Asia - South China Morning Post

Celebrity sisters, a rapper and an actress are among the 34 Malaysians sailing with a seaborne mission seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver urgent aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, which set sail in August, aims to spotlight conditions in a territory where more than 65,000 people have been killed according to United Nations estimates. Last month, the UN described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.

The civilian-led convoy, comprising hundreds...

Corporate leaders should reject rising protectionism and nativist instincts by taking an active role in shaping global integration, Singapore’s Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said on Wednesday, as top figures at the Milken Institute Asia Summit warned of risks from technological disruption, geopolitical fragmentation and zero-sum thinking.

Opening the summit in Singapore, Chan said business leaders should not be bystanders in times of upheaval but instead help steer political discourse and...

The world’s largest cryptocurrency conference, Token2049, kicked off in Singapore on Wednesday, attracting a record-breaking 25,000 attendees amid growing adoption of digital assets by institutions and individuals globally, partly driven by a friendlier regulatory environment in the US.

Participants from more than 160 countries formed a queue stretching hundreds of metres outside the Marina Bay Sands convention centre in the morning. The two-day event features five simultaneous forums and...

A mutiny by South Korean prosecutors who are investigating former first lady Kim Keon-hee has exposed deep divisions in the country’s justice system and resistance against reforming one of its most powerful agencies.

All 40 prosecutors assigned to a special counsel investigating alleged misconduct by Kim, the wife of former president Yoon Suk-yeol, submitted a joint statement on Tuesday declaring their intention to withdraw from the case at the earliest possible date.

The move came after the...

Singapore’s High Court has dismissed a bid by foreign liquidators to sue Standard Chartered Bank and BSI Bank in the city state over transactions alleged to be linked to the scandal-hit Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, according to a judgment on Wednesday.

Representatives of the liquidators did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Standard Chartered said the bank welcomed the court’s decision.

Liquidators began legal proceedings against the London-headquartered bank in...

As the Philippines’ coastguard struggles to patrol vast, contested waters with a handful of ageing planes and helicopters, a single politician’s larger private fleet has become a lightning rod for public anger over corruption and the chronic underfunding of the country’s defence forces.

At the heart of the scandal is Zaldy Co, who until January chaired the powerful House Appropriations Committee – a position that granted him sweeping powers over the national budget.

The discovery of six...

Malaysia’s government is facing allegations of muzzling free speech after the social media account of a leading independent news portal was suspended shortly after publishing a story critical of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Prominent online news outlet Malaysiakini revealed that its Facebook pages were temporarily taken down late on Tuesday, hours after it had released an investigative report into the prime minister’s own social media use.

The report alleged that more than 260 suspicious social...

The Japanese government introduced stricter rules governing the conversion of foreign driving licences on Wednesday, with non-residents no longer permitted to use the system following a recent spate of accidents involving foreign drivers.

Applicants are now required to submit a copy of their Japanese residence certificate, in contrast to the previous system that allowed short-term visitors to list hotels or other accommodations as their address.

The number of questions on the knowledge test,...

Indonesian rescuers were racing against the clock on Wednesday in search of dozens of missing students suspected of still being buried under the rubble of a collapsed school in the province of East Java.

The death toll following the incident on Monday has risen to six, according to Yudhi Bramantyo, Deputy Chief of Operations National Search and Rescue Agency.

Five survivors were successfully rescued after a tunnel was dug at the base of the building to their location.

“Their conditions were...

The race to see who will head Japan’s ruling party – which will also determine the country’s next prime minister – has veered off course, with one contender mired in a scandal over orchestrated online praise and another facing accusations of xenophobia over remarks about foreigners kicking sacred deer.

The internal election for leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), scheduled for Saturday, has quickly crystallised into a two-way battle between Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, a...