Asia - South China Morning Post

Pakistan’s claim of killing at least 80 militants in strikes on Afghanistan is “false”, a Taliban government security source told Agence France-Presse on Sunday.

“The figure of 80 martyrs given by the Pakistan regime is false and imaginary,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s deputy interior minister, offered no evidence for his claim in an interview with Geo News that at least 70 militants were killed in the strikes. Pakistan’s state-run media later reported...

Malaysia’s anti-corruption chief Azam Baki was summoned by a special committee set up to probe his stock ownership to explain the matter on Thursday, as authorities respond to calls for him to be investigated.

The committee is examining the compliance and regularity of Azam’s share ownership based on the initial report it received, Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, chief secretary to the government, said in a statement on Sunday. It is still in the process of evaluating all evidence obtained and will call...

Resorts are near capacity in Pattaya, Bangkok restaurants are doing a roaring trade and the strict time slots to visit the Louis Vuitton pop-up “hotel” in the Thai capital are fully booked.

As this year’s Lunar New Year holiday draws to a close, Thailand’s tourist businesses are totting up the receipts from what many hope will be an enduring rebound in Chinese visitors.

More than 30,000 Chinese visitors have arrived each day since the start of January. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)...

North Korea aired a new propaganda film on TV about a failed assassination attempt on the country’s supreme leader, with South Korean media describing it as an “unprecedented work addressing a taboo”.

The film Days and Nights of Confrontation, which had been screened at cinemas in Pyongyang since last year, was released for the first time on state-run Korean Central Television in January.

The latest piece depicting a plot to kill Kim Jong-il, the late father of incumbent leader Kim Jong-un, by...

Yik Wai Chee doesn’t think of himself as a believer.

The 33-year-old senior executive at a Malaysia-based AI company is the kind of person who deals in data and decision-making frameworks, not destiny.

Yet for years, he has consulted bazi, the ancient Chinese system of elemental forecasting, as a kind of strategic gut check on his life.

“For me, it is just a long-term ‘luck check’ to see if there are general strategies I can adapt to get through some life challenges,” he said. “If it doesn’t...

The vapes used to be obvious. Bright displays of flavoured liquid, a shop just down the road, a transaction as unremarkable as buying shampoo. Batrisyia, 28, remembers how easy it was.

Those days are gone. Or rather, in Malaysia at least, the trade has moved under the table.

“It’s definitely less open now,” said Batrisyia, a Johor native who asked to be identified by a pseudonym for fear of backlash. “You don’t see big vape displays like before, and we can’t buy online any more. But it hasn’t...

India and Brazil agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after talks in New Delhi with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

“The agreement on critical minerals and rare earths is a major step towards building resilient supply chains,” Modi said.

Brazil has the world’s second-largest reserves of critical minerals, which are used in everything from electric vehicles, solar panels and smartphones to jet engines and...

As Malaysians flock to Ramadan bazaars and breaking fast gatherings, the health ministry is reminding the public to observe tuberculosis (TB) precautions, especially in crowded and enclosed spaces.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the ministry said a total of 596 new TB cases were reported nationwide during the sixth epidemiological week.

The statement said the latest detections brought the cumulative number of tuberculosis cases to 3,161 across Malaysia.

“Crowded, enclosed and poorly...

The Philippines has fallen in a global corruption perception ranking, as allegations of financial wrongdoings and court cases surrounding a multibillion-peso flood-control programme have deepened doubts about its governance and dented investor confidence.

Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International said the Philippines ranked 120th out of 182 countries and territories in its 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, down six places from the previous year.

The country received a score of 32 on a...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is at last showing a bit of spirit. While it might not yet be attacking the egregious economic and financial antics of US President Donald Trump, it is at least turning its attention to the fiscal foibles of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

This matters more now than has been the case in recent years, or even decades, because what Japan does in terms of its fiscal and monetary policy is beginning to have international repercussions.

What political...