This Week in Asia /

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Passers-by look in Christmas-themed shop windows at Macy’s department store in New York earlier this month. Photo: Zuma Press Wire/dpa

Trump’s tariffs on Southeast Asia put US Christmas gifts at risk

From Hot Wheels to headphones, new levies are squeezing the supply of Americans’ festive favourites.

15 Dec 2025 - 8:02AM

Southeast Asia’s rich buy sky garages while the middle class lose their homes

13 Dec 2025 - 9:30AMvideocam

‘We’re just trying to survive’: young Malaysians buckle under rising debt

11 Dec 2025 - 6:27PMvideocam

Rupee slump ‘a little relief’ for Indian exporters amid US trade talks

The lower rupee is helping Indian industries that have been absorbing tariff losses in the hopes of a US-India trade deal, analysts say.

11 Dec 2025 - 6:24PMvideocam

A roadside vendor counts Indian rupee notes in Mumbai on November 28. Photo: AFP

India-EU trade pact nears finish line despite carbon tax dispute and Russia

Brussels is looking past India’s ties with Moscow to secure a vital economic win, with analysts predicting a deal within months.

10 Dec 2025 - 5:00PM

IndiGo flight chaos exposes risks of India’s aviation duopoly

India’s largest airline grounded nearly 3,000 flights last week, showing how easily a staffing crunch at one carrier can paralyse the sector.

10 Dec 2025 - 3:22PMvideocam

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The Philippines

Philippines ‘flood control queen’ faces arrest over corruption scandal

Prosecutors accuse Cezarah ‘Sarah’ Discaya of pocketing millions for a government-funded flood control project that was never built.

9 Dec 2025 - 5:00PM

Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya (right) appears at a Senate committee hearing with her husband Pacifico in September. Photo: AP

Nepal charges Chinese contractor with corruption over airport deal

A watchdog alleges the company colluded with ex-ministers to inflate costs and siphon off US$74 million from the Pokhara airport project.

9 Dec 2025 - 4:00PMvideocam

‘Like a market’: Chinese marriage brokers hunt for brides in Nepal

China’s bachelor crisis meets Nepal’s poverty in a trade that blurs the lines between arranged marriage and coercion.

9 Dec 2025 - 2:36PM

‘Everyone gets a cut’: why Southeast Asia’s scam industry refuses to die

Authorities are seizing assets and raiding compounds, but analysts warn the clumsy crackdown is merely scattering syndicates to new hideouts.

8 Dec 2025 - 9:51AMvideocam

A woman counts US dollars and Japanese yen banknotes in Phnom Penh. Scam money’s reach extends far beyond the Mekong. Photo: AFP

The Philippines

Probe links Philippines flood corruption to Pogo crypto schemes

Cybercrime officials have uncovered a ‘definite link’ between the massive graft scandal and laundering rings run by banned gaming operators.

6 Dec 2025 - 5:00PMvideocam

Protesters hold signs during an anti-corruption rally in Manila, the Philippines, on November 30. Photo: EPA

‘We all knew’: is your job safe from the AI you are helping to train?

Asia makes the chips driving the AI boom, but the technology threatens to erase jobs and widen the region’s wealth gap, a new UN report says.

6 Dec 2025 - 3:54PM

‘No longer contentious’: Malaysia to weigh Singapore’s water project plan

The two countries have disagreed over water supply for decades, such as the perceived low prices charged by Malaysia’s Johor.

5 Dec 2025 - 1:58PM

Cyber scams threaten confidence in India’s outsourcing industry

Fraudsters leveraging India’s cost advantages and skilled workforce create a systemic risk for legitimate businesses, analysts warn.

4 Dec 2025 - 7:37PMvideocam

Sophisticated cyber scam networks are threatening to inflict “reputational damage” on India’s thriving US$150 billion outsourcing industry, observers warn. Photo: Shutterstock

Saudi adviser lauds parallels with Singapore in modernisation efforts

Mohammed Khalid Alyahya cites the late Singaporean leader’s pragmatic and results-driven governance as a template for Saudi Arabia’s ambitions.

2 Dec 2025 - 9:16PM

The Riyadh city centre from the terrace of the Al Faisaliah Tower. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2023 aims to diversify the country’s economy into a global, modern powerhouse. Photo: dpa/Getty Images

India’s strong economic growth impresses amid doubts on ‘overstated’ data

Questions about India’s latest 8.2 per cent GDP quarterly growth have been raised by ANZ Bank and analysts.

2 Dec 2025 - 6:45PMvideocam

India’s looming BrahMos missile deal with Indonesia challenges US-China binary

New Delhi is emerging as a serious alternative security partner for Southeast Asia, offering hi-tech arms without ‘hegemonic baggage’.

1 Dec 2025 - 3:51PM

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Malaysia promises millions of gig workers a safety net, but critics see holes

A new law would mandate written contracts and dispute resolution, but labour groups argue it still leaves workers at the mercy of algorithms.

4 Dec 2025 - 5:05PM

A delivery rider for Grab passes in front of a house in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: AFP

Hotels hit back as Tokyo plans to hike lodging tax with percentage-based system

The plan would replace the current flat-rate hotel tax with a 3 per cent levy that hoteliers say would unfairly burden certain travellers.

29 Nov 2025 - 3:32PMvideocam

‘It’s time for us to rise’: India races to rebuild its lost maritime muscle

India is eyeing a future as a leading shipping and shipbuilding nation, backed by big investments – and expertise from South Korea and Japan.

30 Nov 2025 - 5:12PM

Indonesian durian sellers smell big opportunity in China, world’s largest market

In 2024, Indonesia exported US$1.8 million worth of the fruit to Thailand and Hong Kong, and began shipping fresh durians to China this year.

28 Nov 2025 - 6:00PMvideocam

Durian for sale at a roadside stall in Lombok, Indonesia. Photo: Getty Images

From Singapore to Malaysia, tech firms double down on AI despite bubble fears

Bubble bursting? Not here. Meet the regional founders who see a potential global AI crash as a ‘healthy’ correction.

28 Nov 2025 - 5:30PM

An electronic chip board used for AI processing. Photo: Shutterstock

Indonesia blindsided by ruling against Nusantara’s 190-year land right law

The ruling has compounded the challenges in completing the planned new capital, including lukewarm interest from investors.

28 Nov 2025 - 6:07PMvideocam

As Asia’s oil markets eye Ukraine-Russia peace deal, will prices fall further?

Oil prices have been falling in recent trading sessions on expectations of an imminent deal to end the war in Ukraine.

27 Nov 2025 - 5:46PM

Economics above politics? India and Canada to resume trade agreement talks

While their ties plunged in 2023 over the death of a Sikh separatist, they are keen to restart trade talks due to US tariffs, analysts say.

25 Nov 2025 - 4:05PMvideocam

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney speak before a meeting at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, in June. Photo: AP

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