Asia - South China Morning Post

Indonesia is weighing restrictions on video games like PUBG following a school blast in Jakarta that injured nearly 100 people.

President Prabowo Subianto ordered his cabinet to look into such measures after receiving updates about the police investigation into the act, State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi told reporters in Jakarta on Sunday.

Developed by South Korea’s Krafton, PUBG: Battlegrounds is an online multiplayer shooting game that popularised the battle royale genre alongside games like...

Indonesia awarded the title of national hero on Monday to late president Suharto, who was forced out of office in 1998 by violent protests that ended a three-decade rule marred by accusations of mass human rights violations, corruption and nepotism.

The title was conferred in a ceremony presided over by President Prabowo Subianto, Suharto’s former son-in-law, despite protests by pro-democracy activists and the families of those affected by the strongman’s iron-fisted rule. Prabowo took office...

Malaysian rapper Namewee will remain in custody on Monday after a court extended his remand, his lawyer has told This Week in Asia, as police continue a murder investigation into the death of Taiwanese influencer Iris Hsieh.

Namewee, 42, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, surrendered to the Kuala Lumpur police on Wednesday in connection with the death of Hsieh, who was found unresponsive in the bathroom of a high-end hotel in Kuala Lumpur on October 22.

The rapper and actor, who has millions of...

A weakening Typhoon Fung-wong departed the Philippines over the South China Sea on Monday morning, after its driving winds and heavy rain killed at least four people and forced more than a million to evacuate.

Fung-wong, with a footprint that spanned nearly the entirety of the archipelago, slammed into the country’s eastern seaboard on Sunday evening as a “super typhoon” after uprooting trees and swamping towns further south.

It landed just days after Typhoon Kalmaegi swept through the islands...

Two Malaysian men have been arrested in Singapore for their suspected involvement in separate government official impersonation scams targeting a woman.

Police said on Sunday that they received a scam report two days earlier involving the impersonation of government officials claiming to be from the Ministry of Law and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The victim had received a call from an unknown person claiming to work for a bank. When informed that a credit card had been applied for under...

As it prepares to assume the Asean chairmanship, the Philippines’ courting of the bloc’s newest member, East Timor, signals its intent to secure a new ally in promoting maritime security among the 11-strong grouping of nations.

But analysts suggest the budding partnership is more symbolic than strategic, with the Philippines playing more of a mentor role to the newcomer.

On the sidelines of a meeting of defence chiefs following the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur on...

Next to a bustling expressway funnelling Malaysia’s exports to the world, Danish shipping giant Maersk has placed a US$118 million bet that Southeast Asia will not only withstand the new tariff era, but find a way to prosper.

Maersk’s largest Asia-Pacific distribution centre opened in Shah Alam, Selangor state, on Wednesday. Seven years in the planning, it was conceived well before Donald Trump’s tariff-wielding return to the White House disrupted supply chains and slashed corporate margins.

But...

At Cop30, the first UN climate summit held in the heart of the Amazon, the stage is set for a fundamental reframing of climate diplomacy.

For too long, the Global South has been cast as a passive aid recipient, a problem to be managed rather than a partner in solutions. But as delegates gather in Brazil’s gateway to the world’s largest rainforest, they will confront a different reality: a tropical belt that holds the keys to our climate future and a generation of evidence showing that South-led...

With the Philippines set to succeed Malaysia next year as chair of Asean, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations faces challenges both within and beyond the region. It must remain united and continue to resist taking sides in the great power rivalry.

The 47th Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur was a fitting finale to an exceptional year as the bloc’s profile continued to rise. Adding to this was the admission of East Timor – an important milestone that completes the Asean family and underscores...

New Zealand authorities said on Sunday that extra aircraft were being sent to fight an out-of-control wildfire that has burnt through around 1,100 hectares (4.2 square miles) of national park in the country’s central North Island.

Firefighters began battling the fire in Tongariro National Park, a popular hiking spot, on Saturday afternoon and around 40 hikers had to be airlifted to safety. However, firefighting efforts were suspended overnight for safety reasons.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand...