Indonesia’s 4-nation defence pact: strategic coup or paper tiger?

The storm, Arnab, is forecast to make landfall Wednesday on the country’s eastern coast and then cut inland and head north toward Nepal.

A court in India has ordered the ⁠takedown of an online documentary posted by Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and billionaire Gautam Adani of cronyism, after Adani Enterprises sued, calling it defamatory. Adani’s flagship firm, Adani Enterprises, told the High Court in the eastern city of Kolkata that the documentary, which garnered millions of views on social media in recent days, was riddled with false content and had prompted ‌inquiries from some...

The collision of two Philippine Air Force training aircraft that killed four pilots has raised questions about whether the service’s training, maintenance and safety systems can keep pace with Manila’s ambitions to acquire more advanced combat aircraft. The crash, which occurred during a fly-by rehearsal at Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas province, south of Manila, on Friday has renewed calls for a comprehensive review of the Air Force’s ageing fleet, pilot instruction, maintenance...

In one of the world’s least affordable housing markets, high-density housing is a backdrop for exploring superstition and socioeconomic anxiety.

South Korea’s embrace of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs appears particularly pronounced among younger adults, with roughly one in six Gen Z respondents reporting they had used or been prescribed the medication in 2025, according to a new report. The 2026 Korea Wellness Report, released by KB Financial Group on Sunday and cited by The Korea Times, surveyed 2,000 men and women aged 25 to 69 between July and August. Across all age brackets, the overall uptake stood at 10.3 per cent. Gen Z adults – defined...

A bus fitted out ⁠with oxygen tanks is ⁠providing a sanctuary in a ⁠city on Indonesia’s Borneo island, where people are choking from forest-fire-induced haze and the blazes show no sign of letting up. Indonesia regularly battles seasonal forest fires, predominantly on Sumatra and Borneo islands, but this year the infernos are the most intense in ‌more than a decade. An intense El Nino weather phenomenon has driven up temperatures, leaving the country’s vast forests and peatlands more vulnerable...

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung has been urged by critics to play the latest instalment in the blockbuster Call of Duty video game franchise to better appreciate the need for defences against an invasion by the North. The call from opposition lawmakers follows the release on Friday of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, a first-person shooter depicting a full-scale surprise attack by North Korea on the South. Players fight North Korean troops as Park Hyun-jun, a private in the South Korean...

As the sun sets over Fiji’s tiny Serua Island, its climate-threatened inhabitants soak in one of the reasons they have rejected attempts to relocate their village – the “US$100 million views”. The island looks like a utopia from the mainland, two steep palm-covered knolls sandwiching its low-lying centre, flanked by coral reefs and rich fishing grounds. But it is on the island itself that the risk from rising seas becomes clearer, with a concrete sea wall providing the only defence against waves...

More than one in 10 Malaysian men have borrowed money to pay for dates, while nearly six in 10 usually pick up the entire bill, a survey has found. The findings come as rising living costs place a financial strain on romance in Malaysia, where money worries are increasingly complicating plans for marriage and starting a family. According to the Dating Expenditure Survey in Malaysia, released on Tuesday by independent policy research firm LEGASI Research, 13.2 per cent of male respondents...

The estranged half-brother of Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, has called their father a “disgusting monster” after handing over a trove of alleged child abuse material belonging to their shared parent to police in the Philippines. The four boxes containing mobile phones, computer equipment and other personal belongings were handed over to the Philippine National Police’s Women and Children Protection Centre last week by Thomas Markle Jnr, who was previously his father’s full-time carer. Markle...

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. Filipinos split on Marcos’ sea handling amid row over Chinese envoy’s remarks Filipinos are almost evenly divided over the Marcos administration’s handling of the maritime dispute with China, even as nearly three in four favour diplomacy over confrontation, according to...