Asia - South China Morning Post

What happens when a democracy begins to fear its own internet? In Indonesia, that question is no longer hypothetical, as the government threatens to pull the plug on major online platforms many of its people rely upon.

When Jakarta warned last month that it could block major platforms like Cloudflare and Wikipedia, the move was justified as a crackdown on online gambling – a vice officially outlawed in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.

But for tech industry players and free-speech...

For Malaysian tech worker Sam, there were three short steps to being replaced by robots at a global social media company’s Kuala Lumpur office.

First came weeks spent training the company’s artificial intelligence systems. Then came the ominous warnings of “restructuring”. Finally, the inevitable: redundancy.

“One day, out of nowhere, we had to attend a town hall,” said the 29-year-old, who asked to use a pseudonym to protect his job prospects.

“They never explicitly said it was due to AI, but...

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at an annual summit and agreed to diversify mutual economic ties, as the United States presses India to revise its decades-old partnership with Russia.

The 23rd Russia-India Summit comes at a pivotal moment as the US pushes for a Ukraine peace deal while seeking global cooperation. It will test New Delhi’s efforts to balance relations with Moscow and Washington as the nearly four-year war in Ukraine...

When online outrage torpedoed the latest episode of One‑Punch Man, few saw past the animation flaws. But what followed exposed a creative industry buckling under impossible expectations.

The sixth episode of the long-awaited third season of the Japanese superhero saga – once praised for its sharp humour and kinetic style – stumbled onto screens under the weight of its own hype in October.

Viewers flooded social media with complaints about its uneven pacing and “rushed” storytelling. On reviews...

A young man from Australia with a huge social media following has given an 88-year-old US supermarket worker the gift of retirement.

Ed Bambas from Michigan was presented with an oversized cheque for US$1.7 million on Friday – the result of an extraordinary online fundraising drive.

“No, no,” Bambas said, wiping away tears in front of reporters. “Thank you. Oh, my God.”

Sam Weidenhofer, 22, from Melbourne, is using his online influence to spread kindness – and financial support – during a visit...

The tarpaulin barely held against the wind, sagging under days of ceaseless rain.

For the earthquake survivors of San Remigio, in the central Philippines, it was all that remained – a thin sheet of plastic above a patch of mud, standing in for the homes a 6.9-magnitude quake had reduced to rubble weeks earlier.

Then, in early November, Typhoon Kalmaegi barrelled through.

The storm, known locally as Tino, drenched thousands of families still huddled in their makeshift shelters. Roads vanished...

For nearly two years, six nights a week, performers from mainland China, Taiwan and Malaysia have drawn crowds to the HaveFun Live Show in Singapore, but its organisers but its organisers now find themselves in a bind as new work permit rules loom.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced on Monday that it would scrap a long-running scheme allowing foreign performers to work for up to six months at public entertainment outlets. The programme, in place since 2008, will end in June after...

President Vladimir Putin’s first visit to New Delhi since the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the clearest sign of India’s determination to balance between bolstering its long-standing defence ties with Moscow and managing trade tensions with the United States, according to analysts.

On Thursday, Putin was welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Delhi’s airport for his two-day state visit, before they were driven in the same car to a dinner hosted by Modi at his residence.

Behind the...

IndiGo’s flight interruptions began on December 1, 2025. So far, more than 1,200 flights have been cancelled, leaving thousands stranded.

Malaysia’s government is under mounting pressure to explain the fatal police shooting of three men in the southern state of Melaka, after an audio recording and forensic claims released by the families appeared to contradict the police account of a violent confrontation with the suspected robbery gang members.

In the latest case, the three – Puspanathan Murulitharan, 21; Poonesvaran Tiagarajan, 24; and Logeswaran Georgie, 29 – were killed on November 24 during a police operation in Durian...