Asia - South China Morning Post

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi defended her 21.3 trillion yen (US$136.5 billion) stimulus package in parliament on Wednesday, telling opposition politicians the debt-fuelled plan was “necessary” amid concerns over the yen’s slide and Japan’s worsening financial health.

Takaichi’s cabinet signed off on the 21.3 trillion yen (US$136.5 billion) package on Friday, including 17.7 trillion yen in fresh spending – the largest stimulus since the pandemic and her first major economic gambit since...

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s anti-graft drive has suffered a setback after a senior aide resigned over corruption claims, piling pressure on a leader already accused of abusing power and putting his ruling party at risk of rupture.

Anti-corruption authorities previously mounted a high-profile crackdown against two-time former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, his family and close associates – long seen as untouchables – as part of Anwar’s pledge to dismantle top-level corruption under...

A Malaysian journalist investigating a high-profile football document-forgery scandal was assaulted by three men in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday in an attack that has raised fresh alarm over media intimidation in the country.

Haresh Deol, co-founder and editor of independent news site Twentytwo13, was attacked at about 3.30pm in Bangsar, a busy commercial district south of central Kuala Lumpur, shortly after leaving a meeting.

As he walked towards his car, two men confronted him while a third knocked...

What began as a self-drive holiday to Thailand turned into a harrowing ordeal for 74-year-old Singaporean Ronnie Toh.

For the trip had coincided with some of the worst flooding to hit the country’s south in years, with days of heavy rain inundating major roads, cutting power to neighbourhoods and disrupting water supply.

As the rain intensified and water levels rose in the city of Hat Yai, one of the declared disaster zones, Ronnie got separated from his family and became uncontactable.

It...

The mayor of Maebashi, the capital city of Gunma prefecture in eastern Japan, on Tuesday tendered her resignation after her repeated hotel visits with a senior city official, assembly members said.

Akira Ogawa had long rejected calls from city assembly members to resign, saying that she did not have an affair with the official, who is married. But she made an about-face on Tuesday, submitting a letter of resignation, effective Thursday, to the chairperson of the city assembly, according to the...

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has insisted that his country remains a neutral mediator in the escalating border row between Thailand and Cambodia, as criticisms mount over his peacemaking role.

The backlash reflects how divisive the conflict has become, with factions in both Thailand and Cambodia viewing foreign-brokered truces as harmful to their interests. Analysts say Anwar is keen to avoid provoking such sensitivities, mindful of deep-seated distrust in Thai–Cambodian relations and...

A mother who murdered her two children and stuffed them into suitcases stashed inside a storage locker was on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment in New Zealand.

Lee Hak-yung, a New Zealand citizen originally from South Korea, was earlier this year found guilty of killing her children in a grisly crime dubbed the country’s “suitcase murders”.

High Court judge Geoffrey Venning sentenced Lee to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years, saying she had killed children who...

Indonesia’s capital Jakarta has banned the selling and consumption of dog, cat and bat meat to prevent rabies transmission, the city’s governor announced on Tuesday, in a win for animal rights advocates.

“I have signed the regulation … which prohibits the sale of rabies-transmitting animals for food purposes,” Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung said in a statement on social media, a month after promising to do so.

The regulation, which Pramono said he signed on Monday, provides a six-month grace...

Thai authorities have suspended a prison chief in Bangkok over allegations that high-profile Chinese inmates were granted access to women in a private cell and other privileges, the justice ministry said.

The scandal erupted last week after local media reported two Chinese women were allowed into the Bangkok Remand Prison to visit inmates, allegedly to provide sex services, raising questions over who authorised their entry.

The prison detains more than 4,000 men awaiting trial, and has held some...

The Philippine military has confirmed that plots to oust President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr were “not far-fetched”, but downplayed fears of a coup led by troops and said there was “no junta” forming within its ranks.

“There is no such thing as a military junta within the [Armed Forces of the Philippines],” military spokeswoman Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla said on Tuesday.

Her comments come amid rising public anger over a corruption scandal linked to flood-control infrastructure amounting to 100...