Members of the ruling LDP fear Ishiba’s planned UN speech will offer a more sweeping WWII apology than any previous Japanese leader

Outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba plans to deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly later this month when he is expected to share his views on the causes of World War II, prompting concerns among conservatives that he may offer a more sweeping apology than any previous Liberal Democratic Party leader.

Ishiba announced on Sunday that he would step down, with an election to replace him as party president and prime minister of the nation expected to take place in early October.

Analysts say he now feels freer to express his personal opinions on the origins of the war in the Pacific theatre, even though his views may clash with those of his fellow LDP members.

Ishiba seems to be walking a fine lineStephen Nagy, international-relations professor

“I am deeply concerned about the statement that Ishiba is planning to make,” said Yoichi Shimada, a former LDP supporter who won a seat for the nationalist Conservative Party of Japan in last October’s lower house election, noting Ishiba’s past comments on Japan’s actions before and during the war.

Japan “made some very bad decisions” in the early decades of the last century, Shimada told This Week in Asia, but it was not alone in making significant geopolitical errors of judgment.

“I do not think that Ishiba has a good or full understanding of history, and I also believe that he has given in to China’s efforts to promote a mentality of ‘war guilt’ among Japanese people,” he added.

There were discussions within the government over Ishiba releasing a statement on August 15 to coincide with the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender, in the same way that previous Japanese leaders have done on past significant anniversaries, most recently Shinzo Abe in August 2015.

Ultimately, Ishiba was dissuaded from issuing such a statement, which requires the support of the cabinet.

The Yomiuri Shimbun, quoting sources close to the prime minister, said Ishiba questioned why the word “remorse” was not included in the draft of a speech that he gave at the government’s annual memorial service on August 15. Japanese officials subsequently added “remorse” – the first time the term was included in an address at the service since 2012, when it was used by Yoshihiko Noda, then the leader of the left-leaning Democratic Party.

Ishiba has reiterated that he feels a responsibility to issue a formal statement in which he would state that “it is necessary to prevent war from ever happening again”. He has said that such a personal comment would touch on why Japan failed to avoid its “reckless” entry into the war.

The Japan Times, citing a government official, first reported that Ishiba might talk about the end of WWII at the UN General Assembly later this month.

In August 2015, Abe issued a statement marking the end of the war. Abe called on Japan to “calmly reflect upon the road to war, the path we have taken since it ended and the era of the 20th century”.

He added that the country “must learn from the lessons of history the wisdom for our future” and stated that “Japan took the wrong course and advanced along the road to war”.

“On the 70th anniversary of the end of the war,” Abe said. “I bow my head deeply before the souls of all those who perished both at home and abroad. I express my feelings of profound grief and my eternal, sincere condolences.”

The statement singled out nations including China and South Korea for expressions of regret, but emphasised that after repeated apologies, modern-day Japan was not the same country it was 70 years prior.

“In Japan, the post-war generations now exceed 80 per cent of its population,” Abe said. “We must not let our children, grandchildren and even further generations to come, who have nothing to do with that war, be predestined to apologise. Still, even so, we Japanese, across generations, must squarely face the history of the past.”

Shimada, who was an adviser to Abe and a personal friend, said he had “reservations” about sections of the statement that he believed “went too far”, but added that it should be accepted as Tokyo’s final position on the conflict.

“As Abe said, future generations should not be forced to apologise again and again every year, but I worry that if Ishiba announces a new position, it will go well beyond the 2015 statement,” he said. “And no matter what is said, some countries will never stop using the past to attack modern-day Japan for their own ends.”

A former defence minister, Ishiba is known for a personal interest in the years of Japan’s militarist expansion across Asia and the Pacific. In March, he went to Iwo Jima, where some of the fiercest fighting of the entire war took place. The following month, he travelled to Caliraya in the Philippine province of Laguna, where he became the first Japanese prime minister to visit a monument commemorating Japanese who died in fighting in the Philippines during the war.

Ishiba has also paid his respects at battlefields in Okinawa and expressed his intention to travel to the Palau island of Peleliu, where some 10,000 Japanese soldiers were killed.

In March, Ishiba announced that he wanted to set up a panel of historians and other experts to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s defeat by examining the full circumstances that led up to Tokyo’s declaration of war. Senior members of the LDP pushed back against the idea, which never took off.

“Ishiba seems to be walking a fine line,” said Stephen Nagy, a professor of international relations at Tokyo’s International Christian University. “A lot of what he is saying does not represent the position of the party, and I am sure that he would not want being ejected from the LDP to be his legacy.”

There may be an ulterior motive behind Ishiba’s intentions, according to Nagy.

“I believe he is trying to blunt the more conservative elements of his party just before the members vote on their new leader,” he said. “He may well feel that the conservative wing is pushing the party and the country in a different direction.”

“This may be an opportunity for him to make a statement about the importance of unity, peace and stability, as well as where Japan should be going in the future,” Nagy added.

The US president’s remarks come as he pressures EU leaders to join him in punishing India and China for buying Russian oil

US President Donald Trump said he intends to speak to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “in the coming weeks” and expressed optimism that the two leaders would be able to reach an agreement to resolve a blistering trade fight.

“I am pleased to announce that India, and the United States of America, are continuing negotiations to address the Trade Barriers between our two Nations,” Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday.

“I look forward to speaking with my very good friend, Prime Minister Modi, in the upcoming weeks. I feel certain that there will be no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion for both of our Great Countries!,” he added.

Trump’s comments offering a positive appraisal of relations between Washington and New Delhi come even as the US president is pressuring European Union leaders to join him in ratcheting up tariffs on India and China to punish the countries for Russian energy buys.

Trump told EU officials during a meeting earlier on Tuesday that he was prepared to join them if they imposed sweeping new tariffs on India and China in a bid to raise pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to join ceasefire talks with Ukraine, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The US is willing to mirror tariffs imposed by Europe on either country, one of the people said.

That move threatens to further complicate efforts to resolve Trump’s trade dispute with India, exacerbated last month by the US doubling the tariff rate on many goods from the country to 50 per cent over India’s purchases of Russian oil.

While India was one of the first countries to open talks with Trump on trade, the imposition of high levies on their exports shocked officials in New Delhi. US officials have expressed frustration with Indian levies on imports and other non-tariff barriers.

Trump hit India with a 25 per cent rate before doubling that to address New Delhi’s continued Russian energy buys.

India has assailed the tariff hikes and insisted that it will continue to buy Russian oil as long as it is financially viable. India has been the largest buyer of Russian seaborne crude as the discounted barrels have helped the world’s third largest oil consumer keep its import bill in check.

Trump has said that India had offered to cut its tariffs on US goods to zero, but said that concession might have come too late in talks.

While the US president has also criticised Modi for attending a summit in China alongside Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, he said last Friday that he would always be friends with the Indian prime minister even if he did not “like what he’s doing at this particular moment”.

“India and the United States have a special relationship. There’s nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion,” Trump had said.

Analysts say the move was meant to signal responsiveness to protesters, but warn few will be satisfied without deeper reforms

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s cabinet reshuffle is a “tactical” step to restore public trust in the government, according to analysts, but they argue it will not be enough to quell the unrest among protesters if it does not lead to more systemic reform.

The shake-up on Monday saw the departure of high-profile officials such as Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Budi Gunawan, alongside the creation of a stand-alone Hajj and Umrah Ministry – previously overseen by the Religion Ministry.

Other dismissed officials included Youth and Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo, Cooperatives Minister Budi Arie Setiadi and Migrant Workers Protection Minister Abdul Kadir Karding.

State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi said the changes followed “various considerations, input, and evaluations by the president”.

“May this decision bring goodness to the nation, state and society,” Prasetyo said.

Muhammad Qodari, deputy chief of presidential staff, told national broadcaster Berita Satu the reshuffle was prompted by “the current situation in national politics”, referring to the nationwide protests sparked by public anger over lawmakers’ generous housing allowances.

Initially led by students, the demonstrations quickly spread across the country, tapping into wider frustrations over economic inequality and the rising cost of living. Tensions escalated after a 21-year-old motorcycle taxi driver was fatally struck by a police vehicle during a protest in Jakarta on August 28, prompting further clashes and a forceful crackdown.

According to the National Commission of Human Rights, 10 people have been killed during the protests. Rights group Kontras said five people remained missing as of Sunday.

Political consolidation?

Some analysts say the move reflected Prabowo’s desire to consolidate his political base by installing loyalists better aligned with his vision.

Four of the five outgoing ministers – Sri Mulyani, Gunawan, Budi Arie and Ariotedjo – served under former president Joko Widodo. Some had been seen as bridging figures in Prabowo’s effort to reassure investors and continue his predecessor’s programmes.

“It’s clear Prabowo is tightening his ranks, with the main reason being to determine who will be his loyalists and who can execute his programmes,” said Nicky Fahrizal, a political researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Indonesia.

He said the unrest had created “the right momentum to remove people who are suspected of having two-sided relationships” with both Prabowo and Widodo.

During last year’s presidential campaign, Widodo – commonly known as Jokowi – had offered tacit support to Prabowo, who chose Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his running mate. Prabowo pledged continuity with Widodo’s policies, initially retaining several of his ministers for his own cabinet.

However, not all Widodo-era ministers apparently wanted to stay. Sri Mulyani, known among investors for her prudent fiscal policy, was reportedly on the verge of resigning earlier this year when Prabowo decided to cut government spending by up to US$48 billion to fund his populist agenda, particularly his flagship free nutritious meals programme for schoolchildren and toddlers.

Although she denied speculation in March that she would resign, investigative news outlet Tempo reported that she had twice offered her resignation after her home was looted in the early hours of August 31 during the protests, citing three unnamed government sources.

“The recent civil unrest saw the government being negligent in protecting her safety and property, which left Sri Mulyani with no other option but to resign,” Fahrizal said.

But others have rejected the narrative that the reshuffle was aimed at purging Widodo-era technocrats.

“This is the president’s breakthrough to restore public trust, as one of the public’s demands is to remove controversial ministers whose statements do not defend the people,” said Pangi Syarwi Chaniago, executive director of Jakarta-based polling agency Voxpol.

Prasetyo also dismissed the speculation on Monday, saying that Prabowo’s cabinet did not include “individuals who represent a certain figure”.

Reform demands remain

Observers warned the cabinet reshuffle would not be enough on its own to quell the unrest, with the public demanding sweeping reforms to the political system and law enforcement.

“The recent political instability was caused by political injustice, economic injustice and legal injustice. Prabowo must fix this,” Pangi said.

Fahrizal noted that the cabinet reshuffle was a “tactical” step by Prabowo’s administration to signal that he was listening to the public, but stressed that it had to follow through with deeper, policy-level reforms.

“The government still must correct unreasonable policies, including improving law enforcement, addressing the issues of police brutality and improving the police institution, which has low public trust. This reshuffle has not addressed public concerns,” he said.

Political elites must also rethink how they communicate with the public, Fahrizal added, to avoid fuelling further resentment.

A rocky start

The country’s new finance minister, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, who previously led the Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation, sparked controversy less than 24 hours after being sworn in as Sri Mulyani’s successor on Monday.

Speaking to reporters, Purbaya said the recent protests represented “only a small fraction of our people, who feel that their lives are still not enough”.

“If I create 6 or 7 per cent economic growth, [the protests] will automatically disappear. People will be busy looking for work and eating well instead of protesting,” Purbaya said.

Purbaya proceeded to boast about his “15 years experience in the [stock] market, so I know really well how to improve the economy”.

He also said he was optimistic that Prabowo’s ambitious 8 per cent economic growth was “not impossible” to achieve within two or three years.

On Tuesday, Purbaya apologised for his “cowboy-style” of public speaking, and asked journalists to give him “a few months to work before heavily criticising me”.

Purbaya’s bold outlook differs from many Indonesian economists, who doubt that 8 per cent economic growth can be achieved in the near future.

“There are many economic indicators that we need to improve, including human capital, institutional governance and reducing the misallocation of resources in formal policymaking,” said Gumilang Sahadewo, an economist at Gadjah Mada University.

“If we can fix these foundations, we can achieve the desired economic growth.”

The former police colonel has flown to Malaysia ‘to meet with the ICC’, according to Manila’s justice secretary

A former police ally of ex-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is a step closer to giving what lawyers have described as “smoking gun” testimony to the International Criminal Court linking Duterte to extrajudicial killings during his war on drugs.

At the same time, Duterte’s defence team is seeking to delay the ICC case against him and secure his interim release on health grounds.

Royina Garma, an ex-police colonel who served Duterte while he was mayor of Davao City, was reportedly scheduled to meet ICC lawyers ahead of a planned trial against Duterte over charges of crimes against humanity.

On Monday, Philippine Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla told reporters that Garma had flown from Manila to Malaysia “to meet with the ICC”. He added that his department had given consent for Garma’s court appearance and “if she’s going to be a witness to the ICC, we have said that our working relationship with the ICC involves witness protection”.

Joel Butuyan, one of five Filipino lawyers accredited in an ICC list, told This Week in Asia on Tuesday that while “the ICC does not confirm or deny matters like this”, Garma’s involvement in the case appeared credible given that the remarks about the meeting came from Remulla.

Referring to a series of hearings last year before the House of Representatives’ Quad Committee that drew public attention to the so-called “Davao model”, Butuyan said that “for the ICC, Garma is a key witness, judging by what she had explosively disclosed during the Quadcomm hearings”.

The “Davao model” was reportedly a controversial anti-crime approach that Duterte developed during his long tenure as mayor of Davao City, involving the extrajudicial killings of alleged criminals, particularly drug suspects, by a vigilante group known as the Davao Death Squad. It entailed a system of “payments or rewards”, including for the killings of criminal suspects.

Lawyer Kristina Conti, who is helping the ICC’s probe into the extrajudicial killings during Duterte’s presidency, told This Week in Asia last year that Garma’s testimony at the Philippine congressional hearing was “a smoking gun”.

Garma had given “the first significant testimony” linking Duterte to the killings between 2016 and 2019, when the Philippines was still a member of the ICC, Conti said.

During the hearings, Garma testified that Duterte had ordered her to find someone to lead a task force who would replicate the “Davao model” across the nation. Duterte is accused by the ICC of carrying out similar killings nationwide, estimated to have totalled 6,252 based on police records.

Butuyan said Garma was key to showing the link between the killings in Davao City and the nationwide drug war when Rodrigo Duterte became president. “She also identifies the key masterminds, including those who provided incentives to police officers who implemented the killings.”

Garma fled to the US shortly after her congressional testimony and was arrested by American authorities. She later applied for political asylum there but was rejected, and she returned to Manila over the weekend.

Remulla was asked by reporters whether there was a quid pro quo involving Manila dropping charges against Garma in four murder cases unrelated to the drug war in exchange for her testimony to the ICC. He replied: “We will cross the bridge when we get there … She has a commitment to testify [before the ICC].”

‘Affront’ to drug war’s victims

In another development, Duterte’s lawyer, Nicolas Kaufman, managed to seek the ICC’s approval to postpone a pre-trial hearing originally scheduled for September 23.

The decision, which was reached by a two-to-one vote, has prompted the families of victims of the drug war and human rights organisations to express “strong concerns” to the court.

Peter Murphy, who chairs the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, said in a statement: “Any further delays to the process are an affront to the thousands of victims of Duterte in their quest for justice and accountability.”

Explaining its decision on Monday, the ICC judges presiding over the pre-trial hearing said their decision was “limited to the time strictly necessary to determine whether Mr Duterte is fit to follow and participate in the pre-trial proceedings”. A section on Duterte’s health was redacted in their published decision.

Maria del Socorro Flores Liera, the dissenting judge in the decision, said Kaufman’s request “should have been rejected”. She said that the pre-trial proceedings were limited to assessing “whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed each of the crimes charged”.

Meanwhile, the ICC is deliberating on Kaufman’s request to grant Duterte an “interim release”, subject to a country willing to host him. Thus far, Australia and Belgium have declined to do so, according to Conti.

On Tuesday, Kaufman issued a statement making the same request to the Philippine government for Duterte to return home pending his trial at the ICC.

The lawyer described Duterte’s health as a “progressively deteriorating medical situation,” which had affected his mental capacity to assess the purported evidence against him and instruct his defence team accordingly.

A lawyer acting on behalf of the victims of the drug war has opposed the application in a filing, calling it “a great destabilising factor to the volatile security situation in the country”. If the request were to be granted, it would “pose a direct and significant danger to victims who have demonstrated great courage in applying to participate in the present proceedings, despite risks of being threatened or stigmatised”.

Swiss Re’s Victor Kuk says only 16 per cent of climate-related risks in the region are presently insured.

The Asia-Pacific region presents insurers with substantial growth opportunities when it comes to covering climate-related risks, according to Swiss Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurers.

Victor Kuk, Swiss Re’s head of property and casualty reinsurance in Southeast Asia, India, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said that only 16 per cent of climate-related risks in the region were presently insured. Kuk spoke on Tuesday at the Business Climate Forum, hosted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

With a growing number of private-sector companies developing climate adaptation products, which help natural and human systems adjust to the effects of climate change and reduce negative impacts, billions of dollars in insurance market opportunities related to natural, climate-driven disasters are emerging, he added. The protection gap for natural catastrophes alone reached $152 billion in terms of premiums in 2023.

“Weather patterns are changing; we are seeing hotter summers and colder winters,” Kuk said. “Typhoon patterns are also shifting … flooding, which we call a secondary peril, has become one of the costliest types of loss.”

The company manages US$43 billion in global insurance premiums with most covering catastrophe risks.

The investment opportunity in climate adaptation is expected to grow to US$9 trillion by 2050 from US$2 trillion today in the Asia-Pacific region, said Chiara Trabacchi, climate adaptation and resilience lead at the IFC, noting that green bonds have become a crucial funding tool for adaptation projects.

The growth is driven by the rising frequency of extreme climate events, increasing demand for advanced technologies and services, “but also by increasing requirements by insurers and regulators”, and the falling costs of technologies, she said.

She added that Asia is at the vanguard of conducting sustainability initiatives and adopting policies that incentivise corporations to implement climate adaptation measures.

Marisa Drew, Standard Chartered’s chief sustainability officer, said every dollar that is invested in climate adaptation in the portfolios of developing markets generates a return of 12 times in terms of economic value. She said private sector companies could protect their investment portfolios and society at the same time.

“A lot of governments in Asia-Pacific are already making much more proactive steps, like more EV infrastructure, waste management systems, efficient recycling facilities, using technology to make more sustainable communities,” said Christina Gaw, managing principal and global head of capital markets and co-chair of alternative investments at Gaw Capital Partners.

Their active push for sustainable infrastructure is making adaptation more attractive to private capital, she added.

“Private-public partnership is generating quite a lot of opportunity,” she said.

The Business Climate Forum is part of Green Week and it drew over 250 global and regional leaders in business and finance.

Speakers at the Hong Kong-Asean Summit 2025 urge the region to capitalise on its young population and market, amid diversity and data challenges

Business leaders have called for deeper economic integration in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for the bloc to enjoy seamless trade and travel between member states, and fully tap its potential as a region with a young growing middle class.

Speakers at the Hong Kong-Asean Summit 2025 on Tuesday stressed that Asean, while having to overcome challenges stemming from diversity among its 10 members, was an attractive hub with investment opportunities.

Wang Shuguang, president and member of the management committee of financial services company China International Capital Corporation, called Asean an important first step for Chinese companies seeking to go global.

“Asean countries, for sure, are the most important destination [or] the first hub of Chinese companies going global, because this region has … very promising economic growth, a very young population, and a very large retail market,” Wang said at the summit organised by the South China Morning Post.

“I think these are all the factors that attract Chinese investments.”

Asean is home to more than 670 million people, with a median age of 30 and a growing middle class.

Esther Wong, founder and chief executive of AI venture capital firm 3C AGI Partners, agreed that the young demographic made the potential market size very large, but she noted there was a lack of data standardisation in the bloc.

“Each government, each nation, works in silos,” Wong said.

The lack of data standardisation and transfer rules makes it difficult to determine the most effective way of utilising data, which is the foundation of artificial intelligence, according to Wong.

Speakers noted, however, that there was strong political will to foster seamless travel within the region, as evidenced by the Asean 2045 plan.

The plan includes the bloc’s commitment to streamline processes and reduce barriers to facilitate easy movement of businesses and people across member states, such as by further refining and expanding agreements to foster greater ease of travel.

“The reality is that some of this implementation needs to be carried out in stages to ensure that we achieve the objective of Asean economic integration, which will bring about a lot of benefits, but at the same time minimising any possible social and economic disturbance,” said Michael Tene, former deputy secretary general of Asean.

He argued that economic integration in the bloc would be expedited by necessity. “When necessity arises, we will all pull our act together to ensure that we can all face the challenges.”

Some of these challenges include differences in language and religion, and rules on compliance and capital control, according to Christine Ip, chief executive of Greater China UOB.

To overcome diversity challenges in Asean, Ip said the bank played the long game by prioritising having their clients get to know local partners and potential supply chains.

“Let’s put [them on] some dates before they get married,” she said, noting that digitalisation and putting the right talent in the right places were also key to operating regionally.

Asked about competing Asean economies and how they chose which ones to invest in, Norman Cheng, managing director of Strategic Sports, recalled visiting an industrial park in Cambodia but eventually decided the park did not meet the company’s investment goals.

“The key is to have a supply of not just people who are willing to work, but who are [ …] able to work with us,” Cheng said.

Edmund Lee, general manager and head of group ESG Initiatives at Gold Peak Technology Group, called for a convergence of talents, resources, funding and innovation to spur investment and growth.

“The market reception and attraction is also very important, particularly as … Asean presents, not just a huge population, but also increasingly young populations [that are also] broadening digital infrastructure,” he said.

“All these dimensions help us look at new growth, new markets and new opportunities.”

Indonesian police said one of the men was arrested at the island’s airport with around 1.3kg of cocaine in his bag

Two British men have been arrested on suspicion of smuggling over a kilogram of cocaine onto the Indonesian resort island of Bali, an official said on Tuesday, potentially exposing them to some of the world’s toughest drug laws.

Indonesia commonly sentences drug traffickers to death, although the country has not carried out such a sentence for nearly a decade.

Rudy Ahmad Sudrajat, the head of the Bali Narcotics Agency, said an airport security officer intercepted one of the men, a 29-year-old identified by his initials K.G., during a security check last Wednesday.

An X-ray check subsequently found around 1.3kg (2.9lbs) of cocaine in his bag, he told a press conference.

Rudy said K.G. had been “asked by someone named Santos to carry the bag … from Barcelona to Bali”, and deliver it to another British man there.

Police arrested the second man, another Briton identified as P.E., at a villa in Bali’s Badung district on Thursday.

Rudy said the pair were friends who lived in Thailand and had met in Barcelona a week before their arrests, adding that there was “a possibility they are part of a cartel”.

The Daily Mail identified the men as Kial Robinson and Piran Ezra Wilkinson, 48, both from Chichester, in West Sussex.

Robinson boarded a Turkish Airlines flight from Barcelona and arrived on the island on Wednesday, according to the Daily Mail exclusive. He claimed he was offered US$10,000 to smuggle the drugs into Bali, the British newspaper report, citing sources.

Dozens of foreigners, including a cocaine-smuggling British grandmother, are on death row in Indonesia for drug offences.

Indonesia last carried out executions in 2016, killing one of its own citizens and three Nigerian drug convicts by firing squad.

Additional reporting by SCMP’s Asia desk

The Discayas have offered to turn state witnesses but legal experts say their alleged role in the scandal could undermine their credibility

Two contractors at the centre of the Philippines’ growing flood control scandal have named nearly 20 lawmakers and government officials they accuse of demanding kickbacks and offered to turn state witnesses, but legal experts say their alleged role in the scheme could undermine their plea for immunity.

In sworn testimony presented to the Senate on Monday, Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya and Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya – a married couple – claimed that corrupt politicians and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials routinely pressured them for illicit payments, sometimes name-dropping House Speaker Martin Romualdez and his ally Zaldy Co as supposed beneficiaries.

Six construction companies founded by the couple and their son, Gerrard William Francisco Discaya, bagged 345 solo and joint projects worth 25.2 billion Philippine pesos (US$440.6 million), dubbing them the “king and queen of flood control”. A total of nine construction companies are linked to Discaya and her husband, handling infrastructure projects related to flood control, roads and building construction.

Two of the Discayas’ companies, Alpha & Omega General Contractor & Development Corporation and St. Timothy Construction Corporation, were named in a list of the top 15 contractors that hogged 100 billion pesos worth of government flood control projects since 2022.

In an affidavit read aloud during a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, the Discayas said lawmakers had demanded “no less than 10 per cent and even up to 25 per cent” of contract values, calling such payments “standard procedure” in public infrastructure bidding.

These clandestine payments were made in cash, the couple said, adding that vouchers and ledgers in their possession supported their claims.

The couple claimed the practice had long been entrenched in Congress by the time they started bidding on projects in 2016, and further alleged that they first became complicit in the scheme after an acquaintance had offered them opportunities to bid on projects of national scale in Congress in exchange for payment.

DPWH officials would typically demand a portion of the budget from the awarded contract, and it was usually collected by district engineers or any individual who would claim to represent particular officials, the couple said.

“Most of the DPWH officials mentioned would repeatedly claim that the delivery of money would be for Zaldy Co, at least 25 per cent,” the Discayas said.

Officials would deliberately stall their projects through technical loopholes should they fail to meet their demands, from an abrupt issuance of stop orders to right-of-way issues that would suddenly crop up, the couple added.

The Discayas’ allegations spurred a swift wave of denials from the lawmakers named in their affidavit.

Responding to the claims, Romualdez said he “cannot and will not allow lies and name-dropping to pass unchecked”.

“The claim in the Discaya couple’s affidavit that my name was used for commissions is false, malicious and nothing more than name-dropping. Let me be clear: I have no involvement, no permission and no consent to these kinds of activities,” he said in a statement.

Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro also warned: “[They] cannot just name-drop. They need to have complete evidence.”

State witness?

The Discayas offered to testify as state witnesses amid ongoing investigations into the flood control scandal. They claimed they needed to “accept the reality” of bribing lawmakers to secure government contracts, or risk getting delisted or completely barred from bidding on projects.

“We were repeatedly used by those in power … if we did not cooperate, they would continue to create problems for our projects,” they claimed.

Should the Discayas succeed in their bid to be discharged as state witnesses, they may see immunity from certain legal charges. However, Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the Discayas must first return the money they earned from these projects before they could be considered state witnesses.

Meanwhile, analysts expressed doubt that the Discayas would qualify to become state witnesses.

Paolo Tamase, an assistant professor at the University of the Philippines’ College of Law, told This Week in Asia that state witnesses would first need to have a criminal charge filed against them, which the Discayas did not have yet.

Tamase added that for an individual to be considered as a state witness, they would need to be “not the most guilty in the transaction”, which he said might not apply to the Discayas as they topped the list of contractors that had cornered flood control projects.

The Discayas must also be able to provide evidence that is indispensable to the case, but Tamase expressed doubt that this information would be unavailable elsewhere.

“Even though they seem to be at the centre of a lot of the alleged corruption in these government projects … the fact that there are ghost projects can be proven by the fact that they’re not existing at all, or substandard quality can be proven by other evidence such as through audits,” Tamase said.

While the discretion to prosecute the Discayas rested with the justice department “in theory”, Tamase stressed that public vigilance would need to continue at the judicial level.

Arjan Aguirre, an assistant professor at the Ateneo de Manila University’s political science department, shared similar views, noticing loopholes in the Discayas’ statement which had left out officers and employees of public officials.

“I find this bizarre that they are quick to blame politicians as if they are the only ones facilitating the process,” he told This Week in Asia.

“We have to remember that each politician has people working for them, and it is possible and even highly probable that at this level, there might be some people who are knowledgeable of the system and work with people like Discaya to profit from taxpayers’ money.”

Aguirre said he doubted the Discayas’ list was exhaustive.

“They might be hiding key players there, given the magnitude of corruption that they have committed and the amount of money that they have collected through the years,” he said.

“What we have witnessed in the hearing is a clear political manoeuvre that may lead to a distorted view of the real score or real story behind the flood control mess.”

K.P. Sharma Oli has resigned after violent anti-corruption protests shook his country over the weekend

Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned on Tuesday, his aide Prakash Silwal said, as anti-corruption demonstrators defied an indefinite curfew and clashed with police, a day after 19 people died in violent protests triggered by a social media ban.

“The PM has quit,” Silwal told Reuters, a move that plunges the country into fresh political uncertainty.

But anger against the government showed no signs of abating, as protesters gathered in front of parliament and other places in the capital Kathmandu, in defiance of an indefinite curfew imposed by authorities.

The protesters set fire to tyres on some roads, threw stones at police personnel in riot gear and chased them through narrow streets, while some looked on and shot videos of the clashes on their mobile phones as thick black smoke rose to the sky.

Hundreds of people from some towns located near the India-Nepal border had started marching towards Kathmandu to support the protesters, one of the protesters told Reuters by phone.

Witnesses also said that protesters were setting fire to the homes of some politicians in Kathmandu, and local media reported that some ministers were plucked to safety by military helicopters.

Oli’s government lifted the social media ban after protests turned violent, killing 19 and injuring more than 100 after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters trying to storm parliament on Monday.

The unrest is the worst in decades in the poor Himalayan country that is wedged between India and China and has struggled with political instability and economic uncertainty since protests led to the abolition of its monarchy in 2008.

Kathmandu police spokesman Shekhar Khanal told Agence France-Presse that several groups had refused to obey a curfew on Tuesday, saying there were protesters in the street in many areas including “cases of fire and attacks”.

Oli’s resignation follows that of his interior minister on Monday, according to a government statement. Two others quit on Tuesday, according to Nepali media.

More to follow …

The US$5.6bn fighter jet sale has been paused as the Philippines prioritises other military modernisation projects, its envoy to the US says

The Philippines’ potential purchase of F-16 fighter jets from the United States has been put on hold due to budget constraints, Manila’s ambassador to Washington said on Tuesday.

The US State Department approved the potential sale, valued at an estimated US$5.6 billion, earlier this year in what was seen as a significant capability boost for the Philippine Air Force amid rising regional tensions.

“Right now, I think it’s on hold, mainly because … the funding is the key element of this whole purchase,” Jose Manuel Romualdez, the ambassador to the United States, told reporters.

It’s really the funding that is the choke pointJose Manuel Romualdez, Philippine ambassador to the US

Romualdez said Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro had said there were other priorities for the Armed Forces of the Philippines ahead of such a big-ticket item.

“We’ll see how it goes in the coming budget deliberations on how the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] will spend the allotted amount for the modernisation programme,” he said. “But like I said, it’s really the funding that is the choke point.”

In June, the Philippines signed a 975.3 billion won (US$703 million) deal for 12 FA-50 fighter jets from South Korea.

The Philippines has stepped up military modernisation in recent years, prioritising naval and air defence assets to strengthen its capabilities in the South China Sea, but officials have acknowledged that budget limitations restrict what can be done.

Hong Kong’s fintech solutions, green finance skills and logistics innovation could streamline trade across Asean, Minister Anthony Loke says

Business leaders and governments should think of Asean as a bloc with nearly 700 million people and an emerging middle class instead of individual countries when considering the vast trade potential of the region, Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on Tuesday.

While Hong Kong was essential to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as an international financial hub that promoted technological innovation with a well-regarded legal system, the bloc could also offer great opportunities to the city, Loke said at the Hong Kong-Asean Summit 2025.

Asean was Hong Kong’s second-largest trading partner last year, with total merchandise trade between the two sides totalling HK$1,289.6 billion (US$166 billion), accounting for 13.6 per cent of Hong Kong’s global merchandise trade. Loke pointed out that there were avenues for further expansion given the regional grouping’s growing market, skilled workforce and strategic location.

Look at Asean as a bloc … Think about the possibilitiesMalaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke

“Look at Asean as a bloc, not as individual countries. This is a bloc where you have a 700 million population and an emerging middle class. Think about the possibilities,” he said at the summit organised by the South China Morning Post and held at The Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s fintech solutions, green finance expertise and logistics innovation could streamline trade across all 10 Asean member states and fund the region’s transition towards sustainable transport infrastructure, he said.

As an illustration, Loke cited how a Hong Kong entrepreneur could order raw materials from Cambodia with smart systems automatically optimising shipping routes, handling documentation digitally and delivering goods to Hong Kong within days, the same way finished products reached customers in Asean through seamless cross-border payments and logistics.

“This is not a fantasy. It is entirely achievable with deeper partnership, by leveraging joint initiatives in shipping corridors, smart port development and digital systems. We hope travel and trade can be as simple as scanning a QR code going forward,” Loke said.

He noted that one of the main challenges faced by many Asean member states, with the exception of Singapore, was financial constraints.

In Malaysia, Loke said that the last budget surplus was in 1997 and the country had run a budget deficit since. This limited the region’s financial space in terms of development and capital expenditure for infrastructure, but for the Malaysian government, it would not stop it from building infrastructure through public-private partnerships, he said.

Loke expressed hope that Hong Kong could play the role of an international financial centre to fund development projects throughout Asean and provide financing solutions to help expand the region’s growth.

“The bridges we build today, whether physical, digital or human, will carry prosperity for generations,” Loke said, noting that Asean’s population was young and eager to succeed in life.

On people-to-people relations, Philippine Undersecretary for the Industry Development Group of the Department of Trade and Industry Ceferino S Rodolfo noted that while Hong Kong’s tourism numbers were only at 80 per cent of 2019 levels, tourists from the Philippines had returned.

The number of Filipino tourists in Hong Kong, excluding migrant workers, was already about 37 per cent higher than in 2019, he said.

“Hong Kong is in fact the most-visited destination by Filipinos for this year from January to August, there’s already a 10 per cent increase in Filipino tourists visiting Hong Kong, purely from the demand side,” Rodolfo said.

He listed factors that contributed to the high number of tourists from the Philippines, such as its economy, young population and the rising incomes of Filipinos.

“As your closest Asean neighbour, make us your hub to expand into the world. The Philippines and Asean can amplify Hong Kong’s technology and infrastructure advantage by providing Hong Kong access to our natural resources, particularly our talent pool, our large and growing market,” Rodolfo said.

He said that the Philippines was sought after for green minerals such as nickel, copper and cobalt, which were critical for producing batteries for electric vehicles and data centres.

Looking ahead, as the Philippines takes on the chairmanship of Asean from Malaysia next year, Rodolfo stressed continued cooperation with Hong Kong, with this partnership being a catalyst for greater connection and prosperity.

“This will serve as the balance that provides stability as we navigate an increasingly turbulent global environment. We’re not just building horizons between our economies, we’re building the future of an integrated, sustainable ecosystem.”

Authorities did not specify the nature of the threat to the complex, which is the world’s largest single-site LNG production facility

Malaysia’s National Security Council has ordered a temporary tightening of security at Petronas’ massive gas facility in Borneo and launched an immediate investigation into what it described as a “threat” to the critical energy infrastructure.

The NSC on Monday said it was taking “proactive measures” in response to security threats targeting liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities nationwide, with a particular focus on the complex in Bintulu, a town in the Bornean state of Sarawak.

“The Malaysian Government through the NSC has directed that all LNG facilities operating around Bintulu, Sarawak, to immediately tighten security controls temporarily,” it said.

“This is to enable security forces and responsible parties to carry out an immediate investigation into the threat,” it added, without specifying the nature of the threat.

Malaysia’s state energy firm Petronas confirmed the directive but said there had been “no impact on our operations and no disruptions to our supply”.

“Please be assured that the safety and well-being of our employees, contractors and our surrounding communities continue to be our highest priority,” it added.

The Petronas-operated Bintulu complex is the world’s largest single-site LNG production facility, spanning 276 hectares. It processes more than 30 million tonnes of LNG a year, much of it destined for key export markets including Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan.

Chaired by the prime minister, the NSC serves as the country’s central body for managing emergencies and security threats.

Bintulu’s significance has grown in recent years amid mounting concerns over the South China Sea, where Beijing’s expansive maritime claims have triggered pushback from regional countries including Malaysia.

In 2024, the Malaysian government announced it would build a naval base just 10 nautical miles from the Petronas terminal, citing the need to protect national waters and critical infrastructure.

The planned Royal Malaysian Navy base – expected to be operational by 2030, alongside a new air force facility – will lie about 80 nautical miles (148km) from the South Luconia Shoals, known locally as Beting Patinggi Ali.

Although the area falls within Malaysia’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone under international law, China maintains overlapping claims as part of its broader “nine-dash line” assertion of sovereignty and has protested Malaysian oil and gas exploration in the area.

Although the area sits well within Malaysia’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, it is claimed by China as part of its southernmost territory.

The Bintulu base was selected for its proximity to both the shoals and the Kasawari Gas Field, another major energy site. Defence Minister Mohamad Hasan at the time called the base “crucial to strengthen our country’s waters”.

The latest move is part of a wider investigation by PM Anwar Ibrahim into the country’s ultra-rich and powerful

Scrutiny of Mahathir Mohamad’s wealth has turned to assets allegedly held in the UK by the 100-year-old former prime minister, Malaysia’s anti-corruption chief has said, in a widening purge that has implicated the ex-leader’s family and close associates.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been investigating Mahathir since last year after two of his elder sons were instructed to declare their assets.

The move is part of a broader corruption investigation involving the country’s elite, launched by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, a bitter political enemy of Mahathir, who has insisted that there is a political agenda against him.

The MACC was currently seeking “detailed information” on overseas assets allegedly owned by Mahathir – particularly in the UK – Chief Commissioner Azam Baki told reporters on Tuesday, the first time the agency has revealed a possible link with holdings in Britain.

“Our investigations are still ongoing and we will provide updates once we get more information,” Azam told a news conference.

The pugilistic Mahathir, who ruled the country twice as prime minister – including a second term at the record-breaking age of 92 – has repeatedly denied claims that he abused his power to amass his alleged riches.

In January, the MACC revealed that his two sons, Mokhzani and Mirzan, had declared assets and personal wealth worth a combined 1.2 billion ringgit (US$284 million).

Mahathir, who is now 100, said last month that the commission did not indicate his sons had accrued their wealth through illegitimate means.

Three people have been charged so far under Anwar’s corruption crackdown.

Daim Zainuddin, a former finance minister and long-time Mahathir ally, and his wife Naimah Abdul Khalid were accused of failing to declare their assets, leading to the seizure of the family’s prized Ilham Tower in the capital Kuala Lumpur’s central business district.

Daim, who died last November aged 86, was posthumously released from his charge.

Malaysia’s “Casio King”, tycoon Robert Tan Hua Choon, was separately charged with allegedly making false declarations to win a US$840 million contract to run the federal government’s fleet of vehicles in 2019 during Mahathir’s second term as prime minister.

The 83-year-old businessman, widely seen as close to Daim, had previously secured a similar multibillion ringgit deal over 25 years starting in 1993, midway through Mahathir’s first 22-year term.

Critics have accused Prime Minister Anwar of using the MACC to launch a witch hunt against his former mentor turned arch-rival.

Mahathir sacked Anwar as his deputy in 1998. Anwar was later jailed on charges of corruption and sodomy. Anwar and his supporters have denied the charges, which sparked a bitter feud between the two leaders that would define Malaysian politics over the next two decades.

A key flashpoint was Kim Keon-hee’s case, which critics say highlighted a pattern of selective and politically motivated law enforcement

South Korea’s powerful prosecution service, long accused of wielding justice selectively, is to be dismantled under a sweeping reform plan that government officials and ruling party lawmakers say is necessary to curb abuse of authority.

But critics warn the move may create constitutional disputes and deepen political fault lines.

President Lee Jae-myung’s Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which holds a majority in the National Assembly, joined forces with the Presidential Office and the cabinet on Sunday to pass legislation breaking up the existing prosecution structure.

Under the measure, a new agency will oversee investigations while a separate body will hold powers of indictment – functions prosecutors had until now monopolised.

This is a disaster that the prosecution has brought on itselfLim Sung-hack, political scientist

“This is a disaster that the prosecution has brought on itself by enforcing the law unfairly,” Lim Sung-hack, a political scientist at the University of Seoul, told This Week in Asia.

“This reform comes as there is little hope of the prosecution service breaking with the past and reforming itself voluntarily.”

Lee Jun-han, a political-science professor at Incheon National University, added that prosecutors had “no one but themselves to blame”, pointing to “selective and unfair law enforcement practices” that had fostered public mistrust.

Prosecutorial reform was one of President Lee’s central campaign promises, aimed at dismantling a culture in which prosecutors were seen to serve political interests rather than the law.

For decades, critics have accused the prosecutors’ office of pursuing opposition politicians with zeal while shielding allies of those in power.

That criticism reached a crescendo in October last year, when prosecutors abruptly dropped the charges against former first lady Kim Keon-hee in a widely publicised stock manipulation case, citing a lack of evidence.

Months later, after her husband, ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol, was impeached and forced from office in April, the case was reopened. Investigators now say newly surfaced audio recordings suggest Kim’s involvement in wrongdoing.

While Lee was opposition leader, he and his associates faced repeated raids, subpoenas and prolonged questioning campaigns that his supporters denounced as politically motivated harassment.

“There will be objections to the disbandment of the prosecution service,” Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho told journalists on Monday.

“But there has been widespread public discontent with prosecutors abusing their power while monopolising both indictment and investigation rights.”

An association of retired prosecutors published an apology that same day, conceding that “trust in the institution had eroded to the point of dissolution”. The statement admitted prosecutors had become “a handmaiden of power” and had lost political neutrality.

“We will humbly accept the people’s reproach,” it said.

Still, the group cautioned that reforms must stay within constitutional limits, warning that rushed restructuring could cause constitutional disputes and sap reform momentum.

Evidence lost, anger inflamed

Revelations last week of mishandled evidence in a separate corruption case involving a Buddhist monk and shaman known as Gunjin further fuelled the controversy.

Prosecutors admitted they discarded the original wrapping from a sealed brick of freshly minted banknotes worth 50 million won (US$36,000) found at Gunjin’s residence in 2022.

The discarded wrapper could have revealed who requested the cash from the Bank of Korea, potentially implicating powerful figures. At a parliamentary hearing, investigators gave evasive testimony over who authorised the disposal, fuelling suspicions of a cover-up to protect the former presidential couple.

“It doesn’t make any sense that investigators simply lost such crucial evidence,” Professor Lim said. “This incident vividly shows why we need prosecutorial reform.”

Bank of Korea officials have confirmed the irregularity, with one employee noting in an interview with broadcaster JTBC on Monday that sealed bricks of banknotes were issued only to “very, very, very important people”.

Gunjin, who was indicted on charges of brokering bribes for the Unification Church and other groups on Monday, claims he cannot recall who gave him the cash.

The Unification Church’s leader, Han Hak-ja – revered by devotees as the “True Mother” – has been summoned for questioning later this week. But her attendance on Thursday is uncertain after a hospitalisation.

A special prosecutor’s team investigating Kim Keon-hee alleges that luxury gifts worth some 80 million won, including a diamond necklace and two Chanel handbags, were channelled to her through Unification Church intermediaries. She denies the accusations.

The drama has unfolded amid broader legal peril for former president Yoon. His lawyers filed a constitutional petition on Monday challenging the National Assembly’s commissioning of a special investigation into his alleged insurrection, tied to his failed martial law attempt on December 3.

They argue the legislative mandate undermines prosecutorial independence and breaches the principle of separation of powers.

From North Korea’s potential next leader to embracing different dialects in Singapore, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting

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. Why Kim Jong-un’s daughter is closer to becoming North Korea’s next ruler

The daughter of North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un could present a softer image for Pyongyang, away from her father’s sabre-rattling reputation as he continues to hint at his choice of successor by placing her under the glare of the world’s media.

2. ‘Nothing will change’: Gen Z Filipinos’ faith in the future is fading

Young Filipinos say they feel trapped by economic stagnation, endemic corruption and a lack of opportunity.

3. Bali officials say island safe for tourists despite unrest across Indonesia

Tourism leaders and local officials in Bali have moved to reassure foreign visitors that the island remains safe and peaceful despite the violent protests that have taken place across Indonesia, as concerns mount over potential impacts to the country’s most famous holiday destination.

4. Is Singapore embracing Hokkien and other Chinese dialects again?

While the use of dialects in the country has been declining, a group of young Singaporeans are hoping to reverse the trend.

5. In too deep? Filipino couple under scrutiny in flood control scandal

As public furore mounts over the revelation of widespread corruption in flood control projects in the Philippines, few names have captured public attention more than Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya and her husband Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya.

6. Is Malaysia about to choose a side in the US-China tech war?

Malaysia’s tech sector could risk further US scrutiny over a plan to deepen ties with Chinese semiconductor firms, as it looks to move up the value chain while maintaining access to the world’s biggest consumer market, according to analysts.

7. 2 Italian swimmers warned, banned from Singapore after airport shoplifting bust

Two Italian swimmers have been given a 12-month conditional warning and banned from re-entering Singapore after they were caught shoplifting three bottles of perfume from a duty-free shop at Changi airport last month.

This ruling is the latest blow for the once-unstoppable Shinawatra family, just days after Thaksin’s daughter was removed as prime minister

Thailand’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra must serve one year in jail because his detention in the VIP wing of a hospital in lieu of prison was unlawful, in another major blow for a powerful family that has dominated Thai politics for two decades.

The court would take the 76-year-old into custody, a reporter who attended the verdict said.

On return from 15 years of self-imposed exile in 2023, Thaksin spent only a few hours in prison before being transferred to hospital complaining of heart trouble and chest pains, prompting widespread scepticism and public outrage.

His eight-year sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power was commuted to one year by the king and Thaksin was released on parole after just six months, the entirety of which he had spent in the VIP wing of a hospital.

The five-judge bench said on Tuesday that the responsibility for Thaksin’s lengthy stay in hospital did not solely lie with the doctors and that the polarising billionaire intentionally prolonged his hospital stay.

Power-broker Thaksin is experiencing a period of political reckoning after his daughter and protégé Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sacked as prime minister by a court 11 days ago – the sixth leader from or backed by the Shinawatra family to be removed by the judiciary or military.

Days of chaos ensued before Paetongtarn’s government fell on Friday, outmanoeuvred by challenger Anutin Charnvirakul, who was elected as prime minister by parliament in a humiliating defeat for Thaksin’s once unstoppable Pheu Thai party.

Wearing a suit and yellow tie, the colour associated with Thailand’s monarchy, Thaksin arrived at the court with his family and greeted hundreds of media workers outside, with about a dozen of his redshirted supporters nearby carrying his picture and handwritten placards.

The court had sequestered Thaksin’s medical records and summoned 20 witnesses, including a former head of the corrections department and doctors who treated him.

Thailand’s Medical Council has suspended two doctors for issuing documents that contained false medical information. A prison doctor was cautioned for failing to meet medical standards in referring Thaksin for hospital treatment.

Thaksin appeared in good health as he returned from exile to cheering crowds in 2023 and in the months following his release, when he became active again in politics, though officially retired.

His lawyer in June insisted he had been sick during his hospital stay, adding “he has completely served his sentence”.

Amid turmoil in his party, Thaksin quietly flew on Thursday to Dubai, where he had spent most of his exile, prompting speculation that he had fled justice again. But he returned on Monday, having promised to attend the verdict.

Reporting by Reuters

The Gen Z-led protest was held to condemn a government attempt to regulate social media that blocked Facebook, X and YouTube, among others

The chants of students turned into screams in Nepal on Monday as police opened fire on unarmed protesters in Kathmandu, turning a simmering youth-led movement against corruption and censorship into the bloodiest confrontation the Himalayan republic has seen in years.

By nightfall, at least 19 demonstrators had been killed by police gunfire, according to official figures, with more than 300 wounded across Kathmandu and other cities.

Many of the victims were students in uniform. Videos circulating on encrypted group chats show police chasing protesters through alleyways, beating them with batons and even firing on ambulances attempting to carry the injured from outside parliament. Human rights monitors described the use of lethal force as unlawful and disproportionate.

“We didn’t expect those in the government would attack unarmed young people, who are their grandchildren’s generation,” said Rachana*, a 26‑year‑old protester.

“Gen Z will take ownership of the peaceful protest, but the government has to take responsibility for the infiltration and casualties. The government and police have blood on their hands.”

The immediate trigger for the demonstrations was last week’s government ban on 26 major social media platforms, including Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp, after the companies failed to register under new regulations.

The video-sharing app TikTok, Viber and three other platforms have registered and operated without interruption.

Officials insisted the measure was intended to ensure platforms were “responsible and accountable”. Critics called it a chokehold on free expression.

Thousands of young Nepalis poured into the streets on Monday to demand an end to corruption, censorship and political indifference. Some were singing and dancing as they gathered outside the parliament in Kathmandu.

But by early afternoon, the atmosphere soured. When a number of protesters scaled the barricades and attempted to breach the parliament compound, police responded first with tear gas and rubber bullets, then with live rounds.

Seven of those killed and scores of wounded were received at the National Trauma Centre, the country’s main hospital in the heart of Kathmandu.

“Many of them are in serious condition and appear to have been shot in the head and chest,” Dr Badri Risa said.

Families waited anxiously outside for news of their relatives while people lined up to donate blood.

“Stop the ban on social media. Stop corruption, not social media,” the crowds outside parliament chanted, waving the red and blue national flags.

Gen Z fury

Although the social media ban triggered the protests, many of those on the streets said their anger ran deeper.

Nepal fell one place in Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index last year, ranking 107th out of 180 nations. Meanwhile, social media has amplified public resentment towards the lavish lifestyles of politicians’ children, set against the backdrop of high youth unemployment and mass labour migration.

“The youth wants to know the money that has been lost to corruption and the opportunities that have been robbed,” said Bikram*, another Gen Z protester. “It’s not just a protest against the social media ban but against corruption, nepotism and the current democratic system.”

It’s not just a protest against the social media ban but against corruption, nepotismBikram, Nepali Gen Z protester

“We don’t want people to die and the country to fail,” he added. “We want a peaceful protest. We want to be heard and understood. I want to see a country where we can progress, and I want to see a country where people don’t have to suffer despite the efforts they put in.”

Nakul*, a 19‑year‑old student, told This Week in Asia he had watched a fellow demonstrator being shot dead outside parliament.

“I wanted to stand against corruption,” he said. “But looking at today’s indiscriminate shooting, it seems that the government doesn’t care about its people. This isn’t just a protest anymore, it’s going to be a long battle.”

A troubled democracy

Nepal has been convulsed by repeated political upheavals in recent decades: the pro‑democracy uprising of 1990, a 10‑year Maoist insurgency that killed more than 13,000 and mass protests in 2006 that led to the country’s 240-year-old monarchy being abolished, ushering in republican rule.

But analysts and protesters say that the leaders who once championed democracy are now borrowing the tactics of the authoritarian systems they overthrew.

Monday’s single‑day death toll may already surpass the casualties of the entire 2006 uprising.

Narayan Adhikari of the non-profit advocacy group Accountability Lab called the killings “a blunder” that exposed the government’s “extreme” disregard for citizen concerns.

“The violence shows the intent of the government, as well as the traditional parties, to dismantle engagement,” he said. “But Gen Z has shown that they will not just disappear after a social media ban and can move the protest from online to offline.”

The backlash swiftly reverberated through the government. Hours after the shootings, Information Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung, who is also the government spokesman, promised to lift the ban on social platforms “soon”, bowing to pressure from the streets – but insisted Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli has no plans to resign.

On Tuesday morning, Gurung said the social media ban had been lifted. “We have withdrawn the shutdown of the social media. They are working now,” he told reporters.

Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has announced he will step down, citing moral grounds.

Opposition figures demanded Oli’s departure. “You have lost your legitimacy Prime Minister. You must resign!” Sumana Shrestha, a lawmaker from the National Independent Party, wrote on social media.

Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Office has called for a “prompt, transparent investigation” and Amnesty International said it “strongly condemns the unlawful use of lethal and less‑lethal force by law enforcement”.

As curfews descended around parliament, the presidential compound and key government offices in Kathmandu late on Monday, grief hardened into resolve among a generation of Nepalis long dismissed as disengaged.

“This government should go down,” said Aneekarma, a 27‑year‑old student and digital rights activist protesting in Pokhara. “Our movement has just ignited, and this will go far, be it on social media or the streets. It’s not just a Gen Z movement – it’s everyone’s rage.”

*Names changed to protect interviewees’ identities

Additional reporting by Associated Press, Reuters

The International Criminal Court will now weigh if Rodrigo Duterte, 80, is fit to stand trial in his crimes against humanity case

The International Criminal Court has postponed “until further notice” a crimes against humanity hearing concerning former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, while judges weigh his fitness to take part.

Duterte, 80, was arrested and taken to The Hague in March on charges linked to his “war on drugs”, in which thousands of alleged narcotics peddlers and users were killed.

On Monday, judges allowed for an indefinite postponement of the so-called confirmation of charges hearings that had been set for September 23.

But they stressed that the period would be limited “to the time strictly necessary to determine whether Mr Duterte is fit to follow and participate in the pre-trial proceedings”, according to a decision published on the court’s website.

Duterte has maintained his arrest was unlawful and tantamount to kidnapping. In August, his defence lawyers asked the court for an adjournment of all proceedings, arguing that the former president was not fit to stand trial.

Details of Duterte’s alleged health conditions were redacted in the public version of the request.

The three-judge panel was split on the decision, with one dissenting.

Many of the filings related to Duterte’s health are confidential or heavily redacted and it is not clear when the court expects to rule on his fitness to follow his case.

It is rare for international courts to find suspects, even increasingly elderly suspects, wholly unfit for trial.

The ICC has never found a suspect unfit for trial despite several other defendants’ petitions.

Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11, flown to the Netherlands that same night and has been held at the ICC’s detention unit at Scheveningen Prison in the months since.

At his initial hearing, he followed proceedings by video link, appearing dazed and frail, barely speaking.

He is the first Asian former head of state charged by the ICC.

A lawyer representing relatives of those killed in Duterte’s drug war said they were disappointed with the ICC decision.

“We expected that Duterte would do this, but the fact that he was able to convince the pre-trial chamber to postpone that indefinitely is scary,” Kristina Conti said.

“Some of us were very angry because there was a schedule and everyone was ready.”

Conti urged ICC judges to “see through the lies” and proceed to trial, adding “we have no other hope than to hope” that he will face justice.

Duterte stands accused of the crime against humanity of murder over his years-long campaign that prosecutors allege was “part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population in the Philippines”.

The Gen Z-led protest was held to condemn a government attempt to regulate social media that blocked Facebook, X and YouTube, among others

Police in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu opened fire on Monday on demonstrators protesting a government attempt to regulate social media that blocked some of the world’s largest platforms, including Facebook, X and YouTube. At least 17 people were killed.

Rallies swept the streets around the parliament building, which was surrounded by tens of thousands of people angry at authorities who said the companies had failed to register and submit to government oversight. At least 145 people were wounded, officials said.

Protesters pushed through barbed wire and forced riot police to retreat inside the parliament complex.

The gunfire unfolded as the government pursues a broader attempt to regulate social media with a bill aimed at ensuring the platforms are “properly managed, responsible and accountable”.

The proposal has been widely criticised as a tool for censorship and for punishing government opponents who voice their protests online.

About two dozen social networks that are widely used in Nepal were repeatedly given notices to register their companies officially in the Himalayan nation, the government said.

Those that failed to register have been blocked since last week.

Neither Google, which owns YouTube, nor Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, responded to requests for comment. Elon Musk’s X platform did not respond either.

The video-sharing app TikTok, Viber and three other platforms have registered and operated without interruption.

The death toll was announced by police official Shekhar Khanal. He said 28 officers were among the wounded as smaller protests continued late into Monday evening.

The situation remained tense and the government announced a curfew around parliament, the government secretariat, the presidential house and key parts of the city.

Seven of those killed and scores of wounded were received at the National Trauma Centre, the country’s main hospital in the heart of Kathmandu.

“Many of them are in serious condition and appear to have been shot in the head and chest,” said Dr Badri Risa.

Families waited anxiously outside for news of their relatives while people lined up to donate blood.

“Stop the ban on social media. Stop corruption, not social media,” the crowds outside parliament chanted, waving the red and blue national flags.

Monday’s rally was called the protest of Gen Z, which generally refers to people born between 1995 and 2010.

The government’s proposed bill includes asking the companies to appoint a liaison office or a point of contact in the country. Rights groups have called it an attempt by the government to curb freedom of expression and fundamental rights.

Nepal in 2023 banned TikTok for disrupting “social harmony, goodwill and diffusing indecent materials.” The ban was lifted last year after TikTok’s executives pledged to comply with local laws, including a ban of pornographic sites that was passed in 2018.

From his own toilet to a scrubbed-down chair and coffee table, the North Korean leader’s anti-spy tactics reflect a new kind of arms race

When North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rose from his chair after a two-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin in Beijing last week, aides swooped in almost instantly, polishing the table and scrubbing the seat he had just occupied.

The bizarre spectacle was not just political theatre or a quirk of the supreme leader’s personality, analysts say; it was an act of counter-intelligence.

Kim travelled to Beijing for China’s Victory Day parade, the first occasion the North Korean leader has been seen in public alongside Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. But while the cameras captured a trilateral show of strength, they also recorded a smaller drama: Kim’s staff carefully wiping down a chair and coffee table he had just used.

Their choreography appeared to confirm long-circulating accounts of Pyongyang’s extraordinary biometric security measures.

Days earlier, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported that Kim had brought his own toilet aboard his armoured train to prevent his bodily waste from falling into foreign hands – a precaution he has previously deployed at summits with US and South Korean leaders.

Experts say these efforts reveal how deeply Pyongyang fears the weaponisation of biometric and genetic material.

“The health and the biometric information of the supreme leader is a closely guarded secret and associated with his security,” said Peter Ward a research fellow at the Sejong Institute whose work focuses on North Korean politics, economy and society.

“What they were cleaning up was probably skin cells in his sweat plus other potential biomarkers in his sweat which could identify problems with his health. And with DNA, one can also learn a great deal about his sort of psychological and physical profile and even make guesses about the kinds of things that may be hazardous to him.”

It can seem best for world leaders to conceal their genetic informationLim Si-keun, professor of forensic science

Such worries are not unfounded. Intelligence agencies around the world have devoted increasing attention to the collection of genetic material, seeing it as a way of assessing leaders’ resilience, vulnerabilities and even negotiating temperaments.

“Personal characteristics like drinking a lot of alcohol or having diabetes can be known from collecting DNA,” Lim Si-keun, a professor of forensic science at Sungkyunkwan University, told This Week in Asia.

“And while human cloning is something we only see in the movies now, we never know how technology will advance in the future. So it can seem best for world leaders to conceal their genetic information.”

Putin also reportedly travels with a personal toilet and has aides collect waste to prevent analysis. During the pandemic, his notorious four-metre table with Emmanuel Macron was rumoured to stem from France’s refusal to hand over genetic samples via a Covid test.

And in the United States, the National Counterintelligence and Security Centre issued a warning in 2021 about securing health and genetic data from potential exploitation by China.

“Such personal information constitutes high-level intelligence that could be strategically utilised in political negotiations or assessments of power stability,” Kim Hyun-jung, a research fellow at South Korea’s Institute for National Security Strategy, told This Week in Asia.

“The possibility of personalised bioweapons has also been a subject of ongoing discussion, but significant scientific and technological constraints at the moment make this extremely unlikely today.”

Intelligence services have long sought to harvest medical details – dating back to Cold War psychiatric profiles of foreign leaders – but the urgency intensified after September 11, when American agencies dramatically expanded DNA databases.

Advances in genetic genealogy allowed US forces to confirm Osama bin Laden’s identity in 2011 using samples from a half-sister. Other countries, including China and the UK, have poured resources into similar methods.

For Kim, whose health has been the subject of speculation for years, the paranoia may be personal as well as strategic.

His unexplained disappearance from public view in 2020 fuelled rumours of emergency surgery, while a change to party by-laws the following year created a “first secretary” role as a contingency plan, suggesting preparations for a leadership vacuum.

The presence of his daughter Kim Ju-ae, believed to be about 13, on the trip to Beijing was another signal. Ward suggested it points to early succession planning. “There’s probably multiple reasons why he would appoint a successor much earlier than his grandfather or father, who only acted on it after having a stroke. But when she’s only 13, it just seems a bit suspicious.”

The tensions between secrecy and exposure run to the heart of Pyongyang’s foreign policy.

“They have a joke with the Americans that they’ve been enemies for 100 years,” Ward said. “But with China, they’ve been enemies for 1,000 years. Even if China is relatively close today, they are nonetheless still distrusted.”

The meticulous efforts taken to erase any trace of Kim’s presence in Beijing illustrated both this and a different kind of armament from the tanks and jets on show.

In the emerging contest for biometric intelligence, even a drop of sweat left on a chair can feel like a weapon.

Group criticises US policies but steers clear of direct attacks on US President Donald Trump, who’s called for an end to the bloc

Members of the Brics nations logged into a virtual summit on Monday, convened by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, intending to take a defiant stand against US President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war.

Instead, the quickly assembled outing became an exercise in caution, as the bloc’s heavyweights, Brazil and India, sought to steer clear of further enraging the “America-first” leader.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a founding Brics leader, skipped the meeting, sending Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in his place in a signal of a careful balancing act with Washington, as Trump has made no secret of his anger towards the bloc.

Jaishankar, a seasoned diplomat, embodied this balancing act on screen. “Increasing barriers and complicating transactions will not help, neither would the linking of trade measures to non-trade matters,” he declared in a subtle jab at Washington’s tariff tactics.

He quickly turned inward, pressing Brics partners to address India’s ballooning trade deficits – like the US$99 billion gap with Beijing last year.

“Brics itself can set an example by reviewing trade flows among its member states, where India is concerned, some of our biggest deficits are with Brics partners, and we’ve been pressing for expeditious solutions,” he said, without naming China.

According to Mihaela Papa of the MIT Center for International Studies, “India is recalibrating its strategy, and Modi’s absence buys it space”, as Trump is “less convinced” than former President Joe Biden of India’s contributions to US interests.

She added that Jaishankar’s remarks signalled “caution” – both in India’s approach to Trump and in its trust towards other Brics members – noting that as India prepares to chair the bloc in 2026, its relationship with the US could shape the group’s direction.

Sarang Shidore of the Quincy Institute, a Washington think tank, said the question is whether the “gentler tone” will find takers in the US, which seems to be in “no mood to pull back from its aggressive speech and action toward New Delhi”.

Political pundits were expecting fireworks, especially after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit a week earlier, where images of Modi laughing with President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin went viral, angering Trump.

In a social media post along with a picture of the three leaders, Trump declared that the US had “lost” India to “deepest, darkest” China. Within hours, Modi posted on X that US-India relations remained “very positive”.

India and the US have failed to reach a tariff agreement, with Trump imposing a 50 per cent levy on Indian imports over Russian oil purchases and what he calls India’s unfair trade practices.

Modi is unlikely to visit the US for the UN General Assembly later this month, and Trump’s expected trip to New Delhi this fall also appears uncertain as trade talks remain stalled.

Trump has been especially tough on Brics, a bloc of 10 emerging Global South economies, since taking office in January.

Last week, he said if India wanted fewer tariffs it should “stop being a part” of the grouping to support the US dollar.

He has also threatened 100 per cent tariffs on all Brics countries if they pursue de-dollarisation, which he views as a direct challenge to the dollar’s global dominance.

For India, the US’ largest trading partner, with bilateral trade exceeding US$190 billion in 2023, these tariffs threaten key export sectors like pharmaceuticals, textiles and IT, prompting New Delhi to balance its Brics commitments with strategic ties to Washington.

While New Delhi was hedging its bets, Lula used the summit to sharpen his call for unity within the bloc and to present Brics as a counterweight to unilateralism.

Although he alluded to the US with veiled criticism of “the accelerated and irresponsible dismantling of the order created in 1945”, Lula avoided naming Trump directly.

The Brazilian president, who has often lambasted Trump in recent months over his 50 per cent tariffs on Brazilian goods, struck a different tone.

He called the Alaska meeting between Trump and Putin “a step in the right direction” and urged “realistic solutions” for the crisis in Ukraine, while again pitching the “Group of Friends for Peace” launched by China and Brazil as a possible channel for negotiation.

Instead of focusing on a coordinated, direct attack on Washington’s trade policy, he then shifted his speech towards multilateral reform, casting it as the “only safeguard against the erosion of global rules”.

A senior source close to the Brazilian president told the Post the softening of anti-Washington rhetoric was deliberate, as Brasilia searches for a tone that will also shape Lula’s participation in the UN General Assembly at the end of September.

The aim, the source said, is to criticise US measures while avoiding direct confrontation with Trump.

Lula urged Brics members to arrive united at the World Trade Organization ministerial in Cameroon next year, warning that key principles of the trading system were under threat.

One of them is most-favoured-nation treatment, the rule that requires members to extend any trade concession to all partners equally.

“We have the legitimacy to lead the refoundation of the multilateral trading system on modern and flexible bases,” he declared.

The gathering in March will test whether emerging economies can push reforms while facing a Trump administration that is openly hostile to the global trade body.

Lula framed Brics as a bulwark against unilateralism and sanctions, highlighting complementarities in agriculture, energy and technology. Integration, he argued, could offer “a safe option to mitigate the effects of protectionism”.

To this end, the Brics’ New Development Bank, he added, will be central to “a just and sovereign transition” and should grow as a counterweight to Western financial institutions.

“The Global South can put forward another paradigm of development and reject a new Cold War,” he declared, adding that Brics is now already the “defender of multilateralism”.

Yet even Lula’s call for a stronger Brics could not mask the bloc’s divisions, with India in particular wary of a direct confrontation with Washington.

This friction, coupled with Trump’s broader warnings to Brics, has set the stage for heightened geopolitical and economic tensions, testing the bloc’s unity and global influence.

Sourabh Gupta, of the Institute of China-American Studies in Washington, said that while Jaishankar is usually more forthright, he appeared restrained this time.

“If the government of India’s policy is to play it softly-softly on the US front after the Tianjin India-Russia-China optics, it stands to reason he would hew to the larger policy position and mute some of his sanctimony,” he said.

Alexandre Coelho, coordinator at the geopolitics centre at Observa China in Rio de Janeiro, said both Brazil and India are constrained by their deep economic ties with Washington.

“The structure of commercial, financial and technological interdependence with the US, together with domestic pressures for macroeconomic stability and jobs, imposes clear limits on the tone and the menu of retaliation,” he told the Post.

Coelho argued that these structural constraints push Brasilia and New Delhi towards a mix of normative rhetoric and regional or multilateral “shock absorbers”, rather than direct sanctions or symmetrical retaliation.

That stance, he added, reflects “not weakness but a pragmatic effort to shield domestic economies while keeping diplomatic bridges open”.

The Brazilian analyst said India’s complaints about trade imbalances within Brics will also continue to make it difficult to forge a common front against Trump’s tariffs.

“The anti-protectionist agenda will compete with intrabloc frictions like deficits, technology, border disputes, and that will inhibit a robust joint response,” he said.

As for Lula, Coelho described the softer rhetoric as a calculated choice. “It maximises room for manoeuvre. He denounces tariffs, avoids burning bridges with Washington, and underlines the narrative that Brics is a solution, not a confrontational bloc,” Coelho noted.

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Time was when a South Korean president was Xi’s guest at the Beijing parade. Now, North Korea’s Kim has grown confident on the world stage

For over a decade, the name Kim Jong-un has been synonymous with an isolated, economically struggling pariah state. Despite possessing nuclear weapons, North Korea has long been dismissed by the international community as a minor player on the world stage. That perception has now fundamentally changed.

As Kim stood alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at China’s Victory Day parade last Wednesday and then had one-on-one summits with both, it signalled far more than diplomatic theatre. It marked a seismic shift in North Korea’s global positioning.

The parade was the first time in 66 years that the heads of these three nations were assembling, and it was the first event Kim attended with multiple world leaders. North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency highlighted how the leader was photographed with “heads of state and government of different countries and leaders of international organisations invited to the event”.

Kim’s transformation from international pariah to influential global player represents a huge diplomatic achievement for North Korea. Just a decade ago, in 2015, it was South Korea’s president, not North Korea’s leader, watching the military parade with Xi. At that time, Seoul had cultivated deep ties with Beijing under president Park Geun-hye, while Pyongyang struggled under international sanctions.

Despite having inherited absolute authority over his nation in 2011, Kim initially found himself unable to elevate North Korea’s international standing or break free from diplomatic constraints. His nuclear provocations and bellicose rhetoric received global condemnation instead of translating into meaningful engagement with the world.

Kim’s first breakthrough came in 2018, largely as a result of then South Korean president Moon Jae-in’s efforts. With Moon as broker, Kim achieved what no North Korean leader had managed: face-to-face negotiations with an American president.

Through a string of unprecedented summits with President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019, Kim fundamentally altered his international profile, looking less like a rogue dictator and more like a recognised statesman.

Yet Kim’s most significant opportunity would come from an unexpected source: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The timing proved fortuitous for North Korea, whose borders remained sealed due to Covid-19 restrictions and whose diplomatic channels with Washington and Seoul had frozen under the Joe Biden and Yoon Suk-yeol administrations. Putin’s war created a strategic opening for Kim.

Under Western sanctions, Russia found itself increasingly isolated and needed allies willing to provide material support. North Korea, already experienced in operating in international isolation, became an invaluable partner. The two nations expanded cooperation in sectors including trade, tourism and most critically, military affairs.

Although this yielded economic benefits for Pyongyang, Kim achieved a much bigger win in June 2024, when Moscow and Pyongyang reestablished a mutual defence treaty. The weight of the commitment Russia made to North Korea served to emphasise the growing importance of Kim and his country. The message was unmistakable: Kim now enjoys the backing of not one but two major powers.

Where many observers saw mere pageantry, Kim showed a serious commitment to the new alliance. In a move that would have been unthinkable years earlier, North Korea deployed troops to fight alongside Russian forces against Ukraine. In other words, North Korean soldiers had landed in Europe. Not only were they fighting in support of Russia, but in effect they were engaged in battle against Nato.

The significance of this decision cannot be overstated. Previous North Korean provocations had relied on threatening rhetoric and weapons tests, prompting the familiar cycle of condemnation and sanctions. This time, Kim dispensed with threats entirely and took action. This perfectly illustrates the extent to which the North Korean leader felt emboldened and confident to make a move that would directly threaten national security interests across an entire continent.

Kim has also managed to maintain a strong image at home. Remarkably, he has handled the controversial deployment of North Korean soldiers with unusual transparency, even publicly meeting the families of fallen troops. These carefully orchestrated displays serve dual purposes: maintaining his image as a caring leader domestically while projecting strength and resolve internationally.

Despite Western insistence on denuclearisation, Kim doesn’t seem about to back down any time soon. During his summit with Putin in Beijing last Wednesday, Kim said Pyongyang would remain faithful in the implementation of the treaty between North Korea and Russia and continue to regard it as a fraternal duty in the future. Such rhetoric shows just how much Kim has grown in confidence on the international stage.

The appearance in Beijing with Xi and Putin represents the culmination of Kim’s strategic manoeuvring. No longer can the international community dismiss him as the leader of an insignificant rogue state.

The mutual defence treaties binding Moscow and Beijing to Pyongyang mean that any military conflict involving North Korea could rapidly escalate into a global confrontation involving two major powers. Given America’s own defence commitments to South Korea, such a scenario has become alarmingly plausible.

The global order is rapidly transforming, as last week’s events in China have starkly demonstrated. A growing Pyongyang-Moscow-Beijing partnership presents a direct challenge to Western influence in Asia and beyond. If the United States and its allies hope to maintain stability on the Korean peninsula and prevent a global conflict, Trump must prioritise renewed engagement with Kim Jong-un. The alternative – allowing Kim to grow ever more powerful – risks triggering a domino effect of instability that could affect not just regional but global security.

Senate head Vicente Sotto III is set to lend his heft to corruption probes and a potential bid for Sara Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment trial

Allies of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte lost their grip in the Senate on Monday after 15 lawmakers backed a leadership change that could alter the balance of power over corruption probes and Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s scuttled impeachment trial.

The process took just 24 minutes – from a motion to declare the post of Senate president vacant to the swearing-in of Vicente Sotto III, a veteran lawmaker who is allied with President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, for the role. Sotto’s predecessor, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, administered the oath of office.

The session began with Senator Miguel Zubiri declaring on the floor: “Mr President, I would like to declare the position of Senate president as vacant.”

Escudero responded: “Is there any objection? Hearing none, the motion is approved.” He then banged the gavel to begin the handover.

Sotto, whose first term as Senate president ended in 2022, had run for re-election under Marcos’ banner in the May midterm elections and is widely viewed as more open to pursuing accountability over controversies that have dogged Duterte’s allies.

The 77-year-old veteran lawmaker has vowed “to do everything in my capacity to ensure that this Senate will remain cooperative [to the coequal executive branch] but independent, balanced, transparent and sincere.”

Senator Imee Marcos confirmed the pro-Duterte bloc was outmanoeuvred. She told reporters ahead of the session, “I heard 15 senators had already signed on [to replace Escudero], but I know nothing about it and nobody talked to me about it.”

She said she and fellow pro-Duterte senators Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, Christopher “Bong” Go and Robinhood Padilla were “caught flat-footed” by the move.

Implications for Duterte-Carpio

The Senate shake-up could have immediate implications on its handling of ongoing corruption investigations, which the pro-Duterte bloc had blamed Marcos for a lack of progress, and moves to impeach Duterte-Carpio, according to legal experts.

Barry Gutierrez, a criminal law professor from the University of the Philippines and a former congressman, told This Week in Asia that the leadership change in the Senate could reopen the debate on whether it could revive the process to hold Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment trial.

Then-Senate president Escudero did not advance the impeachment submission from the House until June 30, when the term of the 19th Congress ended without a decision on the matter. When the next Congress opened in July, 19 senators voted to “archive” the trial.

“As far as I understand, under Senate rules, a motion to reconsider that decision can only be made by someone who voted for it,” Gutierrez said.

“If one of those who voted to archive [the trial] and who has now ‘switched’ to support Sotto as Senate president makes the motion, it can be reopened.”

According to Gutierrez, a section of the Senate rules states that “any senator who voted with the majority may move for the reconsideration of a measure on the same day it was decided or within the next two session days”. This period, however, could be open to debate, he added.

While no voting process took place for the change in Senate leadership, several lawmakers who backed the setting aside of Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment trial decided to switch camp and support Sotto: Senator Loren Legarda, who endorsed Sotto’s nomination, and Senator Miguel Zubiri, who was voted the Senate majority floor leader.

For now, [President] Marcos is leading the charge against corruptionRonald Llamas, a political risk analyst

Sotto has previously expressed a preference to hold the impeachment trial. In an interview with This Week in Asia in July, he said that while senators were not only constitutionally bound to hold the trial, they should heed “the outrage” of Filipinos.

Duterte-Carpio was impeached by the House of Representatives on February 5 for – among others – her questionable use of 500 million pesos (US$34 million) worth of confidential funds and for allegedly threatening to have Marcos, his wife and the House Speaker assassinated should anything happen to her.

Ronald Llamas, a political risk analyst, told This Week in Asia that with the presence of “more anti-Duterte senators”, there would be more backing for an investigation into corruption-tainted flood control and infrastructure projects, with Duterte potentially coming under scrutiny.

“For now, [President] Marcos is leading the charge against corruption insofar as the Senate is concerned,” he said.

The powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which investigates corruption, is currently chaired by pro-Duterte Senator Rodante Marcoleta. With the Senate leadership change, he is widely expected to be replaced, according to analysts.

The change could also affect the 25-member bicameral Commission on Appointments, which approves all presidential appointments of top military officers and cabinet secretaries. Imee Marcos and other pro-Duterte senators, who occupy most of the 13 Senate-allotted seats in the commission, have previously vowed to scrutinise all of the president’s appointments.

Protesters across cities in Balochistan demand accountability over a September 2 bombing at a political rally that killed 15 people

Police arrested at least 60 people and deployed tear gas in Pakistan’s poorest province during a strike on Monday, as protesters demanded accountability over a suicide attack claimed by Islamic State (Isis).

Businesses shut and demonstrators took to the streets across more than a dozen cities in Balochistan in response to a September 2 bombing at a political rally that killed 15 people.

In provincial capital Quetta, police arrested protesters blocking a road and fired tear gas to disperse them.

“The government has already warned the protesters that although they have their democratic right to protest peaceful, they have no right to force people to be off the roads or disrupt the vehicle traffic and force the people to close their businesses,” said senior police superintendent Muhammad Baloch.

Balochistan, a turbulent province on the border with Iran and Afghanistan, is regularly the scene of violence, often carried out by jihadists from the regional branch of Isis, Isis-Khorasan, as well as by Isis-Pakistan or Baloch separatists.

Ahead of the strike, the Balochistan National Party (BNP) urged the public to unify across political, tribal and class lines to demand those behind the attack to be exposed.

“Isn’t the state responsible for this? Wasn’t it the duty of the state to protect these innocent people?” said BNP chief Akhtar Mengal.

The Isis group claimed responsibility for the bombing in a stadium parking lot in Quetta, where hundreds of BNP supporters had gathered for a rally.

Last year was the deadliest in a decade in Pakistan, with a spike in violence along the western border with Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s largest and most resource-rich province, sparsely populated Balochistan is also its poorest, and regularly ranks among the lowest on human development indicator scorecards.

Baloch separatists have been fighting a decade long insurgency against the Pakistan military with the aim of ending discrimination against the Baloch people on their land, which has been met with a severe counter-terrorism crackdown.

With private healthcare costs surging, more pressure on the public healthcare system could deprive Malaysians of affordable and timely care

Malaysians from the highest income group are increasingly turning to public hospitals for treatment as surging private healthcare costs drive up insurance premiums, with lawmakers and industry professionals warning of more pressure on the national healthcare system.

The cost of private healthcare in Malaysia rose by nearly 12 per cent in 2024, well above the global average of about 6 per cent, according to a report on medical trends around the world by professional services firm Aon.

A separate study by the Khazanah Research Institute found that rising medical inflation has led to higher medical insurance premiums in Malaysia, where private medical costs are expected to increase by 12.6 per cent this year, well above the projected global rate of 7.2 per cent.

Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad told reporters on Sunday that more patients from T20 households were feeling the pinch.

“If insurance premiums … continue to rise, even the T20 may reconsider [continuing] their policies,” said Dzulkefly, who was referring to the top 20 per cent of households with the highest income in Malaysia.

Last December, Malaysia’s central bank imposed a 10 per cent cap on price increases of medical insurance until the end of 2026 after a public outcry over insurers raising premiums by up to 70 per cent to keep pace with rising private healthcare costs.

Many high-income Malaysians had fallen victim to “unregulated and irresponsible marketing” by insurers offering costly deals without proper coverage guarantees, said Sim Tze Tsin, a lawmaker and a member of the parliament-appointed Public Accounts Committee, which is overseeing the issue of rising health insurance premiums.

Sim said he had received complaints that the duration of some policies would be slashed by up to 40 years after insurers failed to meet projected earnings from their investment plans that were tied to medical insurance and topping up of premium payments.

This is despite policyholders having already signed up to pay annual premiums as high as 5,600 ringgit (US$1,300) for coverage, which is supposed to last until the age of 100.

“When you retire or are close to retiring, they suddenly tell you your insurance can only pay out until you are 60. If you can top up [the policy cost], then they can extend coverage. If not, sorry,” Sim told This Week in Asia.

“We cannot gauge [how many are affected], but it is definitely not isolated and a substantial number of people are affected.”

In 2023, Jennie, a 47-year-old freelance data analyst, sought treatment at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur for a kidney problem. Her insurance covered the cost of initial treatment, which involved keyhole surgery.

But she needed regular treatment for her malfunctioning kidney, which quickly drained her insurance, and this forced her to choose between costly private treatment, which would run into the thousands of ringgit for each session, or a public hospital.

This is a crisis that will not benefit anyoneSim Tze Tsin, Malaysian lawmaker

“I chose a public hospital. The doctors there recommended I remove the kidney since my other kidney was still working fine,” said Jennie, who asked to be identified by one name.

“That cost me about 1,000 ringgit. I’m fine now, but imagine how much I would have had to spend to keep a bad kidney working when the private hospital could have just recommended I remove it.”

Sim said Jennie’s situation had become increasingly common and added further strain on a public health system serving millions of Malaysians daily.

While the lawmaker did not think the trend of more well-off Malaysians using public hospitals would overwhelm the healthcare system, he warned that the rush for profits by private hospitals would push costs even higher and deprive people of affordable and timely care.

“This is a crisis that will not benefit anyone. If we don’t sit down together to solve it, everyone will collapse and chase after a shrinking pie,” he said.

Insurance professionals say it is increasingly important for them to protect their clients from “unscrupulous” acts by hospitals or doctors, who would provide treatment with profit maximisation in mind.

Shane Ng, a senior agent with the British insurance firm Prudential, has urged policyholders to periodically review their needs and update their policies for sufficient coverage.

“More education and awareness are needed as many Malaysians still think that if they have a medical plan, it should cover them 100 per cent,” Ng said.

Despite the surge, the court’s approval rate for protective measures to prevent stalkers from approaching victims has fallen

South Korea has recorded a surge in reports of stalking within a few years of the enactment of tougher laws that were introduced following a high-profile murder case.

A total of 13,269 stalking cases were reported nationwide in 2024, up from 7,626 in 2022, according to data released on Sunday by the Ministry of Justice. In the first seven months of this year, 7,981 cases were filed, suggesting the total for 2025 could surpass that of last year, figures submitted to lawmakers show.

In October 2021, South Korea enacted the Act on Punishment of Crime of Stalking, replacing previous laws that classified stalking as a misdemeanour punishable only by small fines. Under the Act, stalking carries a penalty of up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won (US$21,600).

Only 406 cases were reported in the final three months of 2021. By the end of 2023, more than 10,400 cases had been filed, as victims felt more confident to report such stalking offences.

In July 2023, the South Korean National Assembly tightened the law again by removing a controversial clause that had allowed offenders to avoid prosecution under certain conditions.

Despite these changes, the courts have been less willing to grant emergency protective measures to prevent stalkers from approaching victims. These include ordering a suspect not to come within 100 metres of a victim’s home, workplace or school, banning a suspect from making electronic contact targeting a victim, and relocating a victim to a secure facility.

The approval rate in courts for such measures requested by prosecutors fell from 98.4 per cent in the final three months of 2021 to 93.3 per cent as of July 2025, while consent for requests from judicial police dropped from 94.1 per cent in 2022 to 92.2 per cent in 2024.

Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Hyun-heui, who provided the data on stalking cases to the National Assembly, has warned that a failure to provide such safeguards was a dereliction of duty by the courts, exposing vulnerable individuals to such threats.

Murders that shaped reforms

Stalking has become one of South Korea’s most pressing social concerns following a series of murders that started with persistent harassment.

In September 2022, a 28-year-old Seoul Metro employee was stabbed to death inside a women’s restroom of Sindang Station by her former colleague Jeon Joo-hwan, who had stalked her continuously for nearly two years.

Before the murder, Jeon continued to threaten her even while under indictment for stalking despite multiple police reports and court filings against him.

Jeon murdered the victim just one day before his sentencing for the stalking charges and was sentenced to life in prison in October 2023 following a hearing in the Supreme Court. The case triggered public outrage and led to the introduction of tougher stalking laws.

In another chilling case, 37-year-old Kim Byung-chan murdered his ex-girlfriend in broad daylight near her home in Seoul in 2021 after repeatedly harassing her following their break-up. The murder happened despite the woman coming under police protection that arose after she filed several complaints against Kim, who was later sentenced to 40 years in prison.

In another case that sparked criticisms of law enforcement, a woman in Daegu was stabbed to death in June by a former partner while she was supposedly under police protection. Officers had installed surveillance equipment at her home and checked in regularly, but the assailant managed to gain access and flee the scene.

Japan has also recorded several murder cases linked to harassment this year, triggering public outrage over police inaction.

Last week, a 40-year-old South Korean woman was reportedly murdered in Tokyo’s Setagaya ward by her former boyfriend, despite having sought police help over threats of violence that she was facing.

In August, a 24-year-old woman was fatally stabbed in Kobe by a man who had reportedly followed her for days.

In Kanagawa, a 20-year-old woman was found murdered in her former boyfriend’s home in April, four months after she was reported missing despite having filed reports of harassment against him. The case led to a public apology by Kanagawa’s police chief, with over 40 officers set to be disciplined in connection with the case.

Hideo Kojima stepped down in March last year after being accused of harassment, including touching a colleague’s breasts and buttocks

A former Japanese mayor who resigned over 99 sexual harassment allegations has been elected as a town councillor, officials said on Monday, sparking anger and shock online.

Hideo Kojima stepped down in March last year after an official investigation accused him of incidents of harassment in the town in central Gifu region, including touching a colleague’s breasts and buttocks.

An official in the town said Kojima had been elected, with the town website showing he came in second among the 10 candidates who won seats.

“It proves residents trust me,” Kojima, 75, told a local TV network on Monday, and warned: “Don’t ever mention [sexual harassment claims] again.”

Online users expressed shock over the election results.

“So voters in the town don’t care about employees who were sexually harassed? Shame on you,” one user said on X.

“I’m so shocked I’m speechless. I’m sorry for the women employees,” wrote another on the Yahoo Japan platform.

At a press conference last year, he denied some cases and wiped away tears as he described his brother scolding him.

He said he did not hug women employees as outlined in the investigation report, explaining that his gestures might have looked like a hug, but were not.

During its investigation, the committee conducted a survey among 193 workers in Kojima’s municipality.

Of the 161 who responded, about 53 per cent of men and 58 per cent of women said the mayor had done something that made them feel uncomfortable.

According to broadcaster NHK, Kojima said he had not read the whole report, which alleged that he would tell subordinates that “his hands were fair and smooth … to force female employees to touch them”.

The report said he would also “show off his legs by rolling up his trousers, and tell them to touch”.

Some workers used disinfectant spray after being touched, the report said, also detailing inappropriate remarks and demands such as asking an employee to bend over.

The probe, launched following reports in the weekly Shukan Bunshun magazine, said the mayor had often patted women workers on their heads.

Kojima said this had been meant to “express gratitude”.

The ratio of women politicians is still low in Japan.

The country ranked 118th among 148 nations in the World Economic Forum’s gender gap index in 2025.

The global #MeToo movement was slow to pick up in Japan, where many victims are said to be too scared to come forward, but a handful of high-profile cases have recently forced a reckoning.

Prosecutors allege the woman killed her two young children in 2018, shortly after her husband’s death, using sleeping medication

A woman accused of killing her two young children and hiding their bodies in suitcases stood trial in New Zealand on Monday, in a case that has transfixed the country since the remains were discovered in 2022.

Lee Hak-yung, 44, appeared at the Auckland High Court. A Korean-born New Zealander, she is accused of killing her children – six-year-old Minu-jo and eight-year-old Yuna-jo – in 2018, shortly after the death of her husband from cancer.

The children’s remains lay undiscovered for years until the contents of a storage locker in Papatoetoe, South Auckland, were sold at auction. The unsuspecting buyers brought the suitcases home and found the bodies wrapped and hidden inside.

Lee had returned to South Korea in 2018, where she lived under a new identity. She was arrested in Ulsan in September 2022 after Interpol issued a red notice and was extradited to New Zealand two months later at the request of the police.

At Monday’s hearing, local media reported that Lee remained silent when asked by the judge how she would plead, with her silence ultimately recorded as a “not guilty” plea. She has chosen to represent herself during the trial, though the court has appointed two lawyers as standby counsel.

Justice Geoffrey Venning told the court the case would turn on “whether, at the time the children were killed, Ms Lee was insane”.

According to court documents cited by public broadcaster RNZ, Lee had previously threatened to kill herself and her children should her husband die. She is alleged to have murdered the children between late June and late July 2018, possibly using sleeping medication prescribed to her at the time.

“After murdering the deceased, the defendant wrapped each of their bodies in plastic bags and plastic wrap,” the court documents reportedly state. “The defendant placed each body into a separate suitcase and put them into black plastic bags to conceal them.”

Lee rented a storage unit where the luggage remained among other household items after she left the country. When the unit was abandoned for non-payment, its contents were sold at auction in 2022, leading to the grim discovery.

Born Lee Ji-eun, she later changed her name to Lee Hak-yung while in South Korea. She was granted initial name suppression in New Zealand, though that restriction was lifted by an appeal court in 2023.

The trial, originally scheduled for 2024 but delayed, is expected to examine both Lee’s mental state and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of her children.

A charismatic scion and a hawkish protégé are the apparent front runners to lead the LDP, but can anyone restore public trust in the party?

Less than 24 hours after Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation as prime minister, Japan’s ruling party faces a leadership contest that few seem eager to win and even fewer to survive, as it lays bare internal rivalries.

Few within Japanese politics were truly taken aback when Ishiba confirmed his decision to step down as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a televised address on Sunday evening.

On Monday, former LDP secretary general Toshimitsu Motegi became the first to throw his hat into the ring to replace Ishiba, pledging to “devote my all to this country” in a bid to restore unity and confront the “severe domestic and international challenges facing Japan”. The LDP, he said, was “facing its greatest crisis since its founding”.

But Motegi’s campaign appears hamstrung from the outset. His political faction was dissolved amid the slush fund scandal that engulfed the LDP throughout 2023 and 2024 and public trust has yet to recover.

While Motegi is the only contender to have formally declared he will run, political analysts say the contest is shaping up as a battle between two clear favourites: Shinjiro Koizumi, the charismatic scion of a former prime minister with centrist leanings; and Sanae Takaichi, a hawkish protégé of former prime minister Shinzo Abe who could steer the party further to the right.

But neither candidate will have a clear run at the top post, according to Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor of politics and international relations at Waseda University. “I do not believe Takaichi has sufficient support,” he told This Week in Asia. “She is a member of the former Abe faction, which was at the heart of the slush fund scandal and ordinary people are still very, very angry about that.”

Complicating matters further, Shigemura believes Komeito – the LDP’s long-time Buddhist-backed coalition partner – is unlikely to endorse Takaichi, citing her provocative remarks about South Korea and China.

There is also strong speculation that, if elected, she would make a visit to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honours Japan’s war dead, including convicted Class A war criminals. Such a move would almost certainly inflame tensions with Japan’s neighbours.

Koizumi, by contrast, is the son of the still-popular former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. Shigemura said the 44-year-old had an engaging and easy manner that had attracted support, but was seen by some as too young to lead a party still dominated by elderly men wedded to tradition.

A previous environment minister who currently holds the agriculture portfolio, Shinjiro Koizumi is perceived by some as lacking the gravitas required to negotiate with the likes of US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Other potential contenders include Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, who is closely tied to Ishiba and widely seen as too conciliatory towards China, while Taro Kono’s prospects have faded after an underwhelming tenure as minister for digital transformation.

An opinion poll conducted days before Ishiba’s resignation by Tokyo Broadcasting System found public support split: 23 per cent backing Takaichi and 20.9 per cent favouring Koizumi, with other candidates trailing in the single digits.

‘Poisoned chalice’

“The LDP is so badly divided that you have to wonder why anyone would want this poisoned chalice,” said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo.

“The party is in the process of soul-searching and they need to hit the reset button … [it] needs to restore the support that it has lost and it has to reach out to new constituents and I just find it hard to see people like Takaichi, Motegi or Hayashi being able to do that. They need a new face.”

The party is in the process of soul-searching and they need to hit the reset buttonJeff Kingston, professor of history and Asian studies

Even if Koizumi manages to outmanoeuvre his rivals, the challenges facing Japan’s next leader are daunting. Soaring prices, stagnant wages and mounting security anxieties threaten to test the resilience of whoever takes the helm. Should these crises deepen, the spectre of further political instability looms.

Ishiba’s exit after less than a year in office has revived fears of a return to Japan’s era of “revolving-door prime ministers”, according to Kingston, adding that none seem sufficiently resilient to last more than a year before being replaced.

Despite a general election in July that signalled a shift to the right, reflected in surging support for hardline parties such as Sanseito and the Conservative Party, Kingston retains hope that Koizumi’s “potential to regain public confidence in politics and the party” could steady Japan’s course.

“But if the party chooses to go with Takaichi and moves to the right, I think that would be a disaster.”

The revised plan details everything from clearing key roads to stockpiling masks and goggles, as Tokyo prepares for a worst-case scenario

As Mount Fuji looms tranquilly over Tokyo’s skyline, city officials are racing to prepare for a disaster that has not struck in more than three centuries – but could happen “at any time”.

For the first time, authorities in Japan’s capital have mapped out exactly how they would evacuate millions if the dormant volcano awakens, in an overhaul of the city’s disaster playbook.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s new volcano disaster prevention plan outlines which roads will be cleared first and specifies evacuation protocols, in a departure from previous, more general guidelines.

This update, the second in just four months, was prompted by concerns within the metropolitan government that earlier versions of the “Tokyo Regional Disaster Prevention Plan Volcano Edition” lacked sufficient detail and were “too vague” to offer real reassurance or guidance, The Mainichi newspaper reported.

Mount Fuji has not erupted in over 300 years … but an eruption could happen at any timeTokyo government official

The initial revision, published in May, drew on a report by the national Central Disaster Management Council from 2020, which modelled a worst-case scenario of persistent west-southwest winds for 15 days, depositing an estimated 120 million cubic metres (4.2 billion cubic feet) of volcanic ash over Tokyo – enough to blanket most of the city, which lies 100km (62 miles) east of Mount Fuji, under 2cm to 10cm (0.8 inches to four inches) of ash.

The total projected ashfall was about 2.5 times greater than the debris generated by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Transport disruption is a central concern. Even a 10cm accumulation of ash renders most two-wheel drive vehicles immobile, and wet ash as shallow as 3cm can pose similar problems.

To tackle this, the city government in March entered into its first formal agreement with the city’s road management association and other partners to deploy a fleet of specialist vehicles, including road sweepers and wheeled loaders, to clear ash from key arteries.

The most recent revision to the disaster plan sets out a hierarchy for ash removal, prioritising routes that connect government buildings and critical infrastructure, ensuring that emergency services and residents retain access to essential services.

Evacuation guidance is now more precise: residents are advised to remain at home if ash accumulation stays below 3cm. With ash depths between 3cm and 30cm, sheltering in place or moving to local evacuation centres is recommended.

Should ash exceed 30cm, the risk of structural collapse – especially for wooden buildings – would trigger a call to evacuate the city.

“Going forward, we’ll work out specific evacuation destinations outside the area,” a municipal government representative told The Mainichi.

Officials have been stepping up efforts to raise public awareness of the dangers posed by Japan’s 111 active volcanoes, as classified by the Meteorological Agency.

“Mount Fuji has not erupted in over 300 years since the Hoei eruption [in 1707], but an eruption could happen at any time,” an official told The Mainichi. “Ashfall poses risks to human health, so we want to encourage residents to stockpile masks and goggles.”

On August 26, the Cabinet Office released an AI-powered simulation illustrating the potential impact of a Mount Fuji eruption on Tokyo.

The video depicts widespread disruption to transport, power supplies, water infrastructure, residential buildings and daily life. “We want people to learn that a major eruption of Mount Fuji is possible and to visualise what kind of impact it could have on their daily lives,” an official who oversaw the video told The Asahi Shimbun.

The simulation features commentary from Toshitsugu Fujii, a professor emeritus of volcanology at the University of Tokyo, who supervised its creation.

In the video, Fujii warns that it is “somewhat abnormal” for Mount Fuji to have remained dormant for over three centuries, given its history of erupting roughly once every 30 years. “As an active and young volcano, an eruption is inevitable,” he cautions.

However, not all experts agree on the likelihood of the simulated scenario. Some have criticised the video for being “alarmist”.

“The simulation that is being shown would only ever happen under special conditions and this is not a high-probability event,” Kimiro Meguro, a professor of disaster mitigation engineering at the University of Tokyo, previously told This Week in Asia.

The incident has prompted Malaysian authorities to announce enhanced security protocols for all state royalty and leaders

A 41-year-old woman has been charged with assault in Malaysia after she attempted to embrace the Sultan of Perak last month.

The incident, which took place in front of the Ipoh Town Hall at 8.20am on August 31 during Independence Day celebrations, has prompted scrutiny of security arrangements surrounding Malaysia’s royalty.

Nurhaswani Afni Mohamad Zorki from Kampung Manjoi appeared before Magistrate Mohd Harith Mohd Mazlan on Monday, where she was formally charged under Section 352 of the Penal Code.

No plea was recorded during the proceedings. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of three months’ imprisonment, a fine of up to 1,000 ringgit (US$238), or both.

According to eyewitnesses and police statements, the woman, dressed in black, had positioned herself among the dignitaries before suddenly rushing towards Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah on stage as the Perak state anthem played.

Security personnel intervened, swiftly shielding the sultan and restraining the woman before she could make physical contact. She was subsequently detained and escorted from the venue.

Perak police Commissioner Noor Hisam Nordin confirmed that Nurhaswani was arrested on the spot and later taken to the police station.

He revealed that initial investigations uncovered a prior history of drug-related offences and ongoing psychiatric supervision. However, a urine test for narcotics returned negative.

Following police investigations, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nasrul Hadi Abdul Ghani informed the court that findings suggested the accused “may be suffering from schizophrenia”.

He requested that Nurhaswani be sent for a month-long psychiatric observation to determine her fitness to stand trial. The magistrate granted the request, ordering that she be transferred to a hospital for assessment. The next mention of the case has been scheduled for October 8.

In the wake of the incident, national law enforcement authorities have announced enhanced security protocols for all state royalty and leaders.

“This will involve bodyguard training and incorporating elements from the [Special Actions Unit] and commandos, so that protocols are streamlined with officers attached to the istanas and state governments,” Inspector-General of Police Mohd Khalid Ismail said.

Commissioner Noor Hisam also appealed for public decorum during national celebrations, saying, “We urge the public to respect the country’s official celebrations and not to cause incidents that would spark public concern.”

This article was first published in two parts by The Star

The former Thai leader has pledged to be back home in time for a court ruling that could see him jailed on Tuesday

Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is scheduled to return to Bangkok on Monday, days after his abrupt departure for Dubai stoked speculation about him fleeing the country ahead of a court ruling that could see him jailed.

Thaksin, 76, arrived in Singapore in his private jet early on Monday and will travel to the Thai capital later in the day, according to a person familiar with his plans who asked not to be identified discussing private information.

Several Thai media outlets including Khaosod reported that Thaksin would be arriving in Bangkok at 5pm, without naming their sources.

The return would be keeping in line with Thaksin’s pledge to be back in time for the scheduled court ruling on Tuesday.

One of Thailand’s most prominent political figures and a two-time premier, Thaksin travelled to Dubai last week for what he called a medical check-up after his original plan to visit Singapore was aborted by delayed Thai immigration clearance.

As of early Friday morning, the jet that Thaksin took to Dubai was seen at Singapore’s Seletar private jet airport, according to Flightradar 24.

Sorawong Thienthong, secretary general of the Shinawatra-backed Pheu Thai Party, declined to comment on Thaksin’s travel plan, saying it was his personal matter.

Thaksin’s Dubai visit came hours before the Thai parliament picked Anutin Charnvirakul, a political rival, as the country’s new prime minister following the ousting of his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra for ethical misconduct days earlier.

A split in Paetongtarn’s coalition and the subsequent defeat of its prime ministerial candidate Chaikasem Nitisiri point to the unravelling of a deal that Pheu Thai struck with conservative parties to share power.

That bargain had helped Thaksin, who served as prime minister from 2001 until a 2006 coup, return to Thailand after 15 years of self-imposed exile.

Thaksin spent parts of his exile in Dubai after fleeing corruption charges tied to his time in office. His sister, former leader Yingluck Shinawatra, remains in exile after leaving Thailand in 2017.

On his return, Thaksin was sentenced to eight years in prison, which was royally commuted to one year. He then spent six months in a hospital before being released on parole earlier this year.

A court is set to decide on Tuesday whether his time in hospital counts as having served his sentence. Last month, he was acquitted in a separate case of breaching Thailand’s strict royal defamation laws, prompting a ban on his overseas travel to be lifted.

Paetongtarn was the fifth Shinawatra-linked premier dismissed by the Constitutional Court in a country that has a long history of political upheaval, with royalist judges and generals repeatedly toppling elected leaders.

Corruption accusations have fanned protesters’ anger, with calls online for a larger movement mirroring Indonesia’s recent unrest

Mud splattered across gates. Walls daubed with “thief” and “corrupt”. In the Philippines, anger over the misuse of funds set aside for flood control projects has found its target: the properties of contractors accused of siphoning off billions and the offices of government agencies.

After rallying outside the Department of Public Works and Highways and pelting it with waste water-filled balloons and rotten fruit on Thursday, protesters descended on the House of Representatives the day afterwards while lawmakers were in session.

Police blocked their entry, but the demonstrators – some of whom had lost homes to floods across Metro Manila and nearby provinces in July – defaced the building’s facade in their anger.

The protests erupted in response to July’s floods, which caused widespread loss and property damage despite more than 545 billion pesos (US$9.4 billion) having been spent on flood control projects under the aegis of the public works department since 2022.

A government-ordered investigation revealed a swathe of incomplete, substandard or nonexistent projects, with just 15 out of 2,409 registered contractors cornering 100 billion pesos worth of contracts, leaving the remaining 436 billion pesos spread thinly among the others.

Investigators said some contracts were issued for roads and canals that do not exist.

‘The people’s anger’

Protesters have zeroed in on Sarah and Curlee Discaya, a husband-and-wife duo whom the Philippine Centre for Investigative Journalism dubbed the “king and queen of flood control” after uncovering documents showing that six companies founded by the family secured 345 projects worth 25.2 billion pesos.

On Thursday, demonstrators hurled mud and spray-painted “thief” and “corrupt” on the walls of St Gerrard Construction in Pasig City, one of the Discayas’ companies, demanding justice.

“We chose to come to one of the companies owned by the so-called Flood Control King and Queen … to show and deliver the people’s anger against thieves,” said Jonila Castro, spokeswoman for the environmental group Kalikasan.

While we are sinking in floodwater and mud, they are drowning in money they stole from the peopleJonila Castro, environmental activist

“While we are sinking in floodwater and mud, they are drowning in money they stole from the people,” she said, defending the group’s actions as an expression of public rage.

In a statement to protesters, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto urged restraint, while Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla warned the rallies could “trigger a kind of hysteria that we don’t need in this country”.

That same day, as protesters pelted the public works department building, Manila’s Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso warned that he “will not tolerate mob rule”, vowing to protect government offices and residents alike.

Echoes of Indonesia

On social media, forum posts showing the lavish lifestyles of contractors and public officials linked to ongoing investigations led to calls for a Philippine movement mirroring Indonesia’s recent anti-government protests.

“If Indonesia can, the Philippines can too!” declared one viral post that drew thousands of reactions. “Violence isn’t the only way, true, but silence isn’t a solution either.”

Analysts caution against drawing parallels between the two countries, however, due to differences in political context.

Years of anti-activism crackdowns under former president Rodrigo Duterte, including the “red-tagging” of activists as communist rebels, have left civil society fragmented and fearful.

At least 800 political prisoners were jailed during Duterte’s tenure, according to local rights group Karapatan, which blames his administration for more than 440 extrajudicial killings, including those of journalists and rights activists who were “red-tagged”.

“Many activist leaders were captured, killed or are still missing, so this has demoralised many groups from protesting,” Matthew David Ordonez, a political science lecturer at De La Salle University in Manila, told This Week in Asia.

Unlike in Indonesia, Filipino protesters “are going for quality rather than quantity, surgical actions rather than brute force of numbers”, he added.

Constant political intrigue has also bred “scandal fatigue” in the Philippines, according to Ordonez, with Filipinos too worn down by repeated controversies spanning corruption investigations to the vice-president’s impeachment trial “to perform the same level of activism as Indonesia”.

Still, some academics said the anger and protests could grow if the public loses trust in official investigations.

“At the very least, the people want those who are involved to be held accountable for their actions,” said Nathaniel Candelaria, a political scientist at the University of the Philippines, adding that it was the state’s responsibility to prosecute anyone found to have engaged in wrongdoing.

“But more than holding people accountable, the government needs to strengthen independent offices [institutions] and ensure that people’s money is spent properly down to the last cent.”

Suria KLCC management said the wooden flagpoles the protesters were carrying were a safety risk

The operators of the shopping centre at the base of Malaysia’s Petronas Twin Towers faced backlash on Monday after pro-Palestine protesters were forcibly removed by security as they went inside the centre at the end of a rally.

As Malaysia has long taken pride in being the most vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause in Southeast Asia, acts against those protesting or boycotting companies over Israel’s assault on Gaza can quickly whip up public opinion.

Former member of parliament Chua Tian Chang was manhandled by security staff on Saturday while attempting to come to the aid of a woman who entered the shopping centre with a Palestinian flag on a wooden pole.

The incident was caught on video and went viral. In it, a woman can be heard shouting, “He’s an old man. Give him some respect,” amid chants of “Free, free Palestine” in the background.

Management of Suria KLCC, one of Kuala Lumpur’s premier shopping centres, said the wooden stick posed safety risks to patrons, denying any political stance behind removing the woman and the flag.

But in a statement on Monday, BDS Malaysia, the local chapter of the global anti-Israeli boycott, divest and sanction movement, described the reaction of the security staff as “disgraceful”, saying it was “understandable in pro-Zionist countries” but not in Malaysia.

“It should should never happen in Malaysia, a country that has consistently expressed strong support for the cause of freedom and justice for Palestinians,” BDS Malaysia said.

The group, which has led flash mobs and consumer boycotts of businesses in Malaysia deemed to have Israeli ownership or backing, called the mall’s statement “ill-conceived”, as other prospective patrons of the mall who wore Palestinian keffiyeh, or headscarf, and carried pro-Palestinian posters were also not allowed to enter.

Some Malaysians online echoed the pro-Palestinian movement, saying it was jarring for such a display of solidarity to be curtailed.

“Just two weeks ago we had a large pro-Palestine festival at the Independence Square for the global flotilla, with the prime minister speaking on the stage,” said Shami Azizi, who works around the twin tower precinct.

Others, meanwhile, said that the protesters had crossed the line, noting the mall was private property, and so had the right to ban politically motivated activities within its premises.

The 140,000 square metre (1.5 million square foot) shopping centre houses international fashion brands like Rolex, Louis Vuitton and Hugo Boss, as well as a cineplex, two supermarkets, department stores and an art gallery. Its park, which has a playground and wading pool for children, is popular with locals and tourists alike.

“Just because it’s at our most iconic landmark doesn’t mean it’s a public space,” said shopper Suraya Abdul Rashid at the mall on Monday. “They already did a good job marching outside the mall after all”.

US president says foreign firms need to respect US immigration laws, as South Korea works bring detained workers home

US President Donald Trump on Sunday warned foreign companies to obey US law after immigration officials arrested some 475 individuals including South Korean workers at a Hyundai-LG battery plant being built in the southern state of Georgia.

The arrests were made in a raid by US authorities on Thursday during the largest single-site operation implemented so far under Trump’s nationwide anti-migrant drive.

“Please respect our Nation’s Immigration Laws,” the president posted on social media Sunday.

“Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people... What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers.”

Footage of the raid showed detained workers, in handcuffs and with chains around their ankles, being loaded onto a bus.

Steven Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia, told reporters that the raid targeted “unlawful employment practices going on at this massive, 100-acre construction site”.

LG Energy Solution has said 47 of its employees were arrested - 46 South Koreans and one Indonesian.

The company has also said about 250 of those arrested were believed to be employed by its contractor, and most of them were South Koreans.

It remains unclear what visas the workers held or whether those allowed them to be on the site.

Local media reports said many Korean companies have resorted to the visa waiver programme known as ESTA, intended for short-term business trips up to 90 days, when they have to dispatch employees immediately.

In addition to being a key security ally on the Pacific Rim, South Korea is Asia’s fourth-biggest economy and a key carmaker and electronics producer with multiple plants in the United States.

Seoul has heeded Trump’s repeated call for global investment in US businesses during his tariff negotiations with countries around the world.

Last month, hours after South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met with Trump in Washington, Korean Air announced it would purchase 100 Boeing aircraft, inking the largest deal in South Korea’s aviation history. Seoul also pledged US$350 billion in US investment in July.

And South Korea secured an agreement for a 15 per cent tariff for exports to the United States - significantly below the 25 per cent that Trump had earlier threatened to introduce.

Domestically, Trump has promised to revive the US manufacturing sector while also vowing to deport millions of undocumented migrants.

While admonishing investors on Sunday to abide by the law, Trump appeared to acknowledge a skill deficiency in the domestic workforce.

“ICE was doing right because they were here illegally,” he said of the raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that has strained relations with South Korea.

“But we do have to work something out where we bring in extras so that our people can be trained so that they can do it themselves.”

Seoul said Sunday that negotiations to secure the release of the detained workers had been concluded. Yonhap news agency quoted South Korean Consul General in Washington Cho Ki-joong as saying the workers will likely board a plane on Wednesday.

“The immediate priority now is the swift release of both our LG Energy Solution employees and those of our partner firms,” company executive Kim Ki-soo told reporters before boarding a plane to Georgia earlier in the day.

Hyundai has said none of those arrested are its employees.

With hundreds detained, the size of the Georgia raid is a departure from operations elsewhere.

In Los Angeles, immigration agents have repeatedly raided small businesses, targeting hardware stores, restaurants, car washes and street vendors.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg and Reuters

Modi’s meeting with Min Aung Hlaing risks lending the junta legitimacy and undermining efforts to resolve Myanmar’s civil war, analysts say

Since seizing power in a coup 4 ½ years ago, Myanmar’s military rulers have had a strained relationship with much of the outside world.

Largely shunned by the West, the generals have even struggled for diplomatic recognition within Asean, which has barred the junta from high-level meetings and blocked it from assuming the rotating chairmanship that it was scheduled to take up next year.

But in China late last month, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing chalked up a victory in his quest for validation, meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin.

Modi’s meeting with the coup leader was about more than opening a channel to an isolated general, analysts say – it also signalled New Delhi’s willingness to prioritise hard security interests at the expense of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ efforts to resolve Myanmar’s civil war.

Posting later on social media, the Indian leader said the discussion had focused on areas of cooperation. “Myanmar is a vital pillar of India’s Act East and Neighbourhood First Policies. We both agreed that there is immense scope to boost ties in areas like trade, connectivity, energy, rare earth mining and security,” Modi wrote.

The encounter marked one of the rare occasions in which Min Aung Hlaing has appeared with a foreign head of government since his 2021 coup against Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected administration. The putsch plunged Myanmar into a brutal nationwide conflict that continues to devastate swathes of the impoverished nation.

By agreeing to the meeting on August 31, Modi risked undermining Asean’s peace diplomacy, said Hunter Marston, an adjunct fellow with the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies’ Southeast Asia Programme.

“But this should not come as a surprise,” he told This Week in Asia. “Delhi has viewed Myanmar through a lens of realpolitik for the past three decades and is keen to retain influence with the military junta regardless of its domestic repression or international pariah status.”

Short-term goals

Asean has sought, with limited effect, to enforce its Five-Point Consensus calling for an end to violence in Myanmar and dialogue among all parties. But divisions within the 10-member bloc and its long-standing principle of non-interference have left its peace plan moribund.

Marston said that India could play a productive role by pressing the generals towards talks with their opponents.

“Rather than empowering the military and thus prolonging the conflict,” he said. “India could more constructively steer a diplomatic resolution to the crisis by pressuring the military regime to engage in dialogue with the resistance.”

India shares a porous, conflict-prone border with Myanmar and Delhi has long depended on successive rulers in Naypyidaw to help contain insurgencies in its northeastern states.

For Delhi, Marston said military-to-military cooperation was paramount, spanning counter-insurgency, intelligence sharing and ensuring Indian infrastructure projects in Myanmar proceed unhindered.

But he warned that India’s reliance on the junta could turn out to be “short-sighted and misguided” given its domestic unpopularity.

“When a democratic government eventually comes to power in Naypyidaw, it will take decades to rebuild strategic trust that has been squandered,” Marston said.

Analysts note that India-Myanmar cooperation also extends to fighting drug and weapons trafficking as well as other kinds of cross-border smuggling of people and goods.

India’s response to Myanmar is driven by concerns for security and stabilityObja Borah Hazarika, political scientist

“India’s response to Myanmar is driven by concerns for security and stability in its northeast, the region in India that borders Myanmar, and to ensure that cross-border connectivity projects in the region progress smoothly,” said Obja Borah Hazarika, a political scientist at Dibrugarh University in India’s northeastern Assam state.

“India is keen on seeing stability in Myanmar so that its transborder projects are completed and so that other security concerns do not arise along the border.”

Key Indian-backed projects include the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project connecting India’s northeast to Sittwe port in Myanmar and the repeatedly delayed India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway. India is also funding schools, clinics and other infrastructure in the border regions.

‘Premature’ recognition

Myanmar’s military authorities plan to stage a general election in December, despite ongoing fighting with anti-coup resistance forces. State media reported that India would send teams to observe voting across more than 300 constituencies.

India’s foreign ministry said in a statement released on August 31 that Modi had called for the election to be conducted “in a fair and inclusive manner involving all stakeholders”.

But Sreeparna Banerjee, an associate research fellow at the Observer Research Foundation think tank in India, said the election’s legitimacy was likely to be contested so long as the generals controlled the process.

She added that some key Asean members, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, might view Modi’s meeting as offering Myanmar’s junta chief diplomatic recognition before it was due.

“The risk lies in optics,” Banerjee said. “Asean has emphasised that elections are not a priority without cessation of violence and inclusive talks, so bilateral engagement with Min Aung Hlaing may appear as premature legitimation.”

On the plus side for Delhi, Marston said it would have numerous senior-level contacts in government if the junta-approved, pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party swept the December poll as assumed.

India’s recent moves also intersect with those of Myanmar’s primary international patron since the coup: China. Beijing’s belt and road investments and trading heft bind Naypyidaw to its largest neighbour.

But Marston argued that the generals would still prefer alternatives to China’s “outsized” economic and political influence.

“There are many in the military who chafe at China’s influence and would prefer to see deeper connections with alternatives,” he said. “India has a role to play in this regard by offering a secondary partner of choice to hedge against overdependence on China.”

Even so, he warned that India would be “wise” to deepen engagement with anti-coup forces such as ethnic armed groups that oppose the junta and Myanmar’s government-in-exile, formed by former members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

“The Myanmar junta will not hold power indefinitely, and when it eventually falls, New Delhi would be well served to have connections to those stakeholders that take over a democratic government,” he said.

Tom Phillips was killed after robbing an agricultural supplies store with one of his children

A New Zealand man who evaded authorities with his three children in remote countryside for nearly four years was shot and killed by a police officer on Monday, law enforcement said.

The December 2021 disappearance of Tom Phillips and his children – now about nine, 10 and 11 – confounded investigators for years as they scoured the densely forested area where they believed the family was hiding.

The family was not believed to have ever travelled far from the isolated North Island rural settlement of Marokopa where they lived, but credible sightings of them were rare.

Phillips had not been formally identified, New Zealand’s Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers told reporters in the city of Hamilton on Monday, but authorities believed he was the man killed. His relatives confirmed his death to local news outlets.

A police officer was shot in the head and critically injured during a confrontation with Phillips after he robbed an agricultural supplies store early on Monday morning, Rogers said. A child with Phillips at the time of the burglary was taken into custody.

The officer was undergoing surgery at a hospital. Further surgeries were expected.

The whereabouts of Phillips’ other two children were unknown and authorities held serious concerns for them, Rogers said.

Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Saunders said the child taken into custody on Monday was cooperating with the authorities.

Close to home

The farm supplies store targeted on Monday was in a small town in the same sprawling farming region of Waikato, south of Auckland, as the settlement of about 40 people from where the family vanished. The case has fascinated New Zealanders, and the authorities made regular unsuccessful appeals for information.

Sightings of Phillips were limited to CCTV footage that showed him allegedly committing crimes in the area. He was wanted for an armed bank robbery while on the run in May 2023, accompanied by one of his children, in which he reportedly shot at a member of the public.

Phillips did not have legal custody rights for his children, Saunders told reporters last year. Authorities feared for the children’s safety and said they had not had access to formal education or healthcare since their disappearance.

Law enforcement always believed that Phillips had help concealing his family, and some residents of the isolated rural area expressed support for him. A reward of NZ$80,000 (US$47,000), large by New Zealand standards, and an offer of immunity from prosecution were offered for information about the family’s whereabouts last June, but it was never paid.

December 2021 was not the first time Phillips prompted national news headlines after disappearing with his children. The family went missing that September, launching a three-week land and sea search after Phillips’ truck was found abandoned on a wild beach near where he lived.

Authorities eventually ended the search, concluding the family might have died, before Phillips and the children emerged from the dense forest where he said they had been camping.

He was charged with wasting police resources and was due to appear in court in January 2022, but weeks before the scheduled date, he and the children vanished again.

The police did not immediately launch a search because Phillips, who was experienced in the outdoors, had told family he was taking the children on another trip. He never returned.

Less than a year later, with the trail cold, the authorities said Phillips and the children might have moved elsewhere in New Zealand and changed their names. But the search began again after several sightings of Phillips in 2023 in the same region where he had vanished.

He was last seen on CCTV in August this year as he robbed a grocery store at night, accompanied by one of his children.

The children’s mother issued a statement to Radio New Zealand on Monday in which she said she was “deeply relieved” that the “ordeal” for her children had ended.

“They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care,” said the woman, who has been identified in New Zealand news outlets only by her first name, Cat.

Erin Patterson’s ‘failure to exhibit any remorse pours salt into all the victims’ wounds’, judge said

An Australian woman convicted of murdering three elderly relatives of her estranged husband with a meal containing poisonous mushrooms was sentenced to a minimum of 33 years in prison on Monday.

The presiding judge said Erin Patterson’s use of individual portions of beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms to poison her in-laws over lunch had a “devastating” impact on the relatives of the deceased.

Patterson was found guilty in July of killing her mother-in-law, Gail Patterson, father-in-law, Donald Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson in a case that has been globally followed and dubbed the Leongatha mushroom murders.

A jury also found the 50-year-old guilty of the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, Heather’s husband, who survived the 2023 meal at Patterson’s home in Leongatha, a town of about 6,000 people, some 135km (84 miles) southeast of Melbourne.

On Monday, Justice Christopher Beale said the substantial planning of the murders and Patterson’s lack of remorse meant her sentence should be lengthy, at the sentencing hearing at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne.

“Your failure to exhibit any remorse pours salt into all the victims’ wounds,” Beale told Patterson as he read out her sentence.

“The devastating impact of your crimes is not limited to your direct victims. Your crimes have harmed a great many people,” he said.

“Not only did you cut short three lives and cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson’s health, thereby devastating the extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents.”

At a pre-sentencing hearing last month, Patterson’s lawyer Colin Mandy urged Beale to impose a non-parole period on the sentence, meaning she would have the possibility of eventual release, as her “notorious” reputation would make prison more onerous for her than the average offender.

The prosecution had argued that Patterson should never be released.

Patterson, who maintained her innocence throughout the trial and said the poisonings were accidental, has 28 days to appeal her sentence. She has not yet indicated whether she will do so.

The deaths devastated the close-knit rural community of Korumburra, where all the victims lived.

The court received a total of 28 victim impact statements, of which seven were read publicly at last month’s hearings.

Ian Wilkinson, a pastor at a local church and the sole surviving guest of the lunch, told last month’s hearing that the death of his wife had left him bereft.

“It’s a truly horrible thought to live with that somebody could decide to take her life. I only feel half alive without her,” he said, breaking down in tears as he delivered his victim impact statement.

The extraordinary media interest in the case, which gripped Australia for much of the 10-week trial, had been traumatic for the family, Erin Patterson’s estranged husband Simon Patterson – who was invited to the lunch but declined – said at the same hearing.

Journalists and television crews from around the world descended on the town of Morwell when the trial began in April, with millions of Australians following proceedings live through one of several popular daily podcasts.

For the first time in its history, the Supreme Court on Monday allowed a television camera into the court to broadcast Beale’s sentencing remarks live due to overwhelming public interest.

The trial has already inspired several books, documentaries and a drama series, Toxic, set to air on state broadcaster ABC.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

The restrained handling of the disagreement shows a determination on both sides to prevent the diplomatic row from escalating, analysts say

South Korea’s decision to not attend a memorial event at the Sado Island gold mines in Japan underscores how bilateral ties are still strained by historical grievances, but analysts say both sides are mindful not to escalate tensions in the face of shared regional threats.

Seoul informed Tokyo on Thursday that it would not send representatives to the September 13 ceremony honouring wartime workers at the disputed Unesco World Heritage site, citing a failure to agree on language acknowledging Korean forced labour during Japan’s colonial rule.

Yet, experts say the restrained handling of the disagreement by both governments signals a determination to prevent the diplomatic row from spiralling.

“Rationally, given the situation in northeast Asia at the moment, I do not think that either government wants to escalate this disagreement to the point that it again becomes angry exchanges,” said Lim Eun-jung, a professor of international studies at Kongju National University.

“Both governments are trying to limit the risk caused by historical issues to their bilateral relationship because they can see the closer economic and military ties that are developing between China, North Korea and Russia,” she told This Week in Asia.

Despite long-standing resistance from South Korea, the Sado Island gold mines in Niigata prefecture were added to Unesco’s list of World Heritage sites last year. Japan had previously agreed to provide a “full explanation” of the site’s history for visitors, although South Korea claims information at the site today fails to live up to that promise.

Japan confirmed in 2015 that “forced labourers” from the Korean peninsula were put to work in the mines, with Korean sources claiming that as many as 2,000 civilians were forcibly drafted under Japanese colonial rule. Critics claim official literature on the mines omits direct reference to the use of forced labourers.

Japan had extended an invitation to the South Korean government for the September 13 commemoration, with Seoul requesting that the speech state that Korean labourers were “mobilised against their will and forced to work at the site” during the 1910-1945 colonial period.

The two sides have since confirmed that they were “unable to find common ground” on the wording, and that the South Korean government would therefore not take part in the event.

“We have been in close communication with the South Korean government, but I am not in a position to explain the South Korean side’s decision, so I would like to refrain from commenting,” Yoshimasa Hayashi, the chief cabinet secretary, said in response to a question during a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday.

This will be the second year that Seoul has not sent a delegation to the occasion, although diplomats and relatives of the former labourers plan to hold a separate ceremony later in the year.

An article in the JoongAng Daily claimed the Japanese government’s position was “half-hearted” and “ignored the use of coercion” by Japan.

It also criticised comments at last year’s commemoration by Akiko Ikuina, vice-minister for foreign affairs, on the grounds that her words glossed over the fact that Korea was under colonial control and that the labourers were forced to work in the mines.

Ikuina had said that “many of the miners came from the Korean peninsula, in accordance with our wartime labour policy”.

Nevertheless, analysts agree that Tokyo and Seoul will have been concerned at the sight of Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcoming Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to Beijing earlier this month for a military parade to mark Japan’s defeat in 1945 and the end of World War II.

Given the additional challenges this emerging bloc will pose for the stability of northeast Asia, analysts say Japan and South Korea are going to new lengths to reinforce their own relationship.

“It seems clear that both countries are trying to put this on the down-low and they are not making a big issue out of the situation because they really do not want the bombastic language to start flying again,” said a Japan-based academic who asked not to be named.

The academic said it was “not a bad thing” that South Korean representatives would not attend the memorial, as the resulting media coverage could have exacerbated tensions.

“This is arguably the best-case outcome because Japan sent the invitation and it was just the smallest details of a sentence that they could not agree on,” he said.

“The media will make something of it, of course, but the damage is going to be minimal.”

Investors are allocating evenly between US equity funds and global markets this year, BofA’s global research head Candace Browning says

Investors are looking beyond US equities for the first time in a decade amid a weakening US dollar and likely easing of US monetary policy, moving capital into Asia as they chase the artificial intelligence boom in the region, according to the head of global research at Bank of America (BofA).

Ahead of the three-day BofA Securities Asia Pacific Conference starting on Monday, Candace Browning said that US equities had been exceptional from the first half of 2020 to the end of 2024, attracting US$1.2 trillion from global investors, compared with US$200 billion for the rest of the world during the same period. However, the investments have slowed down this year.

“We see clients are diversifying away from the US into Asia,” Browing said in a written interview with the Post. “The stimulus potential is big, not to mention very real competition in the tech space. We see pockets of opportunity in Asia, and valuations offer a buffer compared to expensive US stocks.”

This year, investors have allocated evenly between US equity funds and international markets, with US$50 of every US$100 of inflows going to US stocks and the remainder to other global markets, she added.

“The falling US dollar and expectations of easier [Federal Reserve] policy in 2025-2026 have spurred sensible inflows to Asia equities, and more importantly [into] Asia debt funds,” Browning said.

With the AI boom in Asia, particularly in mainland China, the global AI market is expected to quadruple from US$300 billion in 2025 to nearly US$1.2 trillion by 2030, of which about US$1 trillion will potentially be deployed in Asia-Pacific, according to BofA.

“Asia is the backbone of the global AI supply chain,” she said. “The region underpins nearly every layer of the AI stack and can drive both hardware production and software innovation.”

Mainland China, one of the world’s largest consumer markets, brings energy resources and a complete AI ecosystem, according to BofA. Taiwan contributes cutting-edge foundries and hardware, South Korea provides high-bandwidth memory, Japan has sensors and precision robotics, while India delivers engineering talent.

China’s AI ambition is noteworthy, according to BofA’s research. The “holy grail” for China’s AI development is not necessarily being best-in-class but being “good enough” to enable mass adoption, lift productivity, and drive economic growth, it added.

BofA predicted an annual growth of 20 to 50 per cent over the next five years across the Asian AI value chain, including China’s AI chips and generative AI software among others.

Global investors, including hedge funds and long-only managers, have returned to the Chinese equity market, analysts said.

A slew of financial headwinds, including a weakening dollar and overvalued US stocks, was likely to weigh on international investors’ appetite for US equities. The S&P 500 index’s price-to-book ratio at 5.3 times is the highest since 1946, according to BofA.

Despite the shift in global capital flow, Browning said US equities remain dominant, holding about two-thirds of global equity market cap, which stems from its technology sector and the strong profit-generating ability of its large corporations.

Investors were now flocking to the US debt market at a record pace, Browning said.

US bond funds saw their biggest inflow since 2004 at about US$65 billion in August, driven by big inflows from domestic investors and the return of international investors. International investors have stepped up purchases of US government and corporate debt in the past two months following a brief slowdown.

People in Asia, including India and China, were best placed to see Sunday’s total eclipse, which was also visible in western Australia

Stargazers enjoyed a “Blood Moon” on Sunday night during a total lunar eclipse visible across Asia and swathes of Europe and Africa.

When the sun, Earth and moon line up, the shadow cast by the planet on its satellite makes it appear an eerie, deep red colour that has astounded humans for millennia.

People in Asia, including India and China, were best placed to see Sunday’s total eclipse, which was also visible on the eastern edge of Africa as well as in western Australia.

Stargazers in Europe and Africa also got a brief chance to see a partial eclipse just as the Moon rose during the early evening but the Americas missed out.

The moon appears red during lunar eclipses because the only sunlight reaching it is “reflected and scattered through the Earth’s atmosphere”, said Ryan Milligan, an astrophysicist at Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Blue wavelengths of light are shorter than red ones, so are more easily dispersed as they travel through Earth’s atmosphere, he told Agence France-Presse.

“That’s what gives the moon its red, bloody colour.”

While special glasses or pinhole projectors are needed to safely observe solar eclipses, all that is required to see a lunar eclipse is clear weather and being in the right spot.

The last total lunar eclipse was in March this year, while the one before that was in 2022.

A rare total solar eclipse, when the moon blocks out the light from the sun, will be visible in a sliver of Europe on August 12, 2026.

Next year’s totality – the first in mainland Europe since 2006 – will be visible only in Spain and Iceland, though other countries will be able to see a significant partial eclipse.

In Spain, the totality will be visible in a roughly 160km (100 mile) band between Madrid and Barcelona, but neither city will see the full phenomenon, Milligan said.

It will be the first total solar eclipse since one swept across North America in April 2024.

New interior minister Shabana Mahmood said the ministers will ‘agree new measures to protect our borders’ at the meeting in London on Monday

Homeland ministers from Britain, the United States and the other “Five Eyes” alliance will announce new measures this week to increase border security and target people smugglers, newly appointed British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said on Sunday.

The ministers from the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network – the US, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – will meet in London on Monday and Tuesday, Britain’s Home Office said, with measures to “smash criminal smuggling gangs” the focus of the talks.

“We will agree new measures to protect our borders with our Five Eyes partners, hitting people smugglers hard,” said Mahmood, who was only appointed to her job on Friday after Prime Minister Keir Starmer reshuffled his ministers.

Countries across the world are wrestling with how to deal with the issue of migration, with US President Donald Trump making a crackdown on legal and illegal immigration a central plank of his second White House term.

In Britain, it has become the dominant political topic, with the government under great pressure from rivals over how to deal with a record number of asylum claims and arrivals by migrants in small boats across the Channel.

Joining Mahmood for the talks will be US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Canada’s Gary Anandasangaree, Tony Burke, Australia’s Home Affairs Minister, and Judith Collins from New Zealand.

As well as people smuggling, the group will discuss new measures to tackle those behind child sexual abuse online and how to stop the spread of deadly synthetic opioids, the Home Office said.

The British government said on Sunday it was considering housing migrants on military sites, as anger grows among some sections of the public over a policy of accommodating asylum seekers in hotels.

“We are looking at the potential use of military and non-military use sites for temporary accommodation for the people who come across on these small boats,” Defence Secretary John Healey told Sky News.

Mahmood said in a statement migrants using boats to cross the Channel from France was “utterly unacceptable”.

More than 30,000 people have arrived by that route since the beginning of the year, according to figures published on Sunday by Mahmood’s Home Office.

She also said a deal with France that came into effect in early August should allow Britain to detain those arriving by boat and send them back to France.

The agreement allows the returns as long as Britain takes in an equal number of eligible migrants from France.

Protests have erupted around some of the hotels currently used to house migrants, with the government having to fight legal challenges.

The government is legally bound to ensure access to accommodation and to healthcare for asylum seekers.

Starmer has pledged to end the use of hotels within the next four years and his government has already announced that the number of places has been halved compared with a year ago.

The previous Conservative government had already set up two disused military bases which are accommodating several hundred asylum seekers – a practice criticised by migrant-aid groups.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

84 people were hurt in the incident in West Java during a prayer recital, a local official said. He said the building had been overcrowded

At least four people were killed and dozens were injured when a building hosting a prayer recital collapsed on Indonesia’s main island of Java on Sunday, a disaster official said.

Around a hundred people, mostly women, had gathered for a Koran recital at a community hall in West Java’s Bogor district to commemorate the prophet Mohammed’s birthday when the building suddenly collapsed, said Mochamad Adam Hamdani, an official from the local disaster mitigation agency.

“According to initial data, 84 people are being treated, three people died,” Adam told Agence France-Presse on Sunday.

He said it was likely the building, which was used as a meeting hall as well as a place of worship, collapsed because it was overcrowded.

“Perhaps the structure was not strong, as people were enthusiastic to follow the event to commemorate the prophet’s birthday,” Adam said.

All the people inside had been accounted for, he said.

Hundreds of women, many of whom had brought their children along, had gathered for a Koran recital at the two-storey hall located in an Islamic boarding school in Sukamakmur village, Bogor district, when the accident happened.

Victims were immediately rushed to nearby hospitals, with most sustaining minor injuries.

Adam, citing witnesses, said it was not raining at the time and there did not appear to have been a landslide.

The building owner, who is also the school manager, said construction began in April and the hall had been in use for about two months before it collapsed.

The number of participants at the recital had exceeded the building capacity of 150, he said.

Lax construction standards have raised widespread concerns about building safety in Indonesia.

In 2022, a three-storey shop in South Kalimantan collapsed and killed five people. Two people were also injured when a five-storey building in Jakarta partially collapsed two years earlier.

Teenagers rehearsing for a musical show were among seven people killed in Cirebon, east of Jakarta, in 2018 when the building they were in collapsed.

At least 75 people were also injured the same year when a mezzanine floor at Indonesia’s stock exchange building in Jakarta collapsed into the lobby.

Reporting by Agence France-Presse, dpa

A domestic ‘coal cushion’ ensures grid stability so China can keep exporting solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles at scale

China switched on 21 gigawatts of new coal power capacity in the first half of this year, the highest since 2016, according to a recent energy report. This came after electricity demand hit a historic high in July, driven by extreme heatwaves. Hydropower faltered, and coal plants were fired up to meet the load.

At first glance, this looks like a step backwards for climate policy. But China’s clean-energy engine is still accelerating, adding 212GW of solar power capacity in the first six months, more than double the same period last year.

So why the coal? The answer lies in grid stability. China is adding wind and solar energy so fast that the grid can’t always absorb the power.

In the first half, “curtailment” – clean power that’s generated but can’t be used – rose by 6.6 per cent for solar power and 5.7 per cent for wind power. At the same time, droughts reduced hydropower output, so during peak summer demand, the system leaned on coal to keep the lights on.

Coal, in this context, isn’t a climate reversal. It’s a shock absorber. Backup plants give grid operators time and confidence to approve and connect record amounts of renewables without risking blackouts when demand spikes or when new transmission lines aren’t ready.

Beijing is likely to see the role of coal as shifting towards supporting system stability as it pushes a multi-year upgrade focused on flexibility, storage and long-distance lines. This stability is what allows China to keep exporting solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles at scale.

And Southeast Asia is buying. Across the region, Chinese clean-energy hardware dominates tenders. When utilities and developers go to market, the equipment that is cheapest, most bankable with lenders and quickest to ship is often Chinese. That matters most on projects with tight deadlines, like those serving data centres.

Consider Malaysia. Local builders like Gamuda and Gentari are planning about 1.5GW of solar power with storage batteries, much of it aimed at powering hyperscale data centres. Engineering, procurement and construction contractors prioritise equipment that global lenders recognise and that ships reliably. That shortlist overwhelmingly features Chinese modules, inverters and, increasingly, batteries.

Once Chinese gear wins a tender, the rest of the system adapts around it, including grid-connection checklists, testing steps, software updates and technician training. The next procurement often “copies and pastes” from the previous technical annex. In short order, a national procurement template emerges, quietly embedding the standards that came with the gear.

This isn’t ideology. It is how busy teams reduce risk and finish on schedule.

Thailand shows a similar pattern in electric vehicles (EVs). In late July, Bangkok eased production rules to boost EV exports. Chinese brands already hold more than 70 per cent of Thailand’s EV market, with BYD leading by a wide margin. Dominance is not just about showroom share; it sets the nuts and bolts: battery formats, charging plugs and the software that lets vehicles and chargers talk to each other.

Moreover, clean energy now rides on telecoms' backbones. From smart-meter telemetry to rooftop solar monitoring and vehicle-to-grid orchestration, energy systems are becoming data systems.

That is why Malaysia’s decision to build a second 5G network, bringing Huawei Technologies and ZTE back into the fold, is more than a telecoms story. It’s a standards story. If those vendors shape how energy data is transmitted, secured and prioritised, equipment that plugs more easily into that backbone gains a natural edge. In effect, whoever supplies the network hardware is helping write the operating manual for the energy transition.

Besides, China’s coal buildout makes sense in a system sprinting towards clean power but struggling with geography and physics.

Much of the new solar and wind sits far from coastal cities where demand is highest. Until more high-voltage lines are ready, some clean power will be spilled and backup plants will have to cover peaks in demand. A cushion of dispatchable thermal plants helps grid operators manage this volatility.

This stability enables China’s factories to run at full tilt, flooding global markets with cheap cleantech gear. And it’s working: analysts say power sector emissions fell by about 3 per cent in the first half of the year, thanks to the sheer volume of new clean energy supply.

The benefit is visible: with more clean power coming online, power sector emissions still fell even as electricity demand set records.

Finally, Asean is China’s largest trading partner. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations recently concluded negotiations with China to upgrade their free trade agreement, with new chapters on the digital and green economies as well as supply chain connectivity. These are exactly the channels through which technical standards travel.

Tariffs or anti-dumping cases can slow shipments. But once a country’s utilities, installers, financiers and regulators are trained on a vendor ecosystem, the real switching costs aren’t at customs. They’re embedded in software, testing laboratories, spare parts inventories and labour skills.

That is why a week that headlines “more coal” in China can, paradoxically, be the same week that ties more of Asean’s clean-energy future to a China-anchored system. The region’s green buildout is aligning with China’s ecosystem, where low-cost technology sets the rules – and rules, once embedded in standards and skills, are the hardest thing to replace.

‘When I woke up in the morning, my only thought was about how to get food. I never thought the country was bad,’ the defector says

A man whose early life in North Korea was so bleak that he was prepared to be shot in the back while making a break for freedom across the Chinese border has told his story after defecting to Japan in 2017.

The man is one of many to have become involved with an Osaka-based charity that addresses North Korean human rights issues.

The organisation provides speaking opportunities for North Korean defectors on podcasts and other platforms, allowing them to share information about the realities of life in their insular home country.

While most attention in Japan and globally is given to North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, Hong Kyong Ui, the 66-year-old co-leader of the NGO Free2move, wants to spark “interest in the people living there as well”.

“When I woke up in the morning, my only thought was about how to get food. I never thought the country was bad,” the 29-year-old defector, whose name is withheld to protect his identity, explained during a study session hosted by the non-profit in Osaka in June.

The man was separated from his mother, a second-generation Korean born in Japan, at age six and put up for adoption. Life was difficult, and by the time he was around 10 years old, he was forced to quit school and start working, cutting down trees and on farms.

After running away from home, he began working in a mine but was caught in a tunnel collapse that saw him trapped underground for two days. The ageing infrastructure left behind from Japan’s colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula was often the cause of accidents.

Although he was never paid for his labour during his one year at the mine, he was fed and that was enough, he thought.

It was South Korean television dramas that sparked his desire to see the world outside North Korea.

A friend whose father was a police officer had obtained a USB memory stick containing the forbidden shows, and the two boys would watch them together while dreaming of seeing the locations featured.

When the man learned his mother, who had returned to North Korea via a repatriation programme that ran from 1959 to 1984, had fled back to Japan, he devised a plan to do the same.

The two friends crossed a shallow river on the border between North Korea and China. “Even if I was shot in the back and died, I was fine with that,” he said, recalling his mindset going into the risky escape.

They hid in China and other countries for three months, finally gaining entry to Japan after securing an interview with a Japanese foreign ministry official.

While holding multiple part-time jobs, he learned Japanese at a night school and graduated from junior and senior high school. He obtained Japanese citizenship and now works full-time at a nursing care facility. “I am happy because I am paid for my work,” he said. He also reunited with his mother.

Free2move was founded in March 2024. The organisation holds sessions where Japanese and South Korean students, as well as other young people, study North Korean human rights issues. Opportunities to hear the unfiltered stories from North Korean defectors, who conceal their identities for fear of discrimination, are extremely valuable.

For Mao Sadatsuma, a 21-year-old university student studying Korean, it was the first time hearing a North Korean defector speak.

“I wondered why there is no pro-democracy movement in North Korea,” Sadatsuma said. “It’s scary that people are unable to muster that kind of defiance.”

Among North Korean defectors who fled due to the hardships of North Korean life, many had originally travelled to North Korea from Japan during the post-war repatriation programme.

The Japanese government generally accepts these so-called zainichi Koreans, a designation that also includes people from South Korea and their spouses, as well as second- and third-generation descendants, as a humanitarian measure.

The policy is based on the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and other laws governing the residency status of third-generation Japanese descendants and others living abroad.

According to the non-governmental organisation Life Funds for North Korean Refugees, around 200 such defectors currently live in Japan.

Following the success of the 2019-2020 South Korean television series Crash Landing on You, which features a love story between a North Korean army officer and a South Korean heiress, popular “defector YouTubers” emerged.

“Interest in life in North Korea is growing, creating room for courageous whistle-blowers to step forward,” said Hong, who added that Free2move produces podcasts featuring defectors and others interested in the issue.

However, North Korea is cracking down harder on its citizens. According to a 2024 report on human rights issues in North Korea released by the South Korean Ministry of Unification, a 22-year-old man was publicly executed for watching and sharing South Korean films and music.

“Without monitoring and pressure from the international community, North Korea will become an increasingly lawless human rights zone,” Hong said.

He was under intense pressure to quit after the LDP-led coalition lost its upper house majority in an election in July

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has decided to step down, local media reported on Sunday, as members of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party seek to hold a new leadership race following disastrous upper house election.

Public broadcaster NHK said Ishiba made the decision to avoid a divide within the party, while the Asahi Shimbun daily said he was unable to withstand the mounting calls for his resignation.

Ishiba, who took office in October 2024, has been fending off moves to hold an LDP leadership contest by brandishing the option of dissolving the House of Representatives for a snap election, sources close to him said.

Japan’s government said on Sunday that Ishiba would hold a press conference at 6pm (local time).

On Monday, the LDP plans to collect signatures from its lawmakers to determine whether to hold a presidential election ahead of the scheduled contest in 2027, amid mounting calls for Ishiba to take responsibility for the loss of the ruling coalition’s majority in the upper house election in July.

Tamura, a former health minister, said on a TV programme, “It would be better to settle the matter before it comes to a vote.” He added on another programme that a dissolution of the lower house by Ishiba would be “illogical and amount to an act of treason”.

The incident raised concerns over potential Houthi involvement amid the rebel group’s efforts to pressure Israel to end the Gaza war

Undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea disrupted internet access on Sunday in parts of Asia and the Middle East, experts said, though it was not immediately clear what caused the incident.

There has been concern about the cables being targeted in a Red Sea campaign by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, which the rebels describe as an effort to pressure Israel to end its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But the Houthis have denied attacking the lines in the past.

Microsoft announced via a status website that the Mideast “may experience increased latency due to undersea fibre cuts in the Red Sea”. The Redmond, Washington-based firm did not immediately elaborate, though it said that internet traffic not moving through the Middle East “is not impacted”.

NetBlocks, which monitors internet access, said “a series of subsea cable outages in the Red Sea has degraded internet connectivity in multiple countries”, which it said included India and Pakistan. It blamed “failures affecting the SMW4 and IMEWE cable systems near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia”.

The Southeast Asia–Middle East–western Europe 4 cable is run by Tata Communications, part of the Indian conglomerate. The India-Middle East-Western Europe cable is run by another consortium overseen by Alcatel-Lucent. Both firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Pakistan Telecommunications, a telecommunication giant in that country, noted that the cuts had taken place in a statement on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia did not immediately acknowledge the disruption and authorities there did not respond to a request for comment.

In the United Arab Emirates, home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, internet users on the country’s state-owned Du and Etisalat networks complained of slower internet speeds. The government did not immediately acknowledge the disruption.

Subsea cables can be cut by anchors dropped from ships, but can also be targeted in attacks.

The lines being cut come as Yemen’s Houthi rebels remain locked in a series of attacks targeting Israel over its war in the Gaza Strip. Israel has responded with air strikes, including one that killed top leaders within the rebel movement.

In early 2024, Yemen’s internationally recognised government in exile alleged that the Houthis planned to attack undersea cables in the Red Sea. Several were cut, but the Houthis denied being responsible. On Sunday morning, the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel acknowledged that the cuts had taken place.

From November 2023 to December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones over Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. In their campaign so far, the Houthis have sunk four vessels and killed at least eight mariners.

The Iranian-backed Houthis stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire in the war. They later became the target of an intense weeks-long campaign of air strikes ordered by US President Donald Trump before he declared a ceasefire had been reached with the rebels. The Houthis sank two vessels in July, killing at least four on board, with others believed to be held by the rebels.

The Houthis’ new attacks come as a new possible ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war remains in the balance. Meanwhile, the future of talks between the US and Iran over Tehran’s battered nuclear programme is in question after Israel launched a 12-day war against the Islamic republic in which the Americans bombed three Iranian atomic sites.

In India, a new, digital-native generation is intent on reclaiming tradition while embracing modern convenience

In a bustling student hostel in Bengaluru, Swaksha Gupta scrolls through her favourite shopping app.

She skips past the household names filled with artificial ingredients that her parents grew up with, instead finding inspiration from older generations by filling her cart with turmeric-infused face washes and Ayurvedic hair oils in biodegradable tubes.

“Even a product like ubtan comes in a tube these days,” Gupta said, referring to the traditional paste of herbs and lentils once ground in family kitchens, now reimagined by start-ups like Mamaearth. “They tend to last longer, are better for my skin and good for sustainability.”

Gupta’s personal choice reflects a powerful collective one. From cosmetics to packaged food, fashion to household items, India’s Generation Z – broadly defined as those born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s – is fuelling an unprecedented consumer transformation.

They browse, buy and broadcast online, demanding products that are clean, transparent and culturally rooted while rejecting the uniformity of multinational giants.

The numbers suggest something of a consumer revolution. More than two-thirds of urban Indians now check ingredient lists before buying food, while 80 per cent actively avoid additives, according to a report released last month by Deloitte and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

This vigilance is already redrawing the map of a retail sector expected to nearly double to US$1.93 trillion by 2030, from US$1.06 trillion last year. For businesses, it is both a growth opportunity and a mandate: adapt to consumer values or risk irrelevance.

“Traditionally, India had a duopoly, or maybe three players, in every product category,” said Anand Ramanathan, who leads retail and consumer products at Deloitte Asia-Pacific. “Now some of that is shifting because of a long tail of direct-to-consumer brands.”

Gen Z were more open to experimentation and did not have the same fixation with multinational labels as their elders, he told This Week in Asia.

They already account for about two-thirds of all consumption in India, according to Ramanathan, so are a “critical consumption cohort”.

Clean-label promise

What draws younger Indians is not only what products contain but what they conspicuously avoid. So-called clean labels promising “no artificial colours”, “no parabens” and “biodegradable packaging” are increasingly influencing purchasing decisions.

Start-ups have seized the opening. Patanjali Ayurved, Lotus Herbals and Forest Essentials draw on Ayurvedic traditions, while others such as beauty and wellness brands Minimalist and Mamaearth highlight both heritage and health.

Big conglomerates are watching closely: Hindustan Unilever this year snapped up Minimalist and ITC is finalising its acquisition of Sproutlife Foods, the parent company of popular health food brand Yoga Bar.

These acquisitions were about relevance, Ramanathan said, providing a way “to drive engagement with Generation Z consumers”.

The shift extends well beyond beauty counters and supermarket aisles. India’s cultural heritage is now being restitched into consumption patterns across product categories.

Take fashion. In Mumbai, one entrepreneur recently paid 45,000 rupees (US$510) for a handwoven Maheshwari sari from a rural artisan – less than what they might spend on a creation from Indian designer brands Sabyasachi or Tarun Tahiliani, yet a deliberate choice for purity and craft.

“There is a sudden mass awakening to products which are pure and real,” said Nabomita Mazumdar, a think tank founder who works with small and medium-sized enterprises.

Mazumdar herself avoids mass-market brands for clarified butter, disinfectants and religious items, buying directly from village co-operatives now visible on mainstream e-commerce platforms. In Maharashtra, one cluster produces honey for medicinal remedies and even lipsticks made from beeswax instead of paraffin.

Gujarat state has supported local weavers to showcase products in metropolitan markets and abroad, as part of a larger policy shift encouraging micro-entrepreneurship along traditional lines.

Diaspora dividends

The trend has caught fire among the overseas Indian diaspora too. In Kerala’s Palakkad, Dubai-based businessman Raju Subramanian bought 20 acres of barren land nearly a decade ago. Using a blend of traditional Vedic farming and modern sustainable techniques, his Athachi Group transformed it into an agroforest where rare herbs, linked geologically to Madagascar, now grow.

That experiment, initially an act of hometown pride, gave birth to Moreganics, a luxury skincare line launched earlier this year, and a new range called Nature’s Chemistry. Managing Director Vishwanath Subramaniam believes it will appeal “not only to Indian consumers, but has the potential to lead a global skincare revolution”.

None of this would be possible without India’s digital marketplace, which has undergone structural transformation since the pandemic. Start-ups rushed online during lockdowns, while younger consumers, already attached to their smartphones, solidified habits of browsing, comparing and ordering virtually everything online.

Quick commerce is the latest frontier, promising deliveries in as little as 15 minutes. Thousands of scooters, increasingly electric, now criss-cross urban India, shrinking the gap between impulse and purchase. For home-grown brands, this immediacy is rocket fuel, propelling products from small-batch kitchens or village workshops into mainstream homes at unprecedented speeds.

The Indian government’s “vocal for local” campaign has lent symbolic support to these shifts, urging shoppers to favour Indian products. But observers believe the deeper drivers lie elsewhere: rising health consciousness, environmental anxieties and the sheer novelty of rediscovering tradition in Instagrammable packaging.

“This entire effort of promoting handmade products in India has been there for a long time,” Mazumdar said. “It has become big due to government support and youngsters coming to buy these products. We had a honey festival in Mumbai last year and the highest footfalls were that of youngsters.”

She pointed to another striking example: a private entrepreneur who booked the vast Pragati Maidan exhibition complex in Delhi for an entire week simply to showcase varieties of millet. Once dismissed as coarse grains, millets are now enjoying a renaissance as health-conscious alternatives to rice and wheat.

For Amol Goel, founder and chief executive of Louis Stitch, which sells handcrafted leather goods directly through online platforms, the momentum comes both from heritage and tailoring products to the tastes of a new generation.

“Gen Z loves personalised experiences. So we use data driven insights to give them special offers,” he said. “This has helped us immensely to build our brand name and popularise it.”

He says the company’s guiding principles are “personalisation, affordability and durability” – a formula that speaks to a generation keen to sport a distinctively Indian style while still expecting value for money.

Other enterprising brands have adopted similar strategies – boAt, whose portfolio ranges from earphones to grooming gear, has aligned itself with the government’s “Make in India” campaign.

“As part of our Make in India initiative, we’ve manufactured over 80 million products locally,” said Gaurav Nayyar, the company’s chief operating officer. “It’s a milestone that not only supports self-reliance but also builds a sense of national pride among consumers.”

The company’s flagship campaigns blend cultural resonance with sustainability, from one titled “Rock in India” to eco-first manufacturing themes, with Gen Z at the heart of the strategy, Nayyar said.

Established conglomerates face a dual challenge: securing relevance among a discerning youth while also preserving margins in a fragmented, competitive market. For start-ups, the promise of fast scaling often rubs against the slower rhythms of artisanal production and ethical sourcing.

Yet observers say the direction is clear. “Gen Z is a lot more receptive to buying into some of these industries,” said Deloitte’s Ramanathan, adding that this was creating opportunities not just for so-called unicorns but for microbusinesses across the country.

If current momentum continues, India may not only reshape its domestic consumption but also export its model abroad: a high-volume, heritage-rooted, digitally accelerated consumer landscape that speaks simultaneously to local authenticity and global wellness trends.

For Gupta in Bengaluru, the choice is clear. She picks the tube of ubtan cleanser over the familiar multinational brand, not as a symbolic gesture, but because it feels better for her skin, her values and her future. In that single decision lies the trajectory of a trillion-dollar market.

Seoul called the incident in Georgia ‘regrettable’, saying its top diplomat may visit the US to resolve the situation

South Korea’s top diplomat said he will travel to Washington if needed over a US migrant raid at a Hyundai Motor manufacturing complex, confirming that more than 300 among 475 people detained under the operation are its citizens.

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun presided over an emergency response meeting in Seoul on Saturday after US federal agents carried out the sweep at a construction site for an electric vehicle battery plant near Savannah, Georgia, this week.

“The president has emphasised that the economic activities of our companies investing in the US must not be unduly infringed upon in the course of US law enforcement,” Cho said at the start of the meeting.

“We will review promptly dispatching a senior official to the site, including myself travelling to Washington to engage in consultations with the US administration, if needed,” he said, adding that President Lee Jae-myung ordered a swift, all-out response to the arrests.

South Korean First Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Yoon-joo called the incident “regrettable” during a Saturday phone call with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker, especially because photos were released of the South Korean workers being arrested, the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement.

Park asked the US to resolve the situation. The State Department referred comments to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The sweep was part of a months-long investigation into employment practices and was the biggest single-site enforcement operation in the history of the Homeland Security Department’s investigative arm. It is part of a broader push by the Trump administration, which has promised the largest deportation campaign in US history.

According to a search warrant unsealed on Friday, agents were authorised to seize employment records, immigration documents and correspondence with government agencies, as well as records from contractors and subcontractors tied to the project.

Four individuals were named as targets of the search. People determined to be working unlawfully were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for removal proceedings, according to Steve Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations.

US lawmakers from Georgia and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus said on Saturday they were “deeply alarmed” by the massive raid.

“Instead of targeting violent criminals, the Trump administration is going after immigrants at work and in communities of colour to meet its mass deportation quotas. These senseless actions rip apart families, hurt the economy, and undermine the trust of our global partners,” they said in a statement.

South Korea has been emerging as a major investor in the US, a trend fuelled by the nations’ recent trade deal. That agreement includes a US$350 billion fund to help South Korean companies enter the US market, with US$150 billion dedicated to the shipbuilding industry.

Private companies are also set to directly invest another US$150 billion in the US, a pledge announced as Lee held his first summit with President Donald Trump last month.

The federal action occurred at HL-GA Battery, a joint venture between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution that is intended to supply Hyundai’s new electric vehicle production hub – a cornerstone of Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s economic development strategy.

LG Energy Solution said it had asked employees to return from US business trips while suspending travel to the United States except for customer meetings.

The company said on Sunday it had sent a human resources executive to Georgia to “ensure the swift and safe release of those detained”.

Hyundai Motor said it would investigate its suppliers and their subcontractors to ensure they meet regulations.

Trump, when asked about the raid, said on Friday: “I would say that they were illegal aliens and ICE was just doing its job.”

Additional reporting by Reuters

The visit by Marcos Jnr, the first by a Philippine president since 2016, may spur growth in the agriculture and tourism sectors

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is set to begin a state visit to Cambodia on Sunday in a bid to revitalise bilateral relations and address shared challenges such as transnational crime, in what analysts say is a platform for both countries to realise their untapped trade opportunities.

Marcos and first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos are scheduled to be in Cambodia until Tuesday for a three-day visit, following an invitation from King Norodom Sihamoni.

The visit is seen as a reciprocal gesture after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet visited the Philippines in February, when the two leaders signed eight agreements on key areas, including trade and investment, agriculture, education, tourism and information and communications technology.

The state visit by Marcos to Cambodia is the first by a Philippine president since 2016.

At a press briefing on Friday, Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Angelica Escalona characterised the visit as “highly important,” with Marcos aiming to expand economic ties and cooperation between both countries in addressing transnational crimes and human trafficking.

In August, 24 Filipinos who were alleged victims of trafficking by online scam syndicates returned to the Philippines following a rescue operation. They were recruited through Facebook job advertisements and were promised high-paying work as encoders or customer service staff, but were forced to operate as love scammers, according to the Bureau of Immigration.

During the visit by Marcos, the Philippines and Cambodia are expected to sign agreements on combating transnational crime, higher education and air service.

Marcos will also hold talks with Hun Manet as well as business leaders.

The Philippine leader and his wife will be received by the acting Head of State and Senate President Hun Sen and the former Cambodian leader’s wife, according to a statement issued by Phnom Penh. The meeting between Marcos and Hun Sen will address cooperation in combating transnational crimes and enhancing connectivity, as well as the agriculture, higher education and tourism sectors.

Resolving border control issues between the two countries is critical, according to Alexander Ramos, a former undersecretary and executive director of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Centre.

Manila and Phnom Penh should work on providing more guard rails to protect people from falling victim to trafficking, such as setting up anti-trafficking desks at departure points and enhancing traveller data registration, Ramos said.

“This is where it is crucial that a host country provide insights as last-minute reminders to all travellers of the dangers of syndicated and forced labour. Warning signs must be emphasised,” he said.

Marcos is expected to attend a round table dialogue with key business leaders from the Philippines and Cambodia to explore ways to diversify sources of goods and broaden market access to stimulate bilateral and intra-Asean trade.

He is also scheduled to meet with the 7,000-strong Filipino community in Cambodia, who are mostly employed in the education and service sectors.

Potential in agriculture, tourism

The visit presents a timely opportunity for Marcos to deepen economic engagement between Manila and Phnom Penh, as Cambodia emerges as a viable alternative for supply chain diversification, according to analysts.

“Beyond traditional trade, the Philippines can explore strategic sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and digital services. Cambodia’s growing role as a manufacturing hub and its strategic location in the Mekong subregion make it an attractive partner for supply chain diversification,” Carlo Asuncion, chief economist of the UnionBank of the Philippines, told This Week in Asia.

The Philippines could leverage its expertise in electronics, information technology and business process outsourcing to support Cambodia’s modernisation efforts, Asuncion added.

“Additionally, infrastructure development and logistics cooperation – particularly in industrial parks and transport connectivity – offer avenues for Philippine investments that can strengthen intra-Asean trade flows.”

Michael Ricafort, chief economist of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, said the Philippines could reap excellent trade opportunities “if the Cambodian economy grows and develops further as a hub for agricultural, lower-skilled manufacturing, tourism and other services”.

Among the Philippine sectors that stand to benefit from a stronger Cambodian economic performance are food and beverage, fast food, renewable energy, toll roads and utilities, according to Ricafort.

Trade between the Philippines and Cambodia totalled only about US$110 million last year – a figure that analysts have said reflects the untapped business opportunities between both countries.

“This figure underscores that current trade ties are underdeveloped, but it also signals significant growth potential,” said Asuncion, who contrasted it with the billion-dollar trade between the Philippines and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“Both governments have expressed interest in scaling up trade, with Cambodian business leaders projecting the possibility of reaching US$800 million within the next few years. This ambition reflects a shared recognition that stronger economic linkages can enhance resilience and competitiveness within Asean,” Asuncion added.

Ricafort said there was great potential for growth in agriculture and other agro-industrial products, given the much lower costs of labour and production in Cambodia.

“Just like in other Indochina countries such as Vietnam, there lie opportunities to hedge additional sources of cheaper agricultural products such as rice, as well as cheaper manufactured goods,” Ricafort told This Week in Asia.

Asuncion agreed that the agriculture sector in the two countries could benefit from more trade flows.

“Cambodia can supply raw materials such as rice, rubber and cassava, while the Philippines can contribute agro-processing technology, farm machinery and food innovation expertise,” he said.

Philippine agribusiness companies can invest in Cambodian processing facilities to become key players in the Mekong agricultural value chain while ensuring a stable supply of commodities for the Philippines and enhancing its food security amid climate-related risks, according to Asuncion.

Another key sector that the two countries could explore for growth opportunities is tourism.

For instance, the Philippines could attract more Cambodian visitors by increasing direct flight connectivity and holding joint marketing campaigns, Asuncion said.

“While current arrivals from Cambodia are small, Cambodia’s rapidly growing outbound tourism market offers an opportunity for the Philippines to capture niche segments, particularly for beach destinations, English language learning and ecotourism.”