Asia - South China Morning Post

India’s newly unveiled budget signals a bid to cement its status as a global manufacturing powerhouse through a raft of policy measures, but analysts say the US$630 billion allocation will still require supplement as the country seeks new markets to diversify its trade.

The measures, rolled out in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech on Sunday, are seen to have addressed two critical issues – creating jobs for young workers, comprising the world’s largest youth pool, as well as...

An Australian woman died after her backpack caught on a ski lift on a Japanese mountain and she became suspended mid-air, police said on Monday.

The 22-year-old woman was preparing to get off the lift on Friday morning at Tsugaike Mountain Resort in Hakuba Valley, a popular ski destination in the central region of Nagano.

But a loose buckle from her backpack became caught in the lift chair, according to the lift operator, Tsugaike Gondola Lift.

The woman, who had secured the rucksack with a...

South Korean actor Kim Seon-ho’s agency, Fantagio, has issued a statement defending the star of Netflix’s Can This Love Be Translated? after he was accused of setting up a shell company to evade taxes.

The claims are similar to those levelled against actor-singer Cha Eun-woo, a fellow Fantagio artiste, just days before. Cha is under investigation for allegedly setting up a one-person corporation to avoid paying about 20 billion won (US$13.6 million) in taxes.

On Sunday, media outlet Sports...

Interpol issued a red notice for the arrest of one of Indonesia’s biggest oil tycoons over a US$285 million corruption scandal, police said late on Sunday.

Mohammad Riza Chalid, 66, nicknamed the “gasoline godfather”, is wanted in Indonesia for his alleged involvement in corruption at state-owned oil company Pertamina between 2018 and 2023, including for money laundering and manipulating a lease agreement.

Untung Widyatmoko, secretary of Interpol’s Indonesia National Central Bureau, said a red...

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has sought to douse public speculation after his name appeared in a newly released email exchange involving Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted US sex offender whose web of connections to the rich and powerful remains a source of scandal years after his death.

Anwar was among several world figures – including India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, billionaire Bill Gates and Britain’s disgraced former prince Andrew – mentioned in a tranche of Epstein-related...

Aviation leaders tackled barriers to growth and the impact of geopolitical tensions on the eve of the Singapore Airshow on Monday, while reaffirming pledges to reduce emissions.

Supply chain problems were hurting global airlines and would remain for some time to come, the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned industry leaders and regulators.

“This disruption continues to have a major ⁠impact,” IATA Director General Willie Walsh said at the Changi Aviation Summit,...

A woman in Indonesia’s Aceh province collapsed after being caned 140 times last week for extramarital sex and drinking alcohol in one of the harshest sharia punishments on record.

The woman and her partner were struck with a rattan cane in a public park in Aceh province on Thursday as dozens watched, Agence France-Presse reported. Each received 100 lashes for extramarital sex and another 40 for consuming alcohol, according to Banda Aceh sharia police chief Muhammad Rizal.

Three female officers...

Sediment containing rare earth was retrieved from ocean depths of 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) on a Japanese test mission, the government said on Monday, as it seeks to curb dependence on China for the valuable minerals.

“Details will be analysed, including exactly how much rare earth is contained” in the sample, government spokesman Kei Sato said, calling it “a meaningful achievement both in terms of economic security and comprehensive maritime development”.

Japan is accelerating a decade-old...

Pakistan’s government says the national cricket team will be allowed to take part in the coming T20 World Cup but must boycott its group game against arch-rival India.

India and Sri Lanka are co-hosts for the 20-team tournament, which starts on Saturday.

Pakistan will play all its games in Sri Lanka – including any in the knockout stage – because of political tensions with India.

The two teams are scheduled to meet in a Group A game in Colombo on February 15 in what is often a tournament...

Voters are less likely to support female politicians when they are wearing face masks, while there was no such effect for their male counterparts, according to a study by a Japanese university research team.

The findings, published last month ahead of Sunday’s general election, underscored the differences in how the public perceived politicians following the Covid-19 pandemic, when wearing masks became more common for politicians across the world.

“Differences in how masked faces are perceived...