Asia - South China Morning Post

Nepal has culled more than 600,000 birds and destroyed around 1 million eggs as an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu spreads across the Kathmandu Valley, shutting the capital’s only zoo and raising fears among scientists over the virus’ potential to mutate into a form transmissible between humans.

The outbreak began in eastern Nepal in March before reaching the densely populated valley around mid-June – a development that health experts say raises the risk of human exposure.

More than 60 poultry farms...

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. Malaysia has never had so many Chinese tourists. It wants more

As Thailand loses its allure, Malaysia turns to viral algorithms to entice millions of independent Chinese travellers.

2. Pakistan rattles India with new Chinese-built stealth submarine

The last time...

Diners at a sleek teppanyaki restaurant in Tokyo’s Asakusa district wait happily as chefs sear marbled Kobe beef over open grills. Expectations are high at Kisshokichi, one of the world’s largest Kobe beef chains. But behind the brand’s success lies a dilemma shared by businesses across Japan.

Founder Kiyomi Akagi, now in his mid-sixties, faced a question confronting a growing number of ageing owners: who would take over?

With no successor prepared to manage the company’s 50 restaurants, Akagi...

Esmeraldo Maligsa, a farmer and president of the Bohol Ubi Growers Association, harvests 2,000kg (4,400lbs) of ube, the purple tuber native to the Philippines, every seven months.

He and the other farmers in his group manage a collective yield of between five and eight tonnes, fetching prices of 90 pesos to 100 pesos (US$1.50 to US$1.60) per kilogram.

Such is the going price for ubi kinampay, dubbed the “Queen of Philippine yams”. Grown in Bohol province and nearby areas in central Philippines,...

Japan is accelerating plans to acquire and develop military drones by stepping up cooperation with Ukraine and learning from Kyiv’s wartime experience against Russia as it seeks to deploy more unmanned systems across its territory.

Complementing this strategy, Japanese companies are also collaborating closely with their European counterparts to manufacture anti-submarine drones.

“The entire international community has witnessed how warfare has changed since the outbreak of the Ukraine war and...

Australia’s competition regulator said on Tuesday it had taken Amazon’s Australian ‌unit to court, alleging its Prime subscription contracts contained unfair terms that allowed the company to add advertising to its video streaming platform.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged that between November 2023 and August 2025, Amazon Australia used unfair Prime Video contract terms to make negative changes for over ⁠1 million annual subscribers without offering...

South Korea’s US$518 billion semiconductor push aims to transform the artificial intelligence boom into a durable industrial advantage and keep up with leading rival China, according to observers.

The plan is intended to secure supplies of advanced memory chips needed for AI data centres and computing infrastructure, while easing pressure on the Seoul metropolitan area by creating a second major chipmaking base in the country’s southwest.

President Lee Jae Myung on Monday unveiled the...

South Korea’s World Cup squad is set to be greeted on arrival by heightened police security rather than the usual airport welcome ceremony, as fury over head coach Hong Myung-bo’s failed campaign spills into online death threats, viral restaurant bans and renewed calls for sweeping changes inside the country’s football establishment.

Hong and eight players, including Kim Min-jae, Hwang Hee-chan, Hwang In-beom and Lee Kang-in, were due to arrive at Incheon International Airport on Tuesday morning...

Malaysia has narrowed its search for a replacement anti-ship missile system to four potential suppliers after Norway revoked an export licence for a deal that Kuala Lumpur said was already more than 90 per cent paid for.

The cancellation came after Oslo tightened arms-export rules in a shift that analysts say reveals how access to advanced arms can depend as much on supplier-country politics as on signed contracts.

Turkey, South Korea and two unspecified European nations were being assessed as...

Overnight ground operations and strikes by Pakistani forces have killed at least 36 civilians and injured more than 160 others, Afghan officials said on Monday, as tensions between the neighbours further escalated.

One official said the attacks would be met with retaliation.

Pakistani security forces carried out a ground operation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border late on Sunday, followed by strikes against militant hideouts and safe havens, killing 29 fighters, Pakistan’s Information...