Asia - South China Morning Post

Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is set to be assigned a role overseeing sewer-cleaning crews from Bangkok’s Klong Prem Central Prison, his daughter Paetongtarn said following a visit to the facility.

“The prison director said Dad will be assigned to supervise sewer cleaning,” she told reporters outside the prison on Thursday, according to Thai news outlet The Nation. She added that his health is “OK”.

If confirmed by authorities, the position would allow Thaksin, 76, to leave...

The presidents of Turkey and South Korea have become the latest leaders attending the UN’s signature diplomatic gathering to be forced to wait on the streets of New York City to let Donald Trump’s motorcade pass.

Videos shared on social media showed Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s delegation attempting to move past barricades before officers blocked them from crossing a street on Tuesday, leaving the Turkish president irked.

Erdogan was in the US city to take part in the annual United Nations General...

As US President Donald Trump lambasted attendees at the UN General Assembly this week for failing to stop wars and curb illegal immigration, for championing the climate “hoax”, and even for its faulty escalators and teleprompters, his disdain for all things multilateral was on full display. But to the many who believe – or fear – that multilateralism is in full retreat, the past few weeks have nevertheless provided a smidgen of comfort.

In February, Trump promised to undertake within six months...

Efforts this week by Asean nations to water down Washington’s tariffs through talks with the US’ point man on trade appear to have failed, experts say. Instead, fresh threats were issued of levies unless lopsided trade deals favouring America can be quickly reached.

During a two-day visit to Kuala Lumpur that began on Wednesday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer made it clear that Washington would not budge on its goal of reclaiming control of key industries – including semiconductors,...

The Philippines evacuated hundreds of thousands of people and confirmed at least three deaths on Friday as a severe tropical storm battered the country, still feeling the effects of Super Typhoon Ragasa.

Civil defence officials in southern Luzon’s Bicol region said three people had been killed as walls collapsed and trees were uprooted by Severe Tropical Storm Bualoi, which is sweeping west by northwest at sustained speeds of 110km/h (68mph).

Evacuees in one province took cover under pews as the...

A prank known as “Happy Corner” that originated in China has made its way to Malaysia, triggering student suspensions in schools determined to show they are getting tough on bullying after a string of scandals.

Happy Corner, also called aluba in Taiwan, is a prank or form of hazing common among boys in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan that started in the 1980s. It typically involves several boys lifting up an unsuspecting victim and bumping his groin against a pole-like object.

A...

The Philippines’ “biggest corruption scandal” in history continues to rivet Filipinos as whistle-blowers implicate a slew of top officials, with the unfolding saga threatening to drag even the president into its 545 billion peso (US$9.4 billion) embrace.

On Thursday, Filipinos in Metro Manila – from taxi drivers to building lobby receptionists and security guards – were spotted with their mobile phones tuned in to the Senate’s eight-hour hearing on the so-called ghost flood projects. In one...

A Seoul court has sentenced a man in his 30s to 25 years in prison for killing his wife only three months after marriage because she refused to have sex with him.

The Seoul Southern District Court’s Criminal Division, presided over by Judge Jang Chan, delivered the sentence against the 35-year-old defendant, surnamed Seo, on charges of murder on Thursday. The prosecutors’ request for probation was dismissed.

“The defendant brutally killed the spouse who had promised to be with him for life, in a...

Super Typhoon Ragasa’s trail of devastation across the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan and parts of mainland China has underscored the sobering risks Asia as a region faces from the consequences of climate change, scientists warn, pointing to heavy fossil fuel production and infrastructure lagging behind rapid urbanisation.

Exceptionally warm sea surface temperatures along Ragasa’s path in the South China Sea helped it intensify over 24 hours to become the most powerful storm on Earth this year,...

India on Thursday signed a US$7 billion order for 97 domestically designed and built Tejas fighter jets as its air force retires its outgoing Russian MiG-21 jets after decades of use.

The first Tejas jets – meaning “brilliance” in Hindi – were commissioned into the air force in 2016, with the latest commission for the fourth-generation version of the fighter, Mk-1A.

India, one of the world’s largest arms importers, has made the modernisation of its forces a top priority, and made repeated pushes...