Asia - South China Morning Post

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. Why Kim Jong-un’s daughter is closer to becoming North Korea’s next ruler

The daughter of North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un could present a softer image for Pyongyang, away from her father’s sabre-rattling reputation as he continues to hint at his choice of successor by...

Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire tycoon who once dominated Thai politics, spent his first night behind bars on Tuesday after the Supreme Court sentenced him to a year in prison.

The verdict was a stunning blow for the former prime minister, whose political dynasty has, for now, been pushed aside.

Thailand’s top court found on Tuesday that Thaksin, 76, knowingly exaggerated illness in 2023 to secure a lengthy stay in a VIP ward of a police hospital rather than in a prison cell.

Judges ruled...

The chants of students turned into screams in Nepal on Monday as police opened fire on unarmed protesters in Kathmandu, turning a simmering youth-led movement against corruption and censorship into the bloodiest confrontation the Himalayan republic has seen in years.

By nightfall, at least 19 demonstrators had been killed by police gunfire, according to official figures, with more than 300 wounded across Kathmandu and other cities.

Many of the victims were students in uniform. Videos...

The International Criminal Court has postponed “until further notice” a crimes against humanity hearing concerning former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, while judges weigh his fitness to take part.

Duterte, 80, was arrested and taken to The Hague in March on charges linked to his “war on drugs”, in which thousands of alleged narcotics peddlers and users were killed.

On Monday, judges allowed for an indefinite postponement of the so-called confirmation of charges hearings that had been set...

Police in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu opened fire on Monday on demonstrators protesting a government attempt to regulate social media that blocked some of the world’s largest platforms, including Facebook, X and YouTube. At least 17 people were killed.

Rallies swept the streets around the parliament building, which was surrounded by tens of thousands of people angry at authorities who said the companies had failed to register and submit to government oversight. At least 145 people were wounded,...

When North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rose from his chair after a two-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin in Beijing last week, aides swooped in almost instantly, polishing the table and scrubbing the seat he had just occupied.

The bizarre spectacle was not just political theatre or a quirk of the supreme leader’s personality, analysts say; it was an act of counter-intelligence.

Kim travelled to Beijing for China’s Victory Day parade, the first occasion the North Korean leader has been seen in...

Members of the Brics nations logged into a virtual summit on Monday, convened by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, intending to take a defiant stand against US President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war.

Instead, the quickly assembled outing became an exercise in caution, as the bloc’s heavyweights, Brazil and India, sought to steer clear of further enraging the “America-first” leader.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a founding Brics leader, skipped the meeting, sending...

For over a decade, the name Kim Jong-un has been synonymous with an isolated, economically struggling pariah state. Despite possessing nuclear weapons, North Korea has long been dismissed by the international community as a minor player on the world stage. That perception has now fundamentally changed.

As Kim stood alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at China’s Victory Day parade last Wednesday and then had one-on-one summits with both, it signalled far...

Allies of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte lost their grip in the Senate on Monday after 15 lawmakers backed a leadership change that could alter the balance of power over corruption probes and Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s scuttled impeachment trial.

The process took just 24 minutes – from a motion to declare the post of Senate president vacant to the swearing-in of Vicente Sotto III, a veteran lawmaker who is allied with President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, for the role. Sotto’s...

Police arrested 260 people and deployed tear gas in Pakistan’s poorest province during a strike on Monday, as protesters demanded accountability over a suicide attack claimed by Islamic State (Isis).

Businesses shut and demonstrators took to the streets across more than a dozen cities in Balochistan in response to a September 2 bombing at a political rally that killed 15 people.

In the provincial capital Quetta, police arrested protesters blocking a road and fired tear gas to disperse...