Asia - South China Morning Post

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. At least 35 dead, 200 injured, after magnitude 7.8 quake hits Philippines

At least 35 people were killed and more than 200 injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Monday, toppling buildings, setting off landslides and sending panicked...

Rescuers searched the rubble on Tuesday of a collapsed building in the southern Philippine city of General Santos, the worst hit by a powerful earthquake that has killed at least 37 people and injured hundreds, to reach two people still believed to be trapped inside.

Regional fire officer Edgar Tanawan, who was leading the operation, said two people had been pulled out ‌alive from the commercial building, housing a grocery store and other businesses, but a third was found dead. Scanners had so...

Malaysia’s newest “rebel party” has issued a rare public call for election candidates, as former economy minister Rafizi Ramli races to turn his breakaway Bersama outfit into a serious force before a string of state polls.

The move comes after Johor dissolved its assembly last Monday, with Negeri Sembilan doing the same on Friday, paving the way for polls in both states well before the next general election, which must be held by early 2028. A date has yet to be set for both state...

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has said his government will focus on making life better for families and rely less on incentives to encourage citizens to have more babies, as the city state grapples with a record-low fertility rate.

Wong acknowledged the limits of government efforts to reverse falling birth rates, a challenge confronting countries around the world.

“Think about it less as procreation incentive,” he said at a Singapore Press Club dialogue on Monday. “Think more about...

Thai shrimp farmers have warned they face being driven out of business after Malaysia banned imports of five shrimp species over apparent safety concerns, as the industry also grapples with disease outbreaks, rising competition and renewed US tariff threats.

Malaysia issued a temporary ban on June 1, also tightening import requirements for Thai sea bass. The move was a gut punch for Thailand’s seafood industry, which exports 10,000 tonnes of shrimp across its southern border each year.

Bangkok...

Gale-force winds and rough seas battered New Zealand’s capital ⁠of Wellington on ⁠Tuesday, forcing ferry and flight ⁠cancellations and road closures as authorities urged hundreds of residents along the city’s south coast to evacuate.

A light aircraft was briefly blown over by strong winds at Wellington airport after a gust ‌of wind tipped the plane onto its wing and wheel, the airport confirmed by email.

“Nobody was injured and it was quickly righted,” it said.

The New Zealand Herald said the...

Malaysia’s most powerful Islamist party has cut ties with a former electoral ally, blowing open a bitter feud within the country’s main opposition bloc as several key elections loom.

Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) President Abdul Hadi Awang announced late on Monday that the party’s central working committee had decided to “terminate political cooperation with Bersatu”, endorsing an earlier decision by its Syura Council, the party’s highest religious decision-making body.

The partnership had...

Deep underneath Singapore’s northeastern district of Punggol, a 5km (three-mile) network of metal pipes roars as it pumps chilled water to cool offices and classrooms overhead.

The 140-year-old concept known as district cooling uses less electricity than centralised air conditioners – a major advantage for a resource-starved tropical island-nation that has to import nearly all its energy and where temperatures are rising twice as fast as the global average.

The city state has laid pipes beneath...

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has ruled out expanding military ties with Japan any time soon, insisting that historical grievances must be resolved first.

The two countries have come under growing pressure to strengthen defence ties as North Korea, China and Russia draw closer together. But analysts say such a move remains politically risky for Lee’s government given deep-seated public resentment in South Korea towards Japan.

To explain why his country could not yet embrace military...

Singapore will push for connectivity in Asean in its role as bloc chair next year amid a challenging global environment, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has said, as he warned about the United States and China navigating a new dynamic.

At the Singapore Press Club Eminent Speaker Series on Monday, Wong noted that keeping communication lines open between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Donald Trump was important to reduce the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation, but...