Asia - South China Morning Post

A Malaysian court charged a 14-year-old boy with the murder of a 16-year-old schoolmate on Wednesday, in a case that has stunned the nation and raised pressing concerns about violence among its children.

The teenager appeared before the Petaling Jaya Magistrate’s Court at 10am, where the charge was read aloud by Judge Amira Sariaty Zainal.

Proceedings were held behind closed doors under Malaysia’s Child Act 2001, which protects the identities of minors involved in criminal cases.

But court...

US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Japan for three days from Monday for his first in-person talks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said.

Trump is slated to visit Japan for the first time in about six years. Takaichi, who won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election on October 4, became Japan’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, succeeding Shigeru Ishiba.

Kihara, Japan’s top government spokesman, said at a regular press...

Calls for Mindanao’s secession from the Philippines have erupted anew after a sitting lawmaker released a viral video echoing rhetoric once championed by former president Rodrigo Duterte, in a move analysts warn risks inflaming tensions and destabilising an already volatile political landscape.

Observers say the renewed push, amplified by the ex-president’s allies and a network of online influencers, appears aimed at deflecting attention from corruption scandals and an ongoing International...

With the Apec summit in South Korea just days away, the nuclear-armed North fired a ballistic missile on Wednesday in an apparent bid to remind the world of its growing arsenal.

The launch, occurring against the backdrop of deepening military ties between North Korea and Russia, has reignited fears of escalating provocations and their implications for global stability.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that the missile, presumed to be a Hwasong-11da-4.5, was launched from North Hwanghae...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese endorsed Australia’s ambassador in Washington as doing a “fantastic job”, describing comments by US President Donald Trump that he does not like Kevin Rudd as “lighthearted”.

Australia’s main conservative opposition party has called for Rudd, a former Labor prime minister, to be sacked after Trump made the comments at a press briefing in Washington on Monday.

Asked by an Australian reporter about Rudd’s past criticism of the president on social media, and told...

Japan Post has scrapped a controversial practice of forcing delivery workers involved in minor accidents to complete their rounds by bicycle – even in extreme heat – after admitting the measure “could be perceived” as workplace harassment.

The decision followed an internal investigation into an incident involving a delivery worker who was instructed to continue his rounds by bicycle for two weeks during a summer heatwave, despite daytime temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees...

New Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday sought to downplay concerns that relations with South Korea could be affected under her leadership as she expressed her fondness for South Korean food and culture.

“I love South Korea’s seaweeds and I also use South Korean cosmetics. I watch South Korean dramas as well,” said Takaichi, known for her hawkish stance on diplomacy and security, during a late-night press conference after she was elected prime minister the same day.

She made the...

A growing number of young South Koreans are vanishing into Southeast Asia’s criminal underworld, lured by the promise of high-paying jobs – only to end up trafficked, tortured or killed.

Many, fleeing a stagnant labour market at home, are being deceived by transnational crime syndicates into running online scams and illegal gambling operations. Others join willingly in search of easy money.

But all eventually find themselves exploited, victims of criminal enterprises that span the lawless border...

Three women who took part in a walk to Singapore’s presidential estate to deliver letters calling for changes to the country’s stance on Israel have been acquitted of holding a public procession without a permit.

Legal observers say the ruling, which has drawn interest given the city state’s strict regulation of public assemblies, reflects the evidentiary thresholds under its public-order laws and is consistent with court precedent.

District Judge John Ng ruled on Tuesday that the defendants had...

Taku Yamamoto, husband of Japan’s first female Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, said he hopes to support his wife as a “stealth husband”, adding, “Unlike in the West, it is better for the partner to stay out of the spotlight here.”

A former fellow Liberal Democratic Party member in the House of Representatives, Yamamoto said he was initially “drawn to the contrast” between Takaichi’s tough exterior and her femininity.

The couple, who married in 2004, divorced in 2017 over political differences but...