Asia - South China Morning Post

A 49-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly sewing together the lips of a woman she was living with, according to local police.

Masae Sakurai, a part-time worker living in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of injuring the 42-year-old woman by sewing her lips together with a needle and thread at Sakurai’s house on June 29.

The victim, who had been living with Sakurai since around April 2025, told the police that she “had been too scared to run...

A year since the dust settled on the Singapore general election, leadership resignations in two small opposition parties signal a period of post-poll recalibration after disappointing results.

The once-promising Progress Singapore Party (PSP), led by ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) defector Tan Cheng Bock, was dealt an “existential blow” on Monday, analysts say, following the resignations of two central executive committee members.

Stephanie Tan, 38, was a newcomer who ran in the election,...

A Singapore minister’s quip in parliament that top officials had no time to go to the cinema has drawn heated public discussion, with some in the local arts scene saying the comment risked downplaying the importance of the cultural sector.

Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo was responding to questions in parliament on Tuesday about the administration’s stance on Chinese dialects in films, when he joked in Mandarin: “First of all, ministers don’t have time to watch...

Days before Johor state heads to the polls, gamblers on the crypto-powered betting exchange that emerged as a barometer of political sentiment during the last US election have already called it.

On Polymarket, bettors have priced Barisan Nasional (BN) as an overwhelming favourite to retain control of Malaysia’s southern gateway to Singapore.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the coalition stood at a 92.8 per cent chance of winning the most seats in Saturday’s vote – dwarfing Prime Minister Anwar...

Indonesia has become the third Southeast Asian nation – after Vietnam and the Philippines – to buy the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system jointly developed by India and Russia.

Analysts say the missiles will play a vital role in protecting Indonesia’s strategic waterways from becoming collateral damage in the event of a future great-power conflict.

The deal was signed on Tuesday during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day state visit to Indonesia, during which he held bilateral...

In May, Japanese fisherman Tadasuke Nakamura noticed he had an abnormally large haul of bluefin tuna in his set net off the Pacific coast of Hakodate, on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.

Hundreds of the prized sushi fish crowded the net, but he had to let many of them go.

Japan has an annual catch quota and if ‌Nakamura had kept the haul he would have had no quota left for the colder months when bluefin tuna are fattier, tastier and fetch a higher price.

“It’s truly upsetting to have to...

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has broken his silence on China’s sanctions against his defence chief, in remarks seen as a closing of ranks that could complicate diplomacy between Manila and Beijing in the near term.

Observers say the president’s public backing of outspoken Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro amounts to a “good cop, bad cop” approach that signals Manila’s resolve and may strengthen defence cooperation with its allies.

Speaking to reporters in Vancouver over the...

Joab Jorge runs Dream Latte Cafe, a speciality coffee shop and small-batch roastery, with his mother Ces out of their old ancestral home in Pilar, a town in Bataan province some 180km (112 miles) northwest of Manila.

Rising electricity costs and frequent blackouts have put a strain on the business, which has already had to raise prices by 10 per cent to cover higher costs for goods and imported coffee beans since the energy crisis triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in February.

The...

A Google executive has told an Australian inquiry that a YouTube video falsely claiming a wounded survivor of an antisemitic massacre in Sydney was a crisis actor bloodied with make-up had met the platform’s standards and would remain online.

Google Australia manager Rachel Lord was testifying on Tuesday at a government inquiry into the spread of antisemitism in Australia, including an attack by two gunmen on a Sydney Hanukkah celebration in December that left 15 people dead.

Lord was questioned...

As soaring temperatures fuel demand for cooling in Europe, Thailand is pitching itself as a source of relief, promoting rainy-season holidays while exporting more air conditioners.

With tourism and outbound shipments two of the Southeast Asian economy’s biggest drivers, Europe’s heatwaves are creating opportunities on both fronts.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has launched a campaign encouraging European travellers to swap scorching summer temperatures for the nation’s milder rainy season,...