The Indonesian government is facing mounting pressure to scrap the value-added tax (VAT) on sanitary pads and other menstrual hygiene products, with critics arguing it adds to the financial burden for women from low-income families already struggling to buy basic necessities. While the 11 per cent tax on such products is not new, the issue has gained traction amid public anger over rising living costs. Students took to the streets of Jakarta last week to protest against the government’s handling...

Since returning to the White House in January last year, US President Donald Trump has upended the global trading order with his scattergun approach to tariffs and launched a war on Iran that sent oil prices soaring. On Tuesday, American voters hurting from nagging inflation and the high cost of living that have defined Trump’s second term have the opportunity to deliver their verdict on his Republican Party in the midterm elections. Polls suggest that the Republicans, who currently control both...

An Indian tourist was killed and a New Zealand national injured when two helicopters collided and crashed while attempting to land in Nepal’s Everest region on Tuesday, police said. There are few roads in the Himalayas, and helicopters are widely used to transport tourists, climbers and supplies, as well as carry out emergency evacuations. Nepal’s challenging terrain and rapidly changing weather make aviation operations particularly hazardous. The small helicopters operated by Fishtail Air and...

Reddit and an Australian digital advocacy group are claiming a law that restricts children younger than 16 from popular platforms infringes on their constitutional rights.

A rally organised by Jakarta police to promote national unity has instead raised questions about whether the Indonesian government is using public events to blunt dissent, with questions raised over the identities of some participants after one admitted in a television interview that he had been paid to attend while posing as a university student. The controversy has fuelled criticism of what analysts describe as an intensifying effort to drown out opposing voices, while drawing attention to the...

It’s not just rare earths. China is making it harder for other countries to shed their dependence on its solar, drone and drugmaking technology.

A new public opinion poll released on the eve of the US midterm elections indicates that while few Japanese favour President Donald Trump’s policies, most say they wish Japan had a “strong” head of state who could make difficult decisions. Analysts suggest that while many Japanese believe a strong leader will stand up for the nation on the world stage and not shy away from bold policies, this does not mean they want someone with the bombast, showmanship and arrogance associated with...

An organiser behind a fundraiser for a boy whose parents died in an alleged hit-and-run accident in Singapore has vowed transparency, thanking donors for their “overwhelming” kindness amid debate over the campaign’s authenticity. Farah Diyanah Razid, who identified herself as a family member of the victims on the crowdfunding platform Give.Asia, said all contributions collected through the drive were intended solely for the child’s welfare and future. The clarification came after social media...

Suspected militants riding a motorcycle shot and killed two police officers assigned to protect polio workers during a door-to-door vaccination campaign on Tuesday in northwestern Pakistan, officials said. The drive-by shooting in Mohmand, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan, also wounded a third officer. The police officers were travelling to a nearby village to guard vaccination teams when they came under fire, police officer Ayaz Khan said. The attackers fled...

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. Indonesia’s haze crisis becomes rallying point for student anger at Prabowo The protests, taking place in several spots around the capital, have been organised by student leaders from the University of Indonesia along with a coalition of student organisations from...

Malaysia’s unity government is facing an increasingly uncomfortable test ahead of the Melaka state election, with parties governing together at the federal level reverting to old rivalries as they compete for votes in a contest that could foreshadow shifting alliances before a national poll due by February 2028. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition is under pressure to put on a strong showing against federal partners Umno, which is widely expected to retain power...

The discovery of dozens of pet remains dumped in sacks along a roadside in the Philippines has sparked public outrage and raised questions over whether the country’s animal welfare laws adequately protect pets after death. A pet crematorium in Bacoor, Cavite province – nearly three hours’ drive from the dumping ground in neighbouring Bulacan province – has been ordered to shut following complaints from pet owners, as police investigate allegations that the business improperly disposed of animals...

Alan Macfarlane, a British anthropologist, historian and Emeritus Professor at the University of Cambridge, known as “Grandpa Cute” in China, answered questions at an SCMP Plus exclusive in-person event in Hong Kong on October 26.

China’s “Lipstick King” has traded make-up swatches for artificial intelligence. Top live-streamer Li Jiaqi on Monday evening teamed up with an executive from Alibaba Group Holding to pitch AI subscriptions, selling nearly 100,000 monthly packages in just 30 minutes, according to data provided by the e-commerce giant. The broadcast on Taobao and Tmall – Alibaba’s largest domestic online marketplace – marked the first time generative AI products have taken centre stage during the annual Singles’...

Singapore will work with Asean member ⁠states to strengthen ⁠the implementation of ⁠an agreement on transboundary haze when it chairs the regional bloc next year, the country’s environment minister said on Tuesday. It will also work with the bloc to establish ‌the Asean Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control in Indonesia, said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu. In response to questions in parliament, Fu said the coordinating centre will strengthen...

Malaysia’s halal safeguards are under scrutiny after filthy conditions and suspected slaughtering breaches at a chicken plant sparked demands to explain how it ignored warnings and operated for years without certification. The hygiene failures at the Puchong facility came to light after authorities seized more than 6.5 tonnes of chicken during a raid last week. The factory, which processes more than 40,000 chickens daily and supplies businesses across the Klang Valley in Kuala Lumpur, is accused...

Hong Kong’s plan to start an interbank tokenised gold transaction project marks a crucial step in its quest to make itself a key global hub for the precious metal, according to analysts. The city planned to launch a gold token representing a standard 400-ounce gold bar, referencing HAU, Hong Kong’s ticker for gold prices launched earlier this year, said Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu during the annual Fintech Week event on Monday. He said the effort...

With a U.S. investigation into intellectual property violations set for conclusion at the end of the month, Hanoi could face fresh trade penalties.

This week’s $6.3 billion hack of Binance is the largest to hit crypto, and would be the most that North Koreans have stolen in years of brazen cybercrime.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it was taking steps to reissue passports for all 168 people affected by an online leak of sensitive personal information, including President Lee Jae Myung and first lady Kim Hea-kyung, as police investigate how the data was exposed. “The foreign ministry is swiftly taking measures to ensure the smooth reissuance of passports for all affected individuals, including the president and first lady,” ministry spokesman Park Doo-soon said during a...

The impeachment trial of Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio may soon draw to a close after the prosecution decided to drop several of her charges, a move that legal experts have said is intended to speed up the trial and secure a conviction by focusing on the strongest evidence against her. Beyond the trial, the decision could have significant political implications for the 2028 presidential race, with a swift verdict potentially removing a strong candidate, according to analysts. On...

A 29-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to five years and nine months’ jail in Australia on Monday after he killed a man who stole a backpack from his rental car. Lincoln Ng Jing Kai chased the man in a car and knocked him off his e-bike before driving over him. He was originally charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter in August after prosecutors agreed to accept the lesser charge. Sentencing him, Judge Terence Palmer said Ng’s actions “involved an element of taking the law...

"Its flexibility allows Thai policymakers to justify different, and sometimes contradictory, strategies under the same label."

North Korea is rapidly advancing its drone warfare capabilities by drawing lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war, even as South Korea’s efforts to keep pace remain bogged down by procurement delays and bureaucratic red tape, observers warn. They also caution that cryptocurrency theft has become a crucial source of funding for Pyongyang’s weapons programmes, following US Federal Bureau of Investigation allegations that North Korean state-backed hackers stole more than US$6 billion from Binance, the...

In recent months, reports have surfaced of Indonesian nationals fighting on the frontlines in occupied Ukraine.

North Korea on Tuesday slammed the FBI’s allegations that Pyongyang was behind the theft of US$6 billion from cryptocurrency platform Binance, with Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister labelling it a “grave political provocation”. Kim Yo-jong, in a statement released on Tuesday by the KCNA state news agency, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s claim was “absurd rhetoric and nothing new”, given earlier US allegations that North Korea was behind last year’s major hack of Bybit. “It is a grave...

“In Kashmir, Islam and politics have always remained inseparable. We can smell the link this time too.”

It would have been difficult for the leaders who attended the first Organization of Turkic States summit in 1992 to imagine the group's progress in the years since.