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SCMP

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. South Korean killer’s drone escape from Philippine prison foiled by test footage

A South Korean crime lord convicted of murder in the Philippines reportedly planned to escape prison by strapping himself to a drone – until his own accomplice’s rehearsal footage gave the game away.
2. Why the ICC is cracking down on ‘fake news’ as Duterte trial looms
As Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes-against-humanity trial looms, an international tribunal faces the challenge of managing a sprawling prosecution case around the health of an 81-year-old former president of the Philippines, on top of shielding the proceedings from a highly charged media environment.
3. Singapore minister Chan Chun Sing’s Mandarin diplomacy strikes China chord

Singapore Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing’s use of Mandarin and Chinese philosophy in his speech at a major security forum in Beijing has won him praise on Chinese social media, while shedding light on how cultural familiarity and language can be diplomatic tools for the city state.
4. Malaysia’s Loke resigns as minister following Najib’s house arrest approval
A senior ally of Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim announced his resignation from cabinet on Saturday – a day after confidence in the prime minister’s administration took a severe hit when disgraced former leader Najib Razak was allowed to serve out his jail term under house arrest.
5. Who will shoulder the debts behind Indonesia’s China-backed Whoosh railway?

Indonesia’s finance ministry is preparing to absorb debt payments for Whoosh, the China-funded high-speed railway connecting Jakarta and Bandung, in a move officials say will ease financial pressure on the state-owned enterprises that built and operate the line.
6. ‘Gone too far’: Thai PM Anutin slams foreign lawbreakers as backlash builds
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has issued a withering rebuke to foreigners behaving badly in Thailand following a wave of scandals involving illegal businesses and landholdings including a cemetery, saying the cases have “gone too far” by breaching Thai law and hospitality.
7. Crouching dragons: the suicide divers Japan never sent to war

Japan’s wartime kamikaze pilots remain among the most recognisable symbols of the Pacific war: young men flying aircraft into Allied ships on missions from which they were not expected to return.


Hong Kong’s Gen Z revives herbal teas; experts on couple intimacy: 7 Lifestyle highlights

China’s stealth fighters, critical minerals from lithium waste: 7 science highlights

South Korean killer’s escape foiled, Singapore minister’s Mandarin speech: 7 Asia highlights

Xi and Trump will meet this week. Here’s the exclusive info you need to know

SCMP Highlights

A person dangles from a drone in this still from footage obtained by Korean broadcaster JTBC allegedly showing a practice run for Park Wang-yeol’s escape. Photo: YouTube/JTBC_News

Park Wang-yeol pictured at Incheon International Airport in March during his temporary extradition to South Korea on drug charges. Photo: The Korea Times

Singapore’s Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing attends a plenary session at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train, known as Whoosh, during a public trial in Bandung, West Java, in September 2023. Photo: AFP

The remains of a military base where “fukuryu” were trained can be seen in the cliffs along the coast of Inamuragasaki, on the Shonan coast south of Tokyo. Photo: Kanade Hamamoto

China launches Pinglu Canal; Hong Kong unveils first 5-year plan: SCMP’s 7 highlights

A trial vessel moving through the Pinglu Canal in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun speaks at the opening ceremony of the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo: EPA Photo: dpa

Video on social media shows debris from the booster stage of a short-range ballistic missile with “DF-15A” written on its side. It was discovered in the Raghwan district of Marib governorate. Photo: X.com/OSINTWarfare

Tribute exhibit for Leslie Cheung; Hong Kong’s Gen Z coffee boss: 7 Lifestyle highlights

Exhibits are displayed at “Miss You Much. Leslie 70th Birthday. Exhibition” at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, which marks the 70th anniversary of Leslie Cheung’s birth. The exhibition features more than 300 rare items, stage costumes and recreations of interiors from Cheung’s former residences. Photo: Karma Lo

Nikita Kuwadekar, founder of Busy Brew, Hong Kong’s first plant-based canned coffee brand. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The eighth lunar month of the Year of the Horse 2026 will bring clarity and fortune to some zodiac signs and obstacles to others, according to feng shui master Andrew Kwan. Photo: Shutterstock

Models wear outfits by Hong Kong fashion designer and artist Kit Wan at Centrestage, a highlight of the 2026 Hong Kong Fashion Fest. Photo: Karma Lo

Fan Bingbing (left) as Daji, one of the most famous women in Chinese folklore, and Tony Leung Ka-fai as King Zhou of Shang in League of Gods, a 2016 film adaptation of the 16th century Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods. Photo: China Star Entertainment Group

Thais stage rare Israel protest; Singapore ministers get pay rise: 7 Asia highlights

Protesters holding signs attend a rally demanding an end to alleged land-grabbing by foreigners in Bangkok on Thursday. Photo: AP

People gather on the Indus River near Hyderabad, Sindh province, Pakistan, in May 2025. The Indus River system sustains roughly 300 million people across South Asia. Photo: EPA

A woman covers her face as she rides on a road amid the thick haze from forest fires in Mempawah, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, on Thursday. Photo: AP

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul showing the Nuea Duang amulet to journalists in October 2023. Photo: Handout

News

Asia

From Singaporean minister’s Mandarin diplomacy to Indonesia’s Whoosh debt burden, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting


From Singaporean minister’s Mandarin diplomacy to Indonesia’s Whoosh debt burden, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting.


South Korean killer’s escape foiled, Singapore minister’s Mandarin speech: 7 Asia highlights

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Singaporean minister’s Mandarin diplomacy to Indonesia’s Whoosh debt burden, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting

1. South Korean killer’s drone escape from Philippine prison foiled by test footage

From Singaporean minister’s Mandarin diplomacy to Indonesia’s Whoosh debt burden, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting