that not only strengthen deterrence but also reduce the risk of open conflict, as Washington recalibrates its alliance priorities under President Donald Trump. Trump announced the...

Malaysia to appeal against damages ruling for...

Asia - South China Morning Post ·

2025/11/06

The Malaysian government will appeal against landmark high court rulings ordering authorities to pay millions of ringgit in damages to the families of missing activists Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat. In two statements on Thursday, the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) said it would challenge rulings that found the government and police liable for the enforced disappearances of Koh and Amri, two notorious cases which campaigners claim reflect Malaysia’s embedded culture of impunity. Koh,

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