The long-standing rivalry between Asia’s two leading financial centres is heating up. As Hong Kong and Singapore compete harder for investment talent, tax incentives for fund managers have emerged as the new battleground.

A government bill working its way through Hong Kong’s Legislative Council would result in sweeping changes to tax rules on carried interest. The legislation, which is expected to be approved later this year, would offer preferential tax treatment to a wider range of alternative...

A South Korean court sentenced the leader of the secretive and powerful Unification Church on Monday to two years in prison on charges of bribing officials, including the then-president’s wife.

Han Hak-ja, 83, was accused of providing luxury items, including a designer handbag, to former first lady Kim Keon-hee while her husband, Yoon Suk-yeol, was president, in an attempt to secure policy favours.

She arrived for sentencing at court on Monday in a wheelchair, wearing pyjamas and a surgical...

Air pollution in Malaysia’s Bornean state of Sarawak has surged into hazardous territory, with the air pollutant index (API) topping 400 in the worst-hit district, as forest fires raging in Indonesia continue to send thick smoke drifting across the border.

Serian in Sarawak, closest to the frontier with Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, recorded the highest reading of 476 as of Monday morning.

Kuching, Samarahan and Sri Aman all logged readings above 300 as of 10am, according to Malaysia’s...

Indonesia, the United States and more than a dozen allies launched annual joint military exercises on Monday to boost defence capabilities and “deter aggression” in the Asia-Pacific region.

Jakarta maintains a neutral foreign policy, what it calls “free and active”, as it walks a diplomatic tightrope seeking good relations with both Washington and Beijing. The Southeast Asian giant held a joint navy drill with China this month that was blasted by Taiwan as a “provocation”.

Indonesia, the US and...

A proposal in Malaysia’s Perak state to pay young people 500 ringgit (US$124) for marrying for the first time has triggered a backlash after officials confirmed the scheme could apply to children as young as 15.

Critics say extending the state-funded benefit to minors risks legitimising child marriage, reigniting a fraught debate in Malaysia over laws that still allow some under-18s to wed.

The one-off payment, under consideration for Perak’s 2027 budget, would be open to first-time couples aged...

A Pakistani nurse who rescued the sole surviving newborn from a hospital nursery fire that killed 14 other infants will receive one of the country’s most prestigious civil awards.

Fire engulfed Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, a major government hospital in Islamabad, on Wednesday. A 51-second segment of CCTV footage, widely circulated online, captures Razia Noreen running into the burning nursery and emerging seconds later with the newborn in her arms. She tries to go back in, but cannot...

Calls are growing for Asean to collectively crack down on Big Tech platforms that spread scams and harmful content, spurred on by Meta Platforms’ landmark US$18 billion US settlement last week.

Meta agreed on Wednesday to enact sweeping changes to Instagram and Facebook – including default time limits and content restrictions – as part of the settlement with several US states, which had alleged the platforms damaged children’s mental health.

Within hours of the deal being announced, advocacy...

Navigating the intricacies of South Korea’s residential real estate market is notoriously complex even for long-time local residents. For the country’s steadily growing international population, however, steep language barriers, unfamiliar administrative procedures, and unique tenant laws make securing rental housing a particularly daunting endeavour – and one fraught with potential financial risk.

To help bridge this informational divide and protect vulnerable foreign renters, Gangbuk, a...

The Nepalese government has appealed for rescue aid from other countries just two days after it reportedly refused help, as several hundred people are still believed to be trapped in hydropower tunnels and thousands remain missing following the catastrophic flash flooding at the border with China last week.

Kathmandu’s apparent reversal reflects caution born from its chaotic experience with foreign teams after the 2015 earthquake, according to observers. Other factors include the government’s...

The chief of Japan’s largest opposition party in the powerful House of Representatives effectively confirmed on Monday that it would split, following the failure of merger talks with other forces.

The break-up of the Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA) comes around seven months after it was established in January by lower house lawmakers from the left-leaning Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) and Komeito, which was the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) coalition partner for 26...