Asia - South China Morning Post

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and successive US presidents have spent the better part of the past three decades warning that a nuclear-armed Iran would threaten the whole world. Now, thanks to the illegal US-Israeli war, Iran may have to go nuclear by claiming self-defence.

After all, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Israel would justify its clandestine nuclear weapon programme, which dates back to the 1950s, by claiming Arab states wanted to exterminate it. Well,...

The Philippine House of Representatives has moved Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment closer to a decisive vote, the first step in a week-long process that will test whether allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr have enough support to send the case to a Senate trial.

The House placed the impeachment on its plenary agenda on Tuesday, a day after its justice committee endorsed the case, setting up a possible vote by all lawmakers on whether Duterte-Carpio should stand trial in the...

Indonesia is moving to reshape its ride-hailing industry from the inside, with officials saying the state has acquired stakes in app companies as President Prabowo Subianto seeks to raise drivers’ earnings and rein in commission fees.

The move could mark a significant shift in one of Southeast Asia’s biggest on-demand economies, where millions of drivers for platforms such as Gojek and Grab have become a highly visible labour force and, analysts say, a potent political bloc.

Last week, Prabowo...

A Japanese infantry unit has withdrawn a new patch designed by artificial intelligence after it was criticised for being immature, “aggressive” and out of step with the public image of the country’s Self-Defence Forces (SDF).

The 1st Infantry Regiment’s patch was unveiled on April 29 and features an elephant in a helmet and other combat gear, holding a machine gun across its chest. The elephant has chains across its shoulders and a human skull apparently attached to its chest, with blue flames...

Thailand on ⁠Tuesday cancelled a long-standing agreement ⁠with Cambodia to work towards joint offshore ⁠energy exploration, Thailand’s prime minister said, defying calls from its neighbour to stay the course on the 25-year-old pact.

The Thai cabinet’s cancellation of the 2001 agreement, which seeks to develop a framework to jointly explore hydrocarbons in parts of the Gulf of Thailand ‌where the claims of Thailand and Cambodia overlap, had long been expected and follows two rounds of armed...

Four men slipped aboard in the darkness. Armed with knives and moving fast, they descended into the engine room of the Taipan as the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker threaded its way through the Singapore Strait on the night of April 22.

The crew managed to raise the alarm in time and thankfully no one was hurt. But by the time the vessel was searched the intruders were gone, vanished back into the water with a clutch of spare engine parts in tow.

It was a modest haul. It was also the 16th such...

A Malaysian minister urged the country’s police chief to clarify the status of investigations into allegations that a network of businessmen was colluding with anti-corruption agency officials to oust executives.

The government has ordered law enforcement agencies, including the Malaysian Anti‑Corruption Commission (MACC), to look into the allegations involving the businessmen, nicknamed the “corporate mafia”. So far, the police say they have found no evidence of the MACC’s involvement.

“It is...

The death of a runner from heatstroke after a Penang hill run event has put a spotlight on the rising risks of soaring temperatures in Malaysia, as authorities report a spike in heat-related illnesses and are seeding clouds to trigger rains in the country’s drought-hit northern region.

The death of the 41-year-old, the island’s first-ever confirmed heatstroke fatality linked to a sporting event, comes as temperatures in Malaysia soar to the mid-30s degrees Celsius.

The man from Tampin, Negeri...

When a South Korean cargo ship exploded and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz late on Monday, Donald Trump wasted no time declaring what he thought it meant.

“Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission!” the US president wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, invoking the incident as fresh justification for Seoul to send naval forces to the embattled waterway.

Seoul’s answer, for now, has been a polite but firm no – or at least, not yet.

The explosion occurred...

Singapore schools used caning as a disciplinary measure only when all other options were inadequate, given the gravity of the misconduct, Minister for Education Desmond Lee said on Tuesday.

Responding to more than 20 parliamentary questions on the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) updated efforts to tackle bullying, Lee acknowledged that studies linked poorly administered and frequent corporal punishment – particularly in unregulated settings such as the home – with negative outcomes.

“We recognise...