Asia - South China Morning Post

After a seven-hour drive to a trading post in northern Philippines, 35-year-old farmer Elmer Ullani took home nothing but an empty petrol tank even after selling 10 tonnes of cabbage.

Ullani, who hails from the northern town of Tinoc in Ifugao province, said he only managed to sell his produce – yielded over three harvest rounds – at a paltry rate of 8 to 9 pesos (15 US cents) per kilogram, earning him a total of 90,000 pesos (US$1,482).

All of his earnings went towards covering his fuel...

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Monday she will consider holding talks with the Iranian leadership at an “appropriate” time based on the national interest as tensions remain high in the Middle East.

Takaichi’s remarks come as prospects for a US-Iran meeting mediated by Pakistan remain uncertain, with US President Donald Trump later renewing threats to hit Iranian energy infrastructure if a deal is not reached.

“I will judge the appropriate timing for holding talks based on the...

The energy crisis caused by the Iran war could push food prices up by as much as 50 per cent in Malaysia, trade associations have warned, as soaring fuel costs threaten to wipe out already narrow margins for roadside stalls and restaurants feeding the country’s outsize appetite for eating out.

Malaysia’s government coffers have already taken a hit due to fallout from the conflict, with local fuel subsidy costs estimated to spike by more than fourfold to about 3.2 billion ringgit (US$795 million)...

Myanmar cleared the way on Monday for coup-leading General Min Aung Hlaing to become president and maintain his rule in civilian garb, with lawmakers nominating him as a vice-presidential candidate and the junta replacing him as military commander.

Min Aung Hlaing has ruled Myanmar since 2021 when he ordered a coup toppling the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi – detaining the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, dissolving her party and triggering civil war.

After five years of hardline rule, he...

Spare a thought for investors seeking shelter from the energy shock caused by the war in Iran. There are no sanctuaries. Government bonds, a traditional beneficiary of a flight to safety, have fallen in response to fears central banks will be forced to raise interest rates to combat a surge in inflation. Even gold, long viewed as a refuge in times of geopolitical uncertainty, has fallen about 15 per cent this month following a blistering rally.

The safe haven credentials of Dubai have taken a...

A horrific road crash in Malaysia’s port city of Klang that left a motorcyclist dead on Sunday has spiralled into racially charged commentary after initially being treated as a drink-driving case.

Police said the crash happened at about 11.40am on Jalan Raya Barat, when an allegedly speeding Honda City driven by a local man in his twenties overtook several vehicles, crossed into the opposite lane and struck a motorcycle coming from the other direction.

The rider, a local man in his thirties, was...

A Thai undertaker’s extreme mission to prove he was not hoarding fuel went viral over the weekend after he brought a coffin containing a body to a petrol station to convince attendants the extra fuel he needed was for cremation, not black market resale.

Thais have been pressed into energy-saving mode by the US-Israel war on Iran, which has throttled oil and gas supplies to much of Asia.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul insists there is enough fuel for over three months, while the...

A former babysitter has been sentenced to one year in jail and fined 15,000 ringgit (US$3,800) by a court in Malaysia for negligence resulting in a toddler’s death.

Judge N. Kanageswari on Monday also ordered Khairunnisa Ahmad Damamhuri, 41, to serve an additional four months if she fails to pay the fine, and to complete 48 hours of community service within six months of her release.

She was also placed on a one-year good behaviour bond of 5,000 ringgit without collateral.

Khairunnisa was...

Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in ⁠southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medical staff were killed in Israeli strikes.

Two peacekeepers were killed on Monday after an explosion from an unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon, the United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL said in a statement. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast.

Earlier, another Indonesian soldier...

Recent reports of Japan exploring the feasibility of using the remote Pacific island of Minamitorishima as a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste have raised concern at home and abroad.

An official request to carry out a survey assessing the island’s suitability for the facility was presented to the mayor of Ogasawara village, which nominally administers the island some 1,900km (1,200 miles) southeast of Tokyo, earlier this month.

Similar requests have been made of two towns in...