Asia - South China Morning Post

Philippine annual inflation accelerated to a ⁠three-year high in April, ⁠as a surge in fuel prices ⁠triggered by the Middle East conflict raises the chance of more policy tightening.

Consumer prices rose 7.2 per cent last month, the statistics agency said on Tuesday, the highest since March 2023. That was above the 5.5 per cent median forecast in a poll of economists.

The April print also breached the central bank’s forecast range of 5.6 to 6.4 per cent for the month.

Emilio Neri, lead economist...

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. More Singaporeans are choosing jobs below their qualifications. Here’s why

A new survey shows 19.4 per cent of Singapore’s resident workforce had academic qualifications beyond what was required for their job in 2025.

2. Why UAE’s exit from Opec is good news for...

Japan’s defence minister is touring Southeast Asia this week with what analysts describe as a clear, if diplomatically understated, mission: turning Indonesia and the Philippines into harder targets for Chinese maritime ambition.

Shinjiro Koizumi landed in Jakarta on Monday to sign a defence cooperation pact with his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, coming hot on the heels of Tokyo’s landmark decision to lift a decades-old ban on the export of lethal weapons last month.

He heads next...

Fuminori Arita once farmed iyokan, a Japanese citrus variety, but about 10 years ago he switched to growing avocados, revelling in the challenge of producing crops of what he describes as a “sensitive and difficult to grow” fruit.

The 67-year-old is symbolic of efforts by the western Japanese city of Matsuyama in Ehime prefecture, long known primarily for citrus cultivation, to shift more to avocados, partly as a strategy to adapt to rising temperatures amid climate change.

Given the challenge...

Authorities in Thailand are unravelling a “phantom birth’’ racket involving possibly hundreds of babies – mainly Chinese – falsely registered as Thais by corrupt officials so that their parents can gain land and company ownership rights.

Scores of birth certificates have come under scrutiny, with several officials arrested for suspected bribery in a scam that first came to light in northern Chiang Mai but has since clustered around a Bangkok suburb and northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima...

Two marine rescue volunteers died after their boat capsized while attempting to help a yacht in distress off the east coast of Australia, according to New South Wales police.

On Monday evening, a member of the public reported that a yacht appeared to be struggling at a breakwall in Ballina in northern New South Wales, police said.

A vessel of volunteer service Marine Rescue NSW with six crew on board was responding to the call when “their vessel capsized while crossing the Ballina Bar in heavy...

Singapore’s Grab reported first-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates, helped by resilient demand for ride hailing and delivery in a market rattled by economic and political challenges.

Southeast Asia’s biggest ride-hailing and delivery firm has been trying to boost spending on its platform by incorporating artificial-intelligence features into its superapp and bundling its core ride-hailing, delivery and financial services.

With oil and gas prices soaring due to the war in the Middle...

Chinese multinational company Landbridge Group’s legal claim regarding Darwin Port – the first case ever brought against Australia at the international tribunal – is likely to yield a multi-year proceeding, which could serve as a buffer to provide some positive impacts for the Australia-China relationship, analysts said.

The owner of Landbridge, Ye Cheng, filed a case with the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investor Disputes (ICSID) requesting “arbitration proceedings” over...

The sounds of passing cars and birds chirping broke the morning stillness at Penang’s Northam Road Protestant Cemetery as visitors began filtering in after 8am.

Tour guide Zul Harris arrived in a purple shirt, grey trousers and a black flat cap to greet seven tourists waiting at the gate.

Inside, a narrow laterite path ran through the cemetery beneath old frangipani trees, whose dense canopy cast a muted green light over weathered headstones tilting at uneven angles.

Zul was leading a cemetery...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party on Monday wrested control of the state of West Bengal, an opposition stronghold, in a key election.

The Election Commission of India released partial results showing the Bharatiya Janata Party won at least 124 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly, and was leading in 83 others. Final results are expected on Monday evening.

It would be a significant breakthrough for Modi’s party, which had tried for years to dislodge the...