North Korea tests submarine-launched cruise missiles, heightening tensions with Seoul

Lorelai Jacinto had worked as a domestic helper in Riyadh for two and a half years before she flew home to the Philippines on September 19, increasingly worried that the conflict in the Middle East was making it unsafe to stay. “When the conflict with Iran happened, I started feeling like it wasn’t safe there any more because I was right there in Riyadh myself, so the bombing, the missiles, were closer to us,” Jacinto told This Week in Asia. “I got worried, I got scared that maybe I wouldn’t be...

Confronted by a fuel crisis beyond its control, Bangladesh’s government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars each month to insulate its people from surging prices. But as growth slows and inflation rises, the new government’s reform plans are being tested before it has had much time to clean up the country’s bad banks or retool its young, abundant – but underemployed – workforce for the AI era. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman took office on February 17, elected on promises of sweeping...

Malaysian property tycoon Lee Yeow Seng is making waves as one of the most aggressive buyers of commercial real estate in Singapore, and he is not done yet. His IOI Properties Group is in exclusive talks and due diligence to purchase two property assets – Chijmes, a retail venue inside a former Catholic convent in its civic district, and the nearby Capitol Kempinski hotel, CEO Lee said in an interview. He declined to disclose how much a final agreement will value the two assets at, citing...

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 a return to violence.

A stabbing rampage by a repeat violent offender wearing an electronic ankle monitor has raised questions about whether South Korea’s system can adequately supervise those deemed high-risk and prevent attacks before they happen. The 59-year-old suspect told investigators he had become frustrated over what he perceived as mistreatment at a hospital, police said on Wednesday. Three criminal profilers were helping investigators establish the motive for Tuesday’s attack at a shopping centre in...

Singapore will “keep its options open” on taking legal action against errant companies as air quality in the city state deteriorates to very unhealthy levels. Singapore is collecting data on the haze as it weighs possible action under its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, the Straits Times reported on Wednesday, citing Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu. The law, enacted in 2014, targets those responsible for causing or condoning fires if the resulting haze causes the...

Japanese companies have faced a growing wave of cyberattacks in recent weeks, exposing millions of customers’ records as analysts warn that artificial intelligence is helping hackers exploit long-standing security weaknesses and overcome language barriers that once offered some protection. More than 500 breaches of corporate systems were reported in the year to this month, surpassing the total for all of 2025, the Yomiuri newspaper reported last week. On October 7, a ransomware attack on IDC...

The Australian defence ministry has launched an investigation into how a video recording device ended up in the cabin of a navy ship. The device was discovered aboard the HMAS Leeuwin, docked in the northeastern city of Cairns in the state of Queensland. Senator Jacqui Lambie – a prominent advocate for the Australian armed forces – said she had received a message from a former member of the navy claiming concealed cameras had been found in the women’s showers. “Even more disturbing are claims...

The Japan Fair Trade Commission’s secretary general issued an unusual public warning against cartel-like activity amid rising prices.

By pressing Central Asian governments to protect Uyghurs and resist Beijing’s coercion, Secretary Rubio can demonstrate that America’s moral leadership still matters.

Military communication channels become bargaining chips precisely when a crisis makes them indispensable.