Asia - South China Morning Post

Russia is seeking to leverage a global natural gas supply crunch to lure energy-starved South Asia into purchasing shipments from its US-sanctioned facilities, according to people familiar with the matter.

The shipments were being offered at a 40 per cent discount to spot prices last week via little-known intermediary companies based in China and Russia, said the people, who asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The sellers said that they could provide...

Singapore’s pushback against negotiating with Iran over access to the Strait of Hormuz has triggered a backlash from Malaysian politicians, who saw its statements as “lecturing” them on how best to secure safe passage through the vital waterway.

For the past month, Tehran had all but shut access to the strait – which handles about a fifth of global oil and gas shipments, bound mostly for Asia – in retaliation for deadly strikes by the US and Israel since they launched a war on Iran on February...

A wolf that escaped from a zoo in South Korea remained at large on Thursday, authorities said, prompting a local school to close over safety concerns as the search continued.

The male wolf – born in 2024 and weighing about 30kg (66lbs) – escaped from O-World, a zoo at a theme park in Daejeon, about 150km (90 miles) south of Seoul, on Wednesday, triggering a wide search in surrounding areas.

It remained at large on Thursday, authorities said, with a nearby school closing for safety.

“Daejeon...

Across much of the world, young people are turning away from military service. In Thailand, they are queuing up.

Voluntary enlistment in the Southeast Asian nation has climbed steadily over the past five years – so much so that in some districts, annual conscription quotas, which happen in April, are being filled from ranks of willing men alone.

It is somewhat paradoxical, considering the recent, lethal border clashes with Cambodia have made clear that military service is no longer a distant...

Japan’s famed cherry blossom season has become the latest battleground in a broader debate over overtourism, etiquette and how foreign visitors are portrayed when trouble flares.

That debate sharpened this week after the conservative Sankei newspaper ran a report accusing “unruly crowds” of foreigners of misbehaving during hanami – or cherry blossom viewing parties – across Japan, prompting renewed calls for visitors to show greater respect for local customs.

In an echo of wider demands to rein...

Hong Kong’s identity as a world-leading international hub has never been static. It has been built over time through openness, adaptability and, crucially, diversity. Recent discussions about the city’s talent strategy, including concerns that the overwhelming majority of applicants under key admission schemes come from mainland China, raise a deeper structural question: can Hong Kong remain truly global if its talent pipeline becomes increasingly concentrated?

This is not about downplaying the...

Government facilities in Singapore will take steps to reduce electricity consumption to boost the nation’s energy resilience as the conflict in the Middle East tightens global energy supplies.

Immediate measures include setting the air-conditioner at 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher, managing operating times for air-conditioning, lighting and lifts and unplugging or turning off non-essential equipment when not in use, the Ministry of Sustainability and Environment (MSE) and...

Frustration and desperation are growing in Japan amid a search for an 11-year-old boy who disappeared more than two weeks ago in a rural part of Kyoto prefecture, with 700 police officers scouring abandoned properties in the mountains surrounding the town of Nantan.

The lack of sightings and clues has triggered speculation – a good deal of it sensationalist – on the boy’s fate and focused renewed attention on the number of children who go missing every year in Japan.

The father of Yuki Adachi...

China has completed one of Southeast Asia’s largest solar power projects in Laos, at a time when regional economies are stepping up efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels amid global energy disruptions in the Persian Gulf.

The initial phase of the 1 gigawatt (GW) solar project was officially connected to the grid on Tuesday, becoming the country’s first large-scale mountainous photovoltaic installation.

Located in northern Laos, the installation is expected to generate about 1.65 billion...

North Korea conducted a slew of new weapons tests, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, including one involving an electromagnetic weapon system and a carbon fibre bomb.

The tests, which were conducted over three days from Monday to Wednesday, were overseen by General Kim Jong-sik, the KCNA report said.

The weapons tests come at a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

Pyongyang has moved closer to Moscow in recent years, supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, and is now...