Asia - South China Morning Post

Sushila Devi sat sobbing on the floor of her house in Deoria, northern India after authorities told her that her husband was one of three sailors killed in a US attack on a ship off Oman.

“If he had told us about the dangers, I would have called him back,” she cried out as women from the family gathered around to console ‌her. “The government should not allow people to go there.”

India on Friday took the rare step of lodging a second protest with the US over the strike that took place more than...

Japan’s transport ministry on Friday reprimanded Japan Airlines and urged it to compile preventive measures by July 17 after an incident in which two cabin attendants drank the day before a flight in May, delaying a scheduled flight for about 40 minutes.

The female JAL employees had falsely reported in an internal investigation that they had not consumed alcohol in violation of company regulations, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The ministry determined...

The Philippines’ confrontational approach to maritime territorial disputes, such as its championing of the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling, has not only failed to resolve regional tensions, it also risks undermining Asean centrality.

In May, addressing Japan’s National Diet, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr announced that Manila would mark the ruling’s 10th anniversary in July, an occasion he said “embodies our determination to resolve disputes through peaceful means”. That is...

China’s decision to ban Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr and his family from Chinese territory has taken Beijing’s maritime feud with Manila into unusually personal territory, with analysts saying the move appeared aimed at warning other Philippine officials against taking a hard line.

The sanctions, announced by China’s foreign ministry on Thursday following Teodoro’s recent criticism of Beijing, also prohibit Chinese organisations and individuals from engaging in transactions,...

Even Western pundits grudgingly admitted the summit between President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was a success. Both sides, according to Bloomberg, “appear to have walked away with what they wanted”. Given China’s rising pre-eminence while avoiding any damaging war, it’s no surprise that Xi had the upper hand in his recent meetings with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But with Kim, the stakes for Beijing were just as high, in light of Tokyo’s...

The state elections in Johor and Negeri Sembilan, scheduled for July 11 and August 1, have opened two battlegrounds where economic issues take precedence over the political wrangling of Malaysia’s coalition parties.

The ballot will also test whether Singapore-linked rail projects, economic zones and a data centre investment push have translated into support among Johor’s 2.73 million voters grappling with higher living costs.

Nominations to fill 56 seats in the Johor state assembly will begin on...

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr will travel to Russia next week for a summit with Moscow and Southeast Asian leaders in a visit analysts say will allow Manila to show it can fulfil its role as Asean chair while keeping diplomatic channels open with major powers, despite closer security ties with Washington.

While the trip is unlikely to signal a shift in Philippine foreign policy, observers say it will be watched closely in both Washington and Beijing for any concrete outcomes on...

Bangladesh and India have agreed to deepen cooperation along their shared border with improved intelligence sharing and coordinated patrols, according to a joint statement released on Friday, amid strained relations over alleged undocumented migration.

Dhaka has accused Indian authorities of attempting to ‌force migrants across the border without due process, complicating efforts to stabilise ties following the 2024 ousting of Sheikh Hasina and India’s broader effort to identify and deport...

Crying without a clear reason can be a major source of anxiety for parents. As families look for new ways to navigate the uncertainty of early childcare, Japanese developers are rolling out AI-powered tools designed to identify the possible causes of a baby’s distress.

One of them is Babylingual, a free app released in March by Moto Numazawa, a 25-year-old father in the Kanagawa prefecture city of Chigasaki, near Tokyo.

In late April, Numazawa held his smartphone up to his three-month-old son,...

More than 1,000 Orang Asli, the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia, rallied outside a federal ministry in Putrajaya on Friday in a rare mass protest to demand recognition of their ancestral land and an end to evictions and development on their territories.

Many wore traditional headgear as they marched through Malaysia’s administrative capital, carrying signs reading “Orang Asli are not immigrants”, “Respect the Orang Asli right to self-determination” and “Our voices will not be...