Asia - South China Morning Post

The US and Israel’s war against Iran is casting an unusually long shadow over India’s next round of state elections, stoking fears of an energy shock and fresh uncertainty for millions of migrant workers in the Middle East.

As voters prepare to cast ballots in Assam and Kerala on Thursday, and in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu later this month, concerns about higher energy costs, tighter cooking gas supplies and the fate of workers in the Gulf have given the campaign an unusual international...

Singapore’s economy will inevitably be hit by the global energy crunch even though it is in a better position to deal with the crisis compared with its neighbours, according to analysts, as the city state unveiled a raft of measures to help households and businesses.

The conflict in the Middle East has roiled supply chains and sent fuel prices soaring in Southeast Asia, with governments scrambling to enforce measures such as fuel caps and work-from-home mandates.

Singapore ministers in...

The Strait of Hormuz blockage is being felt far and wide. While the world struggles with higher pump prices, key energy exporters such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar face severe economic setbacks. In Gulf states serving as air hubs, expats and affluent locals are scrambling for the exit.

The discovery of oil transformed Arabian deserts into rich petro-states. Knowing this wealth would not flow forever, the states leveraged their strategic locations to become air traffic hubs....

Most Southeast Asians would choose China as a strategic partner over the US if forced to pick, as analysts attribute the findings of an annual survey to recent geopolitical and trade uncertainties driven by Washington’s policies.

But analysts warn against interpreting the respondents’ sentiment in the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute survey as a zero-sum game between the superpowers, saying that Asean is looking to diversify partners in a multipolar world.

When asked which superpower the region...

Filipino farmers like Romeo Wagayan have ⁠been left with little choice ⁠but to let their vegetables rot in the ⁠field rather than sell them at a loss, as rising oil prices linked to the conflict in the Middle East drive up the cost of harvesting, labour and transport.

“There’s nothing we can do,” said Wagayan, a 57-year-old vegetable farmer in the northern Philippine province of Benguet.

“If we harvest ‌it, our losses only increase because of labour, transportation and packing costs. We don’t...

A daughter of Malaysia’s late former finance minister Daim Zainuddin was charged in a Kuala Lumpur court on Tuesday over allegations that she failed to declare shareholdings to anti-corruption investigators, in the latest escalation of a long-running probe into the wealth of one of the country’s most prominent political families.

The case against Asnida Abdul Daim is part of the investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) into assets linked to her father, a two-time finance...

Vietnam’s Communist Party boss To Lam was elected president by the National Assembly on Tuesday, capping his bid to centralise authority in a nation where senior cadres have traditionally governed collectively.

In less than two years as party chief, the 68-year-old has swept aside rivals and transformed the country through an aggressive reform drive – literally redrawing the map as he combined provinces and slashed bureaucracy.

Lam has set an ambitious target of 10 per cent annual growth for the...

One of Australia’s most-decorated soldiers was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly murdering unarmed prisoners while serving in Afghanistan, police and local media said following a sweeping war crimes investigation.

The Australian Federal Police said they arrested a 47-year-old former Australian soldier, who was widely named in local media as Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith.

Federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said the soldier had been linked to a string of murders while serving...

The latest indirect exchange of comments between North and South Korea has raised hopes of easing tensions on the Korean peninsula even as conflict roils other parts of the globe.

Hours after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expressed regret over drone incursions into the North on Monday, Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued a warm statement.

The powerful politician welcomed Lee’s remarks as “extremely fortunate and a wise move”, citing her brother as praising Lee’s...

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. UAE squeezes Iranian economic lifeline in retaliation for attacks

2. Untouchable no more: Nepal to apologise to Dalits for first time

3. Bali rocked by spate of murder cases – is Indonesian island more dangerous now?

4. Australia receives fuel export guarantees from...