Asia - South China Morning Post

Bangladesh is boosting power imports from India and output from fuel oil-fired power plants in a scramble to meet rising electricity demand as it grapples with constraints on gas supply and coal plant maintenance, industry officials and analysts say.

Power imports, mainly from an Adani Power-run coal-fired plant in eastern India, rose 70 per cent in the seven months through July and helped satisfy most of the rising demand, government data showed.

Natural gas accounted for about two-thirds of...

Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke has called on the Chinese state-owned maker of the C919 passenger jet to set its sights on the global market and be more aggressive in boosting its international standing, as AirAsia nears a deal to become its first foreign buyer.

Loke made the comments on Wednesday while speaking at a Malaysian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong and Macau (Maycham) event, where he outlined a series of updates on his country’s transport industry – from air travel to...

India is keen on tariff talks with the United States, but it is expected to stand its ground even as their bilateral relations sour on issues ranging from trade to foreign policy.

In the face of the 50 per cent tariff imposed on Indian goods, Delhi is neither “desperate nor cornered”, according to analysts.

Signalling a hardening of America’s position on the tariff issue, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Friday that he expected New Delhi to say “sorry” and cut a deal with...

Walt Disney’s first cruise ship that was to be based in Asia has pushed back its maiden voyage from Singapore by three months.

“As we work on the final touches to bring the Disney Adventure to our guests, we’ve encountered unexpected delays in the shipbuilding process,” Joe Schott, president of Disney Signature Experiences, said. The ship, once complete, will be the company’s largest ever.

The Disney Adventure was set to make its first voyage from the city state on December 15 but that has now...

In the week before his fatal shooting, right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned about a “globalist menace” in Tokyo on his first speaking tour of Asia.

Kirk, 31, who helped amplify Republican President Donald Trump’s agenda to young voters with often inflammatory rhetoric focused on issues such as gender and immigration, was shot in the neck on Wednesday at a speaking event at a Utah university.

In Seoul on Friday, he...

Malaysian mothers are being pressed into acting as “personal debt collectors” as fathers refuse or fail to pay child maintenance, a study published this week has found, with weak enforcement in the country’s sharia courts identified as an aggravating factor.

The 2024 Telenisa Report by women’s rights group SIS Forum, released on Tuesday, is based on findings from cases handled by its free legal aid clinic throughout last year, which largely helps low-income Muslim women seeking advice on...

Five months after she was snatched from a car in broad daylight in Malaysia, little is known about the disappearance of Pamela Ling, with a “chilling” lack of clarity in the case sparking calls for a wider investigation.

Ling, 42, was kidnapped on April 9 by three people believed to have impersonated police, forcing her into their vehicle after stopping her private hire car on the highway not far from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters.

The victim was on her way to the...

Australian authorities are investigating an American influencer who filmed himself wrestling wild crocodiles in Queensland, condemning the “extremely dangerous and illegal” activity.

In a series of videos on his Instagram, bare-chested Mike Holston, who goes by “therealtarzann” online, tussles with saltwater and freshwater crocodiles.

In one post, he dives into the water, emerging holding the crocodile by its throat with blood streaming from his elbow.

“He got a hold of me, but I got a hold of...

President Lee Jae-myung warned on Thursday that the arrest of hundreds of South Korean workers by US immigration authorities could have a “considerable impact on future direct investment” in America.

Lee said last week’s raid on a Hyundai-LG battery factory site in the US state of Georgia raised serious doubts about the business climate for South Korean companies at a time when Seoul is seeking stability following the failed December 3 martial law decree by impeached former president Yoon...

Hundreds of South Korean workers detained in a surprise raid in Georgia last week were allowed to fly home on Thursday after the two countries’ top diplomats met in Washington and agreed to resolve a dispute that has roiled bilateral ties.

President Donald Trump agreed to South Korean demands that the workers not be handcuffed, and the US will consider creating a new visa category to prevent future problems, according to Yonhap News. It said 330 people, almost all of them South Korean, will be...