Asia - South China Morning Post

An Australian man has been detained in Vietnam’s coastal city of Da Nang after allegedly going on a shirtless late-night rampage through a cafe, causing extensive damage and forcing frightened customers to flee.

The incident unfolded at Ge Cafe on Le Hong Phong Street in central Da Nang shortly before midnight on Friday, according to a detailed account posted by the cafe on its social media account.

Local news outlet Tuoi Tre reported that ward police had identified the man as an Australian...

Malaysia’s southern state of Johor dissolved its legislature on Monday, setting up an election within 60 days that analysts said would test whether the once-dominant Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition can turn its state stronghold into a launch pad for a wider political comeback.

The vote will also put Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) reformist alliance in an awkward contest against its federal partner BN, with both coalitions set to run against each other in Johor...

More than a dozen rescue and charity groups used excavation machinery on Monday to recover bodies following a massive blast from stored mining explosives in northeastern Myanmar.

The explosion occurred on Sunday at noon in Kaungtup village, Namhkam township in Shan State near the Chinese border. Initial reports had suggested there were at least 45 deaths, but local rescue volunteers now put the number of dead at 38-40. Determining the exact death toll has been complicated because several bodies...

Oil prices have eased sharply on hopes that the US and Iran will agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but analysts say Asian economies are unlikely to quickly shake off the effects of the energy shock even if the key waterway returns to normal.

Benchmark Brent crude oil fell 11.15 per cent to US$92.13 per barrel on Friday, from its level a week earlier, its steepest weekly drop since early April.

Prices edged up again on Monday, trading at about US$93 per barrel during Asian afternoon trading...

A Philippine senator said he will surrender to authorities after a special anti-corruption court ordered his arrest on Monday on a non-bailable charge of plunder after he allegedly pocketed a huge kickback in a flood-control project.

It is the latest crisis to hit the country’s Senate, the upper chamber where a battle for control of the country’s political future is playing out.

The special Sandiganbayan anti-corruption court had initially issued a warrant for Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s arrest on...

Malaysia is unlikely to come close to a US call for Asian partners to spend 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product on defence, analysts have said, as Putrajaya tries to modernise an ageing military without overwhelming public finances or appearing to align with Washington’s China strategy.

Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the US had “every right” to ask allies to raise defence expenditure, but stressed that Malaysia faced limits as a developing economy.

“For a country like Malaysia,...

Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing’s first trip to India since being sworn in as president signals New Delhi’s recognition of the strongman’s political status as it seeks to counter mounting Chinese influence, according to analysts.

The five-day visit, which began on Saturday at the personal invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is aimed at strengthening ties with one of Myanmar’s key regional partners.

Despite Western sanctions imposed after the February 2021 coup, India has maintained...

The leaders of Vietnam and the Philippines upheld the importance of keeping the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea amid tensions in the strategic waterway where Beijing lays expansive claim.

“As fellow claimant states, we reaffirm that maintaining peace, stability and the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea remains non-negotiable,” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said. He spoke at a joint briefing with visiting Vietnamese leader To Lam after their...

Five people died and two others were injured on Monday after an explosion and fire on a production line for rocket propellant at a factory in South Korea operated by Hanwha Aerospace, officials said.

The two survivors, including one who was badly burned, had escaped from the facility themselves, a fire official told a briefing.

“Authorities have yet to identify ⁠the victims because their bodies were severely damaged,” a health official told the same briefing.

A fire official said that an...

A Malaysian state chief minister is under police investigation after a viral video showed him shooting a sacrificial cow with a shotgun at an Eid ul-Adha event, triggering public anger and questions over gun use, animal welfare and Islamic slaughter rules.

Police in Perlis, a small northern state bordering Thailand, said they had seized the shotgun believed to have been used by Chief Minister Abu Bakar Hamzah at the korban (ritual sacrifice of livestock) ceremony in Kuala Perlis on...