Asia - South China Morning Post

A US-led crackdown on online scams may hand Southeast Asia an opportunity to combat the scourge, analysts say, as Washington and Beijing find common purpose in dismantling criminal networks that exploit lax governance and human trafficking.

The United States launched its “Scam Centre Strike Force” last week to counter cryptocurrency fraud linked to Southeast Asia, estimating that such crimes defraud Americans of nearly US$10 billion a year.

Many of these schemes, dubbed “pig butchering” scams,...

A landslide buried a passenger bus on a treacherous mountain pass in Vietnam, killing six people and injuring 19 others, as more heavy rain was forecast for the week.

The earth and rocks collapsed onto the bus late on Sunday as it was travelling through the Khanh Le pass in the central highlands, state media reported.

The winding, 33km (20 mile) stretch carved into steep mountainsides is scenic and popular with tourists but prone to landslides in the rainy season.

The landslide crushed the front...

When a Singaporean man found his girlfriend dead in her bedroom, he tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate her before leaving with his belongings.

He texted his girlfriend’s sister hours later to say only that the woman was uncontactable. When his girlfriend’s sister showed up at the unit with his girlfriend’s children, she found her sister dead and decomposing.

Jason Hong Kai Qi, 34, was sentenced to one week’s jail on Monday for a rare charge of failure to report a death.

He had earlier been...

Malaysian girl group Dolla have withdrawn their latest music video after religious groups and a government minister accused the performers of wearing overly suggestive outfits amid mounting moral scrutiny of women in the country’s entertainment industry.

The video for “Question”, released in early November, featured the three members – Sabronzo (Wan Sabrina Wan Rusli), Tabby (Tabitha Ariel Lam) and Angel (Angelina Chai) – confronting a cheating boyfriend inside a retro American-style diner.

It...

The Malaysian High Court has dismissed an appeal by former prime minister Najib Razak and his son, Mohd Nazifuddin Najib, to stay bankruptcy proceedings against them.

The bankruptcy proceedings were initiated by the Inland Revenue Board following Najib and Nazifuddin’s failure to settle tax arrears amounting to 1.69 billion ringgit (US$407 million) and 37.6 million ringgit, respectively.

Judicial Commissioner Suhendran Sockanathan alias Saheran Abdullah made the dismissal after finding that...

A correctional officer at South Korea’s only private prison is under investigation for allegedly demanding 30 million won (US$20,600) from singer Kim Ho-joong in exchange for helping arrange his transfer to the facility – a claim authorities say is false.

The Ministry of Justice said the officer, whose name was not released publicly, could face disciplinary action depending on the result of the investigation.

According to the ministry on Sunday, the Seoul Regional Correctional Headquarters is...

More than 70 schools in Australia and New Zealand were closed on Monday for cleaning after asbestos was discovered in widely used children’s play sand products.

Recalls have been issued for several colourful play sand products after laboratory testing detected traces of tremolite and chrysotile asbestos.

A number of schools and preschools in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and one in Brisbane shut on Friday after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued a national...

The resurgence of hostilities between Thailand and Cambodia, just weeks after US President Donald Trump brokered a truce over a violent border row, threatens to complicate the Philippines’ turn as Asean chair.

Thailand last week announced it was suspending the peace deal with Cambodia, signed on October 26 at the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Bangkok accused its neighbour of laying new mines after several Thai soldiers were injured while patrolling the...

A wave of armed robberies targeting Japanese nationals has plunged Japanese-run restaurants in Manila into crisis, forcing many to shut their doors and others to band together for survival.

Since October last year, more than 20 robbery cases involving Japanese victims have been reported, according to the Japanese Embassy in the Philippines.

The violence has led Japanese companies to restrict evening outings for employees, draining customers from popular nightlife districts once frequented by...

South Korean Kim Yong-ho thought he would die within seconds after a 200kg (441lbs) industrial press at a Hyundai Steel plant sprang to life during maintenance and crushed his legs and back.

It was 2019, and Kim said he thought the heavy machinery around him had been switched off as he made repairs.

“I was flattened like a squashed frog in a roadkill,” he said. “I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds.”

A quick-thinking colleague saved his life by alerting the machine’s operator, said Kim, now...