SCMP Asian News

More than 580,000 of a record 2.99 million foreign nationals now living in Japan call the capital home, while the number of Japanese residents fell for the first time ever in all 47 of the country’s prefectures.

The 70-year-old Hun Sen has led Cambodia with an iron fist for nearly four decades. He said on Wednesday he will resign and hand power to his eldest son Hun Manet.

The 74-year-old former PM is a bogeyman for Thailand’s pro-military and royalist establishment and his return could inflame an already tense political situation.

‘Not that they were perfect by any means, but they were infinitely more successful and beneficent colonisers than other European countries,’ said John Howard, who led Australia from 1996 until 2007.

The US secretary of state delivered a barbed warning about aid and investment from Beijing as he became the first American foreign minister to visit the Pacific island nation.

As Cambodia’s strongman prime minister prepares to hand power to his son, observers warn that much of the supposed public support for them is actually a mirage.

The scheme was suspended during the pandemic but was not immediately reinstated when Beijing reopened for travel earlier this year.

Tarchandi Tan, formerly known as Lee Hui Yin, claimed she was not obliged to obey any of the orders given to her and that she did not have to attend court. She was jailed for eight weeks and fined US$3,155.

Sitiveni Rabuka said he suffered a head injury after looking at his mobile phone while walking up some steps.

Marcos Jnr’s pivot towards the US is dividing his coalition government even as the EDCA defence pact with Washington draws Beijing’s ire. In his second year of office, managing China and US defence ties will be doubly crucial.

As super typhoon Doksuri intensifies in strength, the Philippines is taking no chances; cancelling flights and shipping, and evacuating coastal areas as winds reach 185kmph.

To protect the island’s tourism image, Bali has in recent months come down hard on misbehaving foreign visitors as they return in droves post-pandemic.

Court overturns impeachment of Lee Sang-min for the tragic incident that killed 160 people last October in Seoul, saying botched response was due to broader failures, while critics claim police were lenient on members of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s government.

Prime Minister Lee’s brother, Lee Hsien Yang, says trust in the ruling party ‘has been shattered’ over various political scandals involving PAP ministers in recent weeks.

The PDD-owned app kicked off its Asian expansion last month with a launch in Japan, and has signalled interest in the Southeast Asian market.

For the third time in two months, the US secretary of state is coming back to the region – to talk Aukus, New Zealand’s Beijing diplomacy and show Pacific island nations that it’s a ‘willing partner’, analysts say.

A 45-year-old woman is to be hanged on Friday for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin, but Amnesty International says there is no evidence the death penalty is a deterrent but Singapore insists it is effective.

An official has urged director Christopher Nolan to cut a scene featuring the Bhagavad Gita, calling it an ‘assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus’.

Soh Choon Wee last reported for national service duty in 1992. He returned to Singapore in 2021 on the advice of his mother because of Covid – and now faces six-and-a-half years in prison.

The results of the World Weather Attribution study paint a grim picture for the planet’s future unless more is done to phase out fossil fuels. ‘Tens of thousands of people will keep dying’, one scientist warned.