Asia - South China Morning Post

A fugitive former Philippine lawmaker has accused President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr of directing him to add 100 billion pesos (US$1.7 billion) worth of dubious public works projects to the national budget, a claim that throws new fuel on the corruption scandal that has dogged his administration for months.

Analysts say the explosive allegation, made in a video sent to reporters by ex-appropriations chairman Zaldy Co, could feed a wider destabilisation push by rival political blocs, including allies...

The Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur witnessed major geopolitical developments, including a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia presided over by US President Donald Trump. Eager to mend recently strained relations with Washington, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, chairman of the regional body this year, also signed a new trade deal with the United States.

However, one of the most crucial meetings took place on the sidelines of the summit. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, met his...

A Singaporean influencer who has set up a children’s charity drive and named it after his late daughter Megan Khung, a victim of horrific child abuse, has sparked a debate over the move, culminating in a legal spat between him and another online personality.

Some online users questioned his sincerity, accusing Khung Wei Nan, who goes by the moniker Simonboy, of using his four-year-old daughter’s name for publicity, while others pointed to his imprisonment for drug use and said that he had failed...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling coalition is headed to win a key state election in a vote seen as a crucial test of Modi’s popularity in one of the country’s poorest yet most politically influential states.

Partial results on Friday from the Election Commission of India, the country’s election watchdog, showed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) expected to take 208 seats of the 243-member legislature in the eastern state of Bihar.

A simple majority to...

Singapore Airlines on Thursday reported a sharp fall in first-half profit, hit by losses at its Indian associate Air India, higher costs and intensifying competition.

The airline’s profit slid steeply in the second quarter to S$52 million (US$40.18 million) from S$186 million in the first quarter, highlighting Air India’s drag on performance.

Singapore Airlines began accounting for Air India’s earnings in December 2024 after the integration of joint venture Vistara into Air India. The Singapore...

Hwang Seong-yeol stood at the edge of a golden field, watching nervously as a combine harvester crawled through his rice, churning up mud and stalks. Its steady hum filled the damp autumn air as grain poured into a truck waiting at the other end of the muddy paddy.

It was the final day of what Hwang said was one of his toughest seasons in three decades of farming. He and other farmers feel helpless against increasingly erratic weather that they link to climate change and damage to their crops....

Spectating from afar during the Cop30 UN climate summit in Belem on the edge of Brazil’s Amazon forests, it is easy to despair. Despite 30 years of concerted global diplomacy and exhaustive scientific evidence of the gravity of global warming, carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, as do global temperatures. Brazil’s rainforest continues to burn. Global oil and gas production remains robust. Governments procrastinate and funding promises still fail to materialise.

Worst of all, the world’s...

Tensions are again mounting in South Asia after suspected terrorist attacks in Pakistan and India triggered a furious exchange of accusations, including claims of proxy warfare conducted through Afghanistan.

Analysts are cautiously optimistic that renewed conflict can be averted, following deadly clashes between Pakistan and India in May and skirmishes between Pakistani forces and the Afghan Taliban in October. The hope is that restraint and international diplomatic pressure may yet stave off...

Malaysia predicts growth this year is likely to approach 4.8 per cent after a resurgent exports sector defied the impact of US tariffs in the third quarter.

The nation’s growth rate in 2025 is set to be “closer to” the upper range of the official forecast of 4 per cent to 4.8 per cent, and may even exceed it, Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said at a briefing in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

An expansion in household spending and sustained investment activity will drive the...

Viral footage of two commuters wrestling on the floor of Johor Bahru’s main border terminal has once again highlighted the chronic congestion – and fraying tempers – at one of Southeast Asia’s busiest land crossings, where hundreds of thousands travel daily between Malaysia and Singapore.

The 14-second clip, posted late on Wednesday, shows a man and a second commuter who appears to be a woman pushing each other near the fenced entrance to the bus bays inside the Customs, Immigration and...