Asia - South China Morning Post

India’s military is exploring alternative energy sources amid surging oil and gas prices caused by supply disruption from the Iran war, a trend that analysts say is set to accelerate among Asian countries heavily dependent on energy imports.

According to local media reports, the Indian army plans to get biogas stoves to replace natural gas-fired appliances for cooking. It is also exploring the use of green fuels for army vehicles and administrative work, as well as solar and wind power for...

Two Singapore residents who were on board the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius are currently being isolated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), where they are being tested for the virus.

“Their test results are pending. One has a runny nose but is otherwise well, and the other is asymptomatic. The risk to the general public in Singapore is currently low,” the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) said on Thursday.

CDA said it was notified on Monday and Tuesday that the...

Indonesia’s economy grew 5.6 per cent during the first quarter of 2026, its fastest pace in more than three years, but analysts warn that the coming months will pose significant tests for Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

Statistics body BPS attributed the growth to robust household consumption – which made up 54.36 per cent of gross domestic product and grew by 5.52 per cent year-on-year – and a surge in government spending.

Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, head of BPS and deputy minister for...

AirAsia X co-founder Tony Fernandes said he is preparing to launch a new airline, betting that expanding while the aviation industry’s being roiled by high oil prices will pay off in the future.

The new airline will be announced in the next month or two, Fernandes said in a video interview from Montreal late on Wednesday. The low-cost Southeast Asian carrier group is moving some planes for the business it is starting, he said, without providing further details.

The expansion would come on the...

Myanmar’s appointment of a close confidant of US President Donald Trump to rebuild ties with Washington could offer the regime a sliver of hope to rebrand itself, even as a breakthrough on major issues, such as American investment in the country’s critical minerals sector, is likely to be limited.

Naypyidaw’s Ministry of Information has hired veteran American political lobbyist Roger Stone to boost relations with the Trump administration, according to filings under the US Foreign Agents...

South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday rebutted US President Donald Trump’s assertion that a South Korean-operated vessel was attacked as it was acting on its own without US protection in the Strait of Hormuz – a focal point of the ongoing Iran war.

“For several days before the fire broke out, the ship had been anchored in the relevant waters near the United Arab Emirates on the inner side of the Strait of Hormuz,” the ministry said in a statement.

The remarks followed an...

Gunmen on motorbikes in India’s West Bengal ambushed and killed a political aide from the ruling Hindu-nationalist party days after it swept state elections, police said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a resounding victory on Monday in the eastern state of more than 100 million people, taking 207 of the 294 assembly seats, for its first-ever state victory in West Bengal.

Chandranath Rath, 41, a close aide of West Bengal’s BJP chief Suvendu Adhikari,...

The queues start to form before the lunchtime rush at Phed Mark, a Bangkok kitchen with a pop-up feel that dishes up steaming plateloads of pad kaphrao – a runny fried egg with fiery minced meat over rice – to a clientele of mainly Chinese tourists.

Founded by YouTuber Mark Weins, Phed Mark has turned a Thai staple into a must-eat for Chinese visitors, who defy the heat to patiently wait each day on plastic stools for their turn outside the Ekkamai bus terminal.

A lot has to do with its...

Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar arrived in Moscow on Thursday for a high-profile visit that comes as Kuala Lumpur looks for alternative oil sources amid a fuel crisis linked to the Iran war.

Sultan Ibrahim landed at Vnukovo-2 International Airport at 4.20pm local time on Thursday, according to Malaysian reports, and was received by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, senior protocol officials and Malaysia’s ambassador to Russia, Cheong Loon Lai.

The king is attending Russia’s...

A South Korean appeals court reduced the sentence of former prime minister Han Duck-soo on Thursday by eight years for crimes relating to ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law declaration.

Yoon’s decree in December 2024 briefly suspended civilian rule and plunged South Korea into chaos, but only lasted around six hours as opposition lawmakers moved quickly to overturn it in a vote.

A lower court had sentenced Han in January to a heavier-than-expected jail term of 23 years for engaging in the...