Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who ran the National Police until October 1, 2026, was removed from the palace on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, three days after his arrest with two other police generals on charges of tapping the phones of the president, ministers and journalists. The case is the visible part of a fight for command of the security apparatus of Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro that the bilateral relationship faces “malicious interference” by Filipino politicians and that Manila should be “cautious in words and deeds” on the South China Sea; Lazaro called the Tuesday-night call “frank and constructive,” with both sides defending diplomatic dialogue and managing differences on the basis of mutual respect, in a conversation that followed the Philippine defense secretary calling China a “troublemaker” and the Chinese ambassador in Manila replying that Beijing would not choose force — including, according to a Philippine official, a possible resumption of talks on joint oil and gas exploration in Reed Bank.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto sacked his chief of staff, former National Police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, on Wednesday after his arrest for allegedly wiretapping the president, cabinet ministers, politicians and journalists, in a case in which an internal investigation flagged phone numbers entered illegally into the interception system between 2025 and 2026, unconnected with any official investigation, and in which inspectors general Ahrie Sonta Nasution and Eko Hadi Santoso were also named suspects. Indonesia’s government said the former police chief may have committed “treason” through his alleged role in tapping President Prabowo Subianto’s phone, in acts that endanger state interests and the safety of the country’s leader, according to presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi.
Indonesian police detained three senior police generals suspected of illegally wiretapping President Prabowo Subianto. According to Reuters, in a text published by KTWB, the president’s recently appointed chief of staff, Listyo Sigit Prabowo, is among those detained. According to the police, the three illegally intercepted the phones of the president, state officials, political figures, business people, journalists and organizations between 2025 and this year, and the government says the investigation is at an early stage, with no motive established and no evidence linking the suspects to treason.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone call with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro, made at her request, that relations between the two countries are facing “malicious interference”. Wang said a “handful” of Philippine politicians have attacked and smeared China out of political bias and self-interest and have crossed Beijing’s “red lines”. Lazaro said the Philippines attaches great importance to its relations with China, remains committed to the one-China policy and is willing to handle maritime issues through dialogue and consultation.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Phuket to demand that Thai authorities end the activities of the Chabad movement in the country and take action against alleged illegal economic activities by foreigners, including Israeli-linked organizations, according to the Times of Israel. The protest came several days after Thailand revoked the citizenship of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor, the head of the Chabad movement in the country, for using his American passport to travel abroad.
Top diplomats from the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) met in Atlanta on Saturday to finalize preparations for next month’s summit in the Philippines, the first in two years, according to the South China Morning Post. Without naming China, the ministers expressed “grave concerns” about overcapacity disrupting global supply chains in critical industries.
Former rebel leader Abdulraof Macacua has been elected chief minister of the Philippines' Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, securing 51 of 80 assembly votes in a historic vote after decades of conflict. Macacua defeated former interim chief minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), according to Rappler.
Myanmar is waging the world’s second-most intense drone war, after the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, according to El País. A London School of Economics (LSE) report reaches the same conclusion, calling Myanmar’s war the world’s second-most intense conflict for drone attacks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The military junta, which seized power in 2021, is responsible for seven out of every 10 drone strikes in the country, in a war with an opposition divided into dozens of armed groups.
Pollution from smoke emitted by months of wildfires across Indonesia caused an estimated 3,560 deaths in the archipelago in September, according to a new study cited by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) — non-fire pollution from power generation, industry and transport caused a further 1,750 deaths in the month, for a total of 5,310 in the country of about 290 million people.
South Korean Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul met on Thursday with his Singaporean and Vietnamese counterparts to discuss expanding defense cooperation, his ministry said, according to the Korea Herald. The ministers agreed to expand cooperation in personnel exchanges, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
China has accused the Philippines of setting up “numerous obstacles” to its participation in a meeting with defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according to the South China Morning Post.
Cambodian police and military officers worked as private security guards in scam compounds where thousands were forced to work in the online fraud industry, according to an Amnesty International report, based on 151 survivor interviews, visits to 82 compounds and guard videos, identifying more than 20 personnel with an active presence at the sites and linking the operations to five security companies.
Customs authorities found 30 server units containing advanced AI chips during an October 15 inspection in Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s free-trade zone, according to the South China Morning Post. The servers — falsely declared as electronic components and shipped through Malaysia so there would be no restrictions on export to the next destination, according to customs cited by the paper — were linked to a syndicate already involved this year in five cases with a total value exceeding US$ 24 million, officials cited by TRT World said.
Hundreds of Indonesian security personnel were deployed in Jakarta ahead of student protests against several policies of President Prabowo Subianto and his government’s handling of forest fires, according to the South China Morning Post, in republished Reuters reporting. University of Indonesia students demand the government declare the wildfires in Sumatra and Borneo a national disaster and halt spending on programs such as the free meals scheme.