The Philippine Senate, sitting as an impeachment ⁠court, approved the ⁠prosecution’s withdrawal of most of ⁠the charges against Vice-President Sara Duterte on Tuesday, in a trial that could kill her hopes to run for president in 2028. Prosecutors have been presenting evidence against ‌Duterte since July on charges that she betrayed public trust, amassed unexplained wealth, violated the constitution and committed corruption, bribery and other high crimes. Lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro told the...

Fiji’s Justice Minister Siromi Turaga stepped down from cabinet on Tuesday after an intimate video of him went viral online – the second such scandal to rock the Pacific island nation’s government. Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who previously sought credible “proof” before taking action against Turaga, said he accepted his colleague’s resignation. “You mentioned him? Go ahead and report him to me and the Online Safety Commissioner, and I will get proof from that authority with you making the...

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. Marcos says Philippines ‘resigned’ to managing South China Sea dispute The Philippines is “resigned” to managing its long-standing dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea and avoiding dangerous escalations, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said. 2. ‘A show of...

The police in the city of Incheon said they had arrested one man and were investigating his motive.

Rising demand for copper has fueled interest in Bougainville’s Panguna mine, which has been shut for four decades. Yet some fear a rush to reopen risks return to violence.

Protests against sweeping revisions to India’s voter rolls have broken out in New Delhi. The police met earlier protests with an extraordinary show of force.

It was a detour that saved his life. Malaysian Low Hock Meng, a 71-year-old veteran trekker, had set off on his own in Nepal. He wanted to explore the Tamang trail, Langtang Valley and Gosaikunda. Along his journey, he made the decision to visit the Nagathali viewpoint for a glimpse of Tibet on August 25. Low then made his way down towards Thuman en route to Lingling in Nepal’s Bagmati province on August 26. That is when he realised that something was seriously wrong. When he looked at Syapru...

The raucous demonstrations by opposition groups on Monday followed days of an effective lockdown and mass detentions of young protesters by security forces.

Mainland Chinese investors bought more Hong Kong stocks than they sold for a fourth consecutive month in September, with purchases accelerating despite persistent headwinds from elevated US Treasury yields and oil prices. Onshore traders poured a net HK$60.8 billion (US$7.7 billion) into Hong Kong’s stocks via the Stock Connect programme last month, up from HK$10.4 billion in August, according to financial data provider Wind. Net buying reached HK$134.1 billion in the third quarter. Mainland...

For Singaporean civil servant Clare*, finding a suitable lifelong partner has been an uphill battle. Swiping on dating apps soon became a chore after multiple unsuccessful first dates, so when the government launched its own platform, the 32-year-old was all for it. “It’s like: ‘Why not?’, and I think it does have a few screening procedures so it might save you some trouble like having to deal with impersonators or people who do not match with their advertised profiles,” she said. Singapore...

Ripe mangosteen and rambutan hang unpicked from trees in eastern Thailand, where a shortage of migrant workers is forcing growers to decide which crops are valuable enough to harvest and which will be left to rot. For Jomsak Putirattana, who also grows durian in Chanthaburi province, the departure of his five Cambodian workers after a border dispute disrupted crossings has intensified competition for labour. Daily wages have more than doubled in some cases, from about 350 baht to 400 baht (US$10...

China Mobile, one of the country’s state-backed telecoms giants, has tripled the capacity of its largest intelligent computing hub in northern Inner Mongolia, amid Beijing’s push to boost digital infrastructure to power the country’s artificial intelligence ambitions. The expansion of its data centre in Hohhot was recently completed, with total processing capacity increased to 20,100 petaflops, according to a report by Inner Mongolia Daily on Monday. That was triple its previous capacity of...