Asia - South China Morning Post

Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin, a former ally of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, will resign on Friday halfway through his term, according to his spokesman.

The president’s office is a largely ceremonial post and Shahabuddin is quitting much before the end of his tenure in April 2028. The decision comes after Hasina announced her plan to return in December to surrender following a court conviction.

“As a result of his illnesses, it is no longer possible for him to discharge his...

Malaysia’s ambassador to the United States was ⁠summoned by the ⁠US State Department to explain ⁠Kuala Lumpur’s position on Israel, state media reported, citing the country’s foreign minister.

Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Ambassador Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob told the State Department that Malaysia’s long-standing policy of not recognising ‌Israel was not new.

“It has always been Malaysia’s policy. Our immigration policy does not recognise the State of Israel or the Zionist regime....

Barely four months into its implementation, South Korea’s new labour-friendly law is coming under growing scrutiny as workers’ demands for bonuses tied to a fixed percentage of corporate profits spread across the country.

If left unchecked, critics warn, the revised Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act – commonly known as the Yellow Envelope Act – could fuel labour disputes, create uncertainty for businesses and threaten an economy that is only beginning to recover.

At the heart of...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet pledged to step up a crackdown on transnational online scam networks, but warned the criminal syndicates were adapting by fracturing into smaller, decentralised cells across the region.

Authorities had already shut down more than 670 illegal scam operations while expanding intelligence sharing with key international law enforcement partners, he said, including during a visit this week with US Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel.

“We will make...

A potent cocktail of domestic and international political headwinds continues to weigh on the Philippines’ economic recovery, even as inflation eased in June.

Economists point to turmoil in the Senate and a recent corruption scandal that rocked the nation as internal shackles holding back an already fragile economy reeling from energy shocks and extreme weather.

Dutch financial think tank ING said in a recent report that political uncertainty was compounding the Philippines’ economic pressures,...

Australia said on Friday it would pump an additional US$3.2 billion into building the country’s nuclear-powered submarines, part of a controversial defence pact with the United States and Britain.

Under the 2021 Aukus deal, Australia’s most expensive defence project, the country will receive three nuclear-powered submarines from the United States. Australia and Britain will then build a new class of submarine in the 2040s.

But the deal has faced scrutiny over whether slow submarine production...

Almost two years after six travellers died and one survivor was left blind from suspected methanol-tainted drinks in Laos, the criminal case is finally moving forward, with charges filed against a distillery owner – as victims’ families continue to demand answers and stern punishment.

The distillery owner, whose products are thought to have caused the deaths, was charged last Friday with running an illegal business and selling harmful food products. He faces a jail term of three months to four...

Canada’s decision to join the next-generation Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) as an observer has eased Tokyo’s fears over its fighter jet future, while Germany is also reported to be exploring membership of the project, which already involves Britain, Italy and Japan.

The moves could give fresh momentum to GCAP, a programme to develop a next-generation fighter that analysts say Japan sees as critical to replacing its ageing F-2 fleet and avoiding a gap in its air defences.

Tokyo has been...

Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk ended a 26-day hunger strike on Friday over leaked medical school entrance exam papers that protesters say enabled cheating, but demonstrations demanding the education minister’s resignation were set to continue in the biggest youth-led challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Youth protesters, led by the self-named Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, demand that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resign over the leaks that affected some 2...

A social media post over an unpaid phone bill has triggered a data-protection investigation in Malaysia, after one of the country’s most recognisable influencers questioned how a stranger obtained details from his telecoms account.

The episode involving Khairul Amin Kamarulzaman, better known as Khairul Aming, has raised uncomfortable questions for telcos about how tightly they manage customer account information and how quickly private details can be exposed when those controls fail.

Khairul...