Asia - South China Morning Post

Seven footballers playing for Malaysia at the centre of an eligibility scandal were naturalised citizens, the home minister told parliament on Thursday, in a speech to address accusations of cheating involving local authorities made by the football governing body Fifa.

On Monday, Fifa alleged that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) had deliberately falsified documents to misrepresent the players as having Malaysian heritage, allowing them to play for the national team in an Asian Cup...

Former UFC fighter Suman Mokhtarian was gunned down in a “brazen” shooting while on an early evening walk in Sydney, police said, months after surviving an attempt on his life.

The 33-year-old was shot dead in a “targeted” attack in Riverstone, a suburb in Sydney’s northwest, on Wednesday evening, New South Wales Police said.

A short time after the shooting, two cars were found on fire in different locations, a hallmark of recent organised crime hits that have rattled the city.

“It’s very brazen...

As the Philippines grapples with a corruption scandal over flood control projects that sparked protests across the country last month, the ramifications of the saga are being felt from as far away as Norway.

After a Filipino television personality and broadcaster shared on social media that a family member in Norway was turned away at an airport foreign exchange over concerns her country had “money-laundering issues”, many others claimed to have had similar experiences.

Analysts, meanwhile, warn...

Australia’s Jetstar Airways has ordered an investigation after a plane prepared to take off with a cargo door open, an incident a labour group called “horrific” and attributed to poorly paid, overstretched ground staff at Sydney airport.

Footage of the aircraft, heading to Ballina in northern New South Wales, on social media shows the door beyond the jet’s right side wing still open while moving slowly on the runway.

The Qantas Group-owned carrier said it was currently investigating the incident...

Vietnam’s top leader begins his three-day visit to North Korea on Thursday for a trip that reflects Hanoi’s desire to balance regional relations amid ongoing tensions, analysts say.

Communist Party chief To Lam’s visit – the first by a Vietnamese leader to the reclusive country in almost two decades – will coincide with a military parade in Pyongyang on Friday to mark the 80th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party, according to the Vietnamese government and North Korean state media...

A construction worker who was walking along a road in Singapore saw a woman naked in her condominium unit and resolved to see her again as he found her attractive.

He drove to the unit the next night and climbed over a ledge onto her balcony before watching her sleep in a state of undress. He then walked into her bedroom where he touched her toes.

When the woman shouted in shock and called for help from a security guard who called the police, the man fled but returned again another night and...

A senior Japanese football executive’s conviction in France for viewing AI-generated child abuse images has triggered a wave of national soul-searching and renewed demands for Japan to close legal loopholes that critics say are fuelling the proliferation of hyperrealistic exploitative imagery online.

Masanaga Kageyama, the Japan Football Association’s former technical director, was handed an 18-month suspended prison sentence by a French court on Monday after he was caught watching sexually...

As Japan prepares to swear in its first female prime minister, old ghosts of the past are threatening to haunt her leadership.

Sanae Takaichi’s hard-edged views on history and national identity have stirred anxieties from Seoul to Beijing, even though analysts believe the former security minister’s stance may be tempered by the realities of fragile coalitions in a volatile region.

Takaichi’s election last weekend as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party marked a moment of both historic...

The ruling party of North Korea is approaching its 80th official anniversary amid an unprecedented rise in the country’s international stature. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s presence alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at China’s Victory Day parade early last month was more than ceremonial; it was a strategic declaration.

Kim carried himself with the assurance of a man who has successfully recalibrated his nation’s place in the world. This confidence,...

Wages in Singapore grew by 4.3 per cent this year, the lowest in Southeast Asia, but slightly higher than the 3.9 per cent rate in Hong Kong, a study has found.

Professional services firm Aon released its annual Salary Increase and Turnover Survey on Wednesday, based on data collected from more than 700 companies in the region including Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The study found that the average percentage growth across the region was 5.4, with Vietnam having the highest percentage...