Asia - South China Morning Post

Controversy continues to plague Thailand’s hosting of this year’s Miss Universe beauty pageant days after the winner was crowned, but one contestant believes that some of the earlier “drama” was all for show.

In the latest development, a Thai activist has accused Jakapong “Anne” Jakrajutatip, the former CEO of JKN Global Group and Miss Universe Organisation, of fleeing to Mexico to avoid her legal problems.

The transgender celebrity businesswoman bought the Miss Universe pageant for US$20...

A Philippine police anti-narcotics team has been disbanded after a teenager accused several officers of raping and robbing her during what authorities later described as a failed drug operation in Cavite, a province south of Manila, triggering a series of arrests and high-level investigations.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said all 15 members of its Drug Enforcement Group – Special Operations Unit 4A were relieved of duty after the Grade 9 student, identified publicly only as “Nena”,...

Singapore’s police have ordered Apple and Google to prevent the spoofing of government agencies on their messaging platforms, the Home Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday.

The order under the nation’s Online Criminal Harms Act came after the police observed scams on Apple’s iMessage and Google Messages purporting to be from companies such as the local postal service, SingPost.

In September, the government also threatened to impose fines on Meta Platforms if it did not introduce measures like facial...

India and Canada have agreed to restart talks on a long-delayed free-trade agreement, in the strongest signal yet of a thaw in their relations following a two-year diplomatic row triggered by the 2023 killing of a Sikh separatist in British Columbia.

The resumption of negotiations underscores both countries’ aim to prioritise economic ties over a resolution to a lingering political issue, even as the underlying tensions over Sikh separatism remain unresolved, according to analysts.

The...

Calling the man who sexually assaulted and murdered her son an “animal”, Malaysian mother Robiatul Adawiah Aziz did not hold back on her thoughts after the perpetrator’s sentencing.

Sinar Harian reported that the mother of the nine-month-old boy who was killed four years ago shared her thoughts on social media.

“You are so cruel to me that you [sodomised and killed] my child. You are not a human being, you are an animal!” she said in a post on Friday.

She admitted to feeling sorry for the...

Thai marine park officials are on the hunt for a visitor who was caught on camera feeding a plastic wristband to a sea turtle. If caught, the culprit could be looking at a fine and even jail time.

A tourist who had visited Mu Ko Similan National Park sent a message to the park’s social media page on Saturday to report on the visitor’s action, according to the Bangkok Post.

The tourist said that while snorkelling in the park around Islands 5 and 6, the visitor was seen offering a yellow plastic...

Under glaring laboratory lights, a research assistant extends his forearm and carefully inverts a mesh-topped container onto his skin to allow a wriggling mass of bedbugs to feed on his blood, all in the name of science.

Long-loathed as itchy household pests, the bloodsucking insects have revealed a darker, more intriguing potential as Malaysian scientists have discovered they can be turned into unlikely crime-busting allies.

A team from the Science University of Malaysia (USM) in northern...

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. Alice Guo gets life term for human trafficking linked to Philippine scam hub

A Philippine court has found a former mayor guilty of human trafficking and sentenced her to life imprisonment over her role in setting up a scam centre, as Manila and other Southeast Asian...

Malaysian girl group Dolla has apologised to their fans following the cancellation of their “Good Girls Gone Bad” concert after the organisers allegedly failed to secure the necessary permits and regulatory approvals in time, Harian Metro reported.

The announcement was made by members Sabronzo, Tabby and Angel in a video posted on Dolla’s social media account.

In the message, the group expressed heartfelt regret to their fans, known as iDolla.

“We understand that many of you were really looking...

As the Philippines prepares to take over the rotating Asean chairmanship next year, Manila faces the daunting task of managing a protracted civil war in Myanmar while pushing for progress on a long-delayed code of conduct (COC) in the South China Sea.

Analysts say Manila must navigate an Asean agenda crowded with difficult trade-offs, balancing the crisis in Myanmar where progress is expected to remain incremental with a COC process facing a 2026 deadline, even as internal divisions within the...