Asia - South China Morning Post

As the West falters in its commitment to fighting climate change, analysts expect emerging economies led by China, India and Brazil to seize the initiative at next month’s UN climate summit.

The Cop30 conference, from November 10 to 21 in the Brazilian city of Belem, comes as the United States under Donald Trump remains largely disengaged from climate challenges following his successive orders to withdraw the world’s largest economy from the 2015 Paris Agreement, while Europe’s attention appears...

A crocodile took a dip in a luxury hotel pool in northeastern Australia this weekend but failed to stir guests who relaxed in the sun a few steps away.

Video posted on social media showed the juvenile carnivore lying on the bottom of the pool at the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort in Port Douglas.

“I don’t want to alarm anyone but there is a crocodile in the Sheraton pool,” TikTok user Lisa Keller said in a video showing the scaly predator.

A handful of tourists could be seen taking it easy on sun...

The camouflage-clad soldiers who patrol the rice fields around Wichien’s village are a daily reminder that peace along Thailand’s border with Cambodia is perilous, despite the recent truce.

For the Thai farmer, the prospect of a lasting settlement is welcome. But US President Donald Trump’s involvement is not.

“Trump isn’t here seeking peace, he’s only after recognition … a Nobel Prize. It’s about serving his own ambitions, not helping us,” said Wichien, who asked to be identified by only one...

Japan’s ruling party and main opposition are set to form a coalition to enable Sanae Takaichi to become the country’s first female prime minister, local media reported on Sunday.

Takaichi became leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party earlier this month, but her bid to become prime minister was derailed by the collapse of her ruling coalition.

Since then, the LDP has been working to cobble together a different alliance, putting her chances back on track.

Takaichi and her counterpart...

Every month, Rachel Tan, a 53-year-old Singaporean tutor, boards a bus across the 1km (0.6 mile) causeway for a day trip to Malaysia’s Johor state, where she stocks up on groceries and treats herself to lunch and a film.

Thanks to streamlined immigration procedures, she rarely needs to present her passport, using a QR code to pass the checkpoint before catching a complimentary shuttle bus that whisks her to R&F Mall.

The entire day out, including shopping, typically costs her about 300 ringgit...

Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to an immediate ceasefire during talks in Doha, both sides said on Sunday, after a week of fierce border clashes, the worst violence between the South Asian neighbours since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

The ceasefire “has been finalised”, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif posted on social media on Sunday, saying both sides would meet again on October 25 in Istanbul to discuss “detailed matters”.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid...

When Vietnam’s top delegation landed in Pyongyang with seven Politburo members – half the ruling body’s total membership – accompanying General Secretary To Lam, the symbolism could not be clearer. The Vietnamese leadership was not merely extending a hand of friendship; it was making a high-stakes gamble for political survival.

According to official reports, Vietnam and North Korea signed five bilateral cooperation documents covering defence, diplomacy, healthcare, trade and information. On the...

Flights out of Bangladesh’s main airport were delayed or diverted on Saturday after a major fire broke out in the cargo terminal, officials said.

Thirty-six firefighting units were working to douse the flames, said Talha Bin Zasim, an officer at the Fire Service and Civil Defence Media Cell.

Operations at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport were suspended, airport official Masudul Hasan told reporters, adding all aircraft were safe.

There was no immediate information as to what may...

Pakistan and Afghan officials were holding peace talks in Qatar on Saturday, a day after Islamabad launched air strikes that killed at least 10 people in Afghanistan and broke a ceasefire that had brought two days of calm to the border.

The strikes targeted what Pakistan security sources said was a militant group linked to the Pakistani Taliban in the Afghan border areas, following an attack that killed Pakistani paramilitary troops in North Waziristan, a district in Pakistan’s northwest.

Kabul...

Thousands of residents fled their homes along the Pacific seaboard of the Philippines on Saturday as Tropical Storm Fengshen made landfall, triggering warnings of coastal flooding.

The storm barrelled into the municipality of Gubat at the southeastern tip of the main island of Luzon late afternoon, with gusts of up to 80km (50 miles) an hour, the government weather service said.

There were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties, authorities said, with evacuations already carried...