Asia - South China Morning Post

Malaysia’s smallest state, Perlis, has been plunged into political uncertainty with the resignation of Chief Minister Mohd Shukri Ramli and the sacking of three assemblymen from his party, sending ripples across the country’s political alliances.

Shukri, from the Islamist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), cited health reasons for stepping down, but said he was blindsided by the withdrawal of support from state assemblymen from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition made up of PAS and Parti...

A novel approach by South Korea to stop its rural areas from dying by paying people to live there appears to be working.

Okcheon in North Chungcheong province saw its population grow by almost 1,000 in just over two weeks since it became a participant in the state-backed programme earlier this month, according to The Korea Herald newspaper.

The farming community was officially designated a “population decline area” in 2021. By the following year, its population fell to below the 50,000...

A Malaysian court on Friday sentenced jailed former prime minister Najib Razak to a further 15 years in prison after convicting him on all 25 charges linked to the plundering of billions of dollars from the scandal-tainted state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The High Court found Najib, 72, guilty of four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering, after taking account of his “direct role” in the siphoning of 2.3 billion ringgit (US$568 million) from the troubled...

Prosecutors on Friday demanded a 10-year prison sentence for former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol in the first of four trials linked to his failed attempt to impose martial law, as a potential ruling against Yoon next month could keep him behind bars even before his most serious case is concluded.

This first case focuses on Yoon’s actions before and after the martial law decree was issued on December 3 last year, including obstructing his arrest, bypassing Cabinet procedures and forging...

Global pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are scrambling to cement their lead in India’s booming obesity drug market before cheaper generic versions hit shelves ‌in March next year.

Novo’s strategy emphasises price cuts and accelerated launches, while Lilly’s products benefited from hitting the market early. Both companies focused on aggressive outreach to doctors, heavier advertising about obesity, tie-ups with clinics, patient incentives and ‍distribution deals with local drug...

Christmas season in Japan often means a KFC feast for millions of Japanese families celebrating the holiday.

Colonel Sanders’ restaurant has been part of the Christmas tradition since the 1970s in Japan, where the holiday is mainly a secular festival for consumerism.

The Japanese government on Friday approved a record budget for the coming financial year to pay for everything from bigger defence spending to ballooning social security costs as inflation persists.

The 122.3 trillion yen (US$782 billion) budget for the financial year from April 2026 will include some 9 trillion yen for defence spending, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aims to accelerate Tokyo’s sweeping upgrade of its military in the face of worsening relations with China.

The defence ministry...

Rashid arrived on the Malaysian island of Langkawi as a young child after spending weeks at sea in a fishing boat crammed with Myanmar’s unwanted: Rohingya Muslims driven out by soldiers and ethnic Buddhist militias who had razed their villages.

A decade on, the now 14-year-old has witnessed countless boats arrive on the island over the years, as his stateless community continues to flee persecution.

“We did not choose Malaysia because we thought it was a good or nice country,” he told This Week...

A Malaysian minister has said it was unacceptable for public littering to remain a rampant issue as he expressed serious concerns over the state of urban cleanliness in the country.

In a statement on Thursday, Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming highlighted the ongoing issue of littering, particularly in city centres and public areas.

“Please stop littering [and] don’t embarrass Malaysia. It is already the 21st century, there is no reason for anyone to simply throw rubbish in...

North Korea’s move to publicly reveal the full hull and displacement of its first nuclear-powered submarine under construction appears to be a strategic counter to bids by the US and South Korea to expand their undersea capabilities.

North Korea’s state media on Thursday released images of leader Kim Jong-un inspecting a “nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine” being built at an undisclosed location. Kim was accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-ju and daughter Kim Ju-ae, believed to be...