Asia News fra SCMP

India’s parliament is set to approve legislation preventing Muslim migrants from neighbouring countries from receiving citizenship – the next step in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hardline Hindu nationalist programme and one that is seen to go against the nation’s secular constitution.The controversial citizenship bill has sparked protests and fear around India, with lawyers working overtime to help millions at risk of being left stateless in the world’s largest democracy.The Citizenship…

Singapore’s new defence pact with the United States – allowing it to set up a fighter jet training detachment in Guam – is a nod to deepening military ties between the countries, experts said, adding that it was the city state’s way of assuring Washington of its loyalty despite boosting cooperation with Beijing.Singapore has “always been a close friend” of the US, said Faizal Abdul Rahman, a research fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, citing its contribution to…

Disgraced former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak on Monday said in court that a US$130,000 receipt he racked up at a Chanel store in the United States was a birthday gift for his wife, local media have reported.Najib, who is on trial on charges relating to Malaysia’s multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal, said he bought a luxury watch on holiday five years ago, the Malay Mail reported.“The purchase in Chanel in Honolulu was for a watch I purchased as a…

A Japanese court has taken pity on a hikikomori, or social recluse, who was charged with failing to report his father’s death – after he told the judge that he bathed and cared for the decomposing body for nearly a month because he was frightened to be without his only friend.Prosecutors had been demanding a one-year prison sentence after he was found guilty, but the court decreed that his punishment would be a one-year term suspended for two years.The case has refocused attention on the plight…

The shooting of four gang rape and murder suspects by Indian police has highlighted the scourge of extrajudicial killings in a nation grappling with high levels of sexual crimes and a notoriously slow judicial process.Authorities claimed the four men were killed in a “shoot-out” during a re-enactment of the attack, carried out just under two weeks ago, in which a 27-year-old veterinarian was raped and murdered, before her body was burnt.Police were feted with rose petals, and crowds took to the…

Japanese Empress Masako, still recovering from stress-induced mental health issues, on Monday said she was happy to have completed her duties as part of Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement rituals and pledged to keep up the work and help her husband more for the happiness of the people.In a palace statement marking her 56th birthday, Masako thanked people who have warmly welcomed the couple after Naruhito succeeded to the throne on May 1, following his father’s abdication.“Many smiley faces I’ve…

Singapore has a property glut that could take years to clear, threatening to kill a nascent price recovery amid an already uncertain economic outlook.The city state had an overhang of 31,948 units as of September 30, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Sales have averaged about 2,500 homes per quarter this year, and at that rate it will take almost four years to clear the backlog, according to Christine Li, head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at Cushman & Wakefield.The…

New Zealand said on Tuesday that eight people were still missing a day after a volcano unexpectedly erupted off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island, killing at least five people.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters in Whakatane, a town near the volcanic White Island, that a number of people were in hospital in critical condition.She said that New Zealanders and tourists from Australia, the United States, Britain, China and Malaysia were among the injured.A police spokesman said that…

From governments to NGOs, Facebook to Google, academics to policymakers, almost everyone agrees that disinformation and fake news are a growing problem. What they tend to disagree on are the solutions.The authorities in Southeast Asia have often preferred to introduce specific regulations and laws to provide greater tools for police to arrest citizens who create and distribute such material. But these laws are controversial and have been met with criticism from civil society groups and…

South Korea is considering a ban on celebrity endorsements of alcoholic drinks, in a bid to end the glamorisation of drinking culture and cut rates of consumption among young people.The proposed move is being spearheaded by the country’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, which wants to see famous faces banished from drinks packaging and removed from accompanying advertising by as early as next year.No more soju calendars with nearly nude women in South KoreaKim Euk, an administrator of mental…