Asia - South China Morning Post

Japan’s first female prime minister is facing a growing backlash from women new to political activism, as alarm spreads over her government’s push to revise the country’s pacifist constitution and expand its role in arms exports.

The women are part of a protest wave that has grown from a few thousand people in late February to tens of thousands outside the National Diet in Tokyo, where demonstrators have rallied against constitutional revision, weapons exports and what they see as Japan’s drift...

A French teenager has been charged with mischief and public nuisance in Singapore for licking a straw and putting it back in an orange juice vending machine, court documents showed on Monday.

Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 18, allegedly filmed himself “licking a straw and placing it back at the vending machine”, uploaded the video on Instagram knowing that it “would or would probably cause annoyance to the public”, according to the documents.

The teenager is studying in Singapore, according to...

Questions over Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s health, amplified by supporters of former president Rodrigo Duterte, have reached the Supreme Court, turning a dispute over presidential fitness into a rare test of constitutional disclosure.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court gave Marcos 10 days, or until early May, to comment on a petition regarding his state of health.

The court was reacting to an “urgent petition” for a “writ of mandamus” filed by political allies and supporters of...

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has dropped his legal bid to serve the remainder of his corruption sentence under house arrest, closing off a closely watched appeal tied to his 2024 royal pardon.

Najib, 72, is serving a six-year jail sentence in Kajang Prison after his original 12-year term for the misappropriation of 42 million ringgit (US$10.6 million) from SRC International was halved by the Pardons Board in 2024.

SRC International was formerly a unit of 1MDB, the state fund at...

At least ⁠14 people ⁠were killed after lightning ⁠strikes hit several parts of Bangladesh, officials said on Monday, as seasonal thunderstorms swept across the country.

The deaths were ‌reported from several districts after sudden storms brought heavy rain and intense lightning on Sunday.

Most of the victims were farmers working in open fields and labourers caught in ⁠exposed areas, local authorities said. Several other people were ‌injured and taken to nearby hospitals, with some in critical...

Customers of Ikesu Onsen, a traditional Japanese bathhouse in Tsushima in Aichi prefecture, have had to delay their daily dips due to the Iran war.

The sento, or public bathhouse, has been forced to push back its opening time by an hour since late March because of an unstable supply of fuel oil, according to Kyodo.

Monthly delivery has been halved from about a tonne, leading the number of customers of the family-run 97-year-old sento to fall to around 10 per day.

“It’s a major blow,” its...

Twenty-two Sri Lankan monks returning from Thailand were arrested on Sunday at the main international airport with 110kg (242lbs) of powerful cannabis, officials said.

A Sri Lanka Customs spokesman said the group, returning home after a four-day holiday in the Thai capital, had kush – a potent, plant-based strain of cannabis – hidden in their luggage.

“Each carried about five kilos of the narcotic concealed within false walls in their luggage,” the spokesman said, adding that the monks had been...

North Korea and Russia are moving to consolidate their military ties at a time of deepening global instability, with both sides using the Ukraine war as a symbol of their unwavering alliance.

Sunday’s unveiling of a memorial museum in Pyongyang for North Korean soldiers killed in the war was also aimed at showing the two countries were in lockstep over their anti-West stance, according to observers.

The partnership stemmed from their converging needs – Russia’s demand for manpower and materiel,...

A large ice chunk is blocking the climbing route to Everest’s summit, risking delays in the summit season at the world’s highest peak, according to officials.

A team of highly skilled mountaineers, known in Nepal as “icefall doctors”, began fixing ropes and ladders on Mount Everest last month to prepare for the coming spring climbing season.

But a dangerous serac – a block of glacial ice – above the already treacherous Khumbu icefall has disrupted their work for nearly two weeks.

“We are waiting...

The ruling administration of Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan state is on the brink of collapse after a key ally withdrew support on Monday in a spat that has shone the spotlight on increasingly fragile ties within Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s coalition government.

Anwar has been facing growing pushback from allies and critics alike in recent months, ahead of national polls due in less than two years.

Parties across the aisle are doubling down on contentious issues to bolster support from their...