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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. Thailand launches air strikes on Cambodia after soldier killed
Thailand launched air strikes on Cambodian military positions on Monday after a Thai soldier was killed, pushing a shaky US-brokered truce to the brink of collapse as it vowed to cripple its neighbour’s ability to fight back over the shared frontier.
2. ‘No longer contentious’: Malaysia to weigh Singapore’s water project plan
Malaysia said on Thursday that it would consider a proposal by Singapore to jointly develop water infrastructure in southern Johor, signalling the intention of both sides to move beyond decades of rancour over the vital resource.
3. 6 cyclones, 5 weeks: Philippines can’t escape its endless cycle of disaster

Corruption, complacency and climate chaos are conspiring to turn the Philippines’ natural hazards into man-made tragedies.
4. Japan sympathises as 79-year-old kills mother, 100, out of exhaustion
Masato Watabe made no effort to hide the killing. A little over an hour after he held his hand over his victim’s mouth until she was no longer breathing, he called the emergency services. Taken into custody, 79-year-old Watabe admitted to police that he alone was to blame for her death.
5. ‘We side with Indonesia’: ex-minister rejects claims of China bias

A former Indonesian minister has dismissed claims of giving preferential treatment to Chinese firms and wooing investors with policies undermining the country’s sovereignty, amid furore over an airport inside a major industrial cluster that risks becoming a “state within a state”.
6. Are Singaporean Chinese the ‘least attractive’? Viral image stirs debate
A widely shared image on social media depicting colour sketches of men from different regions in China has stirred debate on the physical appearance of Singaporean Chinese based on their ancestry, with online users concluding they are the least attractive of the gene pool.
7. ‘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.


China turns African port into tourist spot, students rethink Hong Kong: 5 weekend reads

Trump urged Xi to help end Ukraine war; China’s tech sanctions list: SCMP’s 7 highlights

Sharla Cheung’s film career, rise and fall of Hong Kong comics: 7 Lifestyle highlights

Chip prodigy returns to China, coal waste used for critical minerals: 7 science highlights

SCMP Highlights

Philippines cyclones, Singaporean Chinese dubbed ‘least attractive’: 7 Asia highlights

Satellite imagery taken by the US’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Super Typhoon Fung-wong approaching the Philippines on November 9. Photo: NOAA/NESDIS/AFP

Satellite imagery shows Super Typhoon Fung-wong as it approaches the Philippines on November 9. Photo: NOAA/EPA

The Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, one of the biggest nickel producers in Konawe Utara. Photo: AFP

Nepali girls dressed in traditional attire take part in a harvest festival celebration in Kathmandu on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua

Could ICC warrants against Duterte allies alter Philippine Senate’s balance of power?

Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte during a senate inquiry on the so-called war on drugs during his administration at the Philippine Senate in Manila in October 2024. Duterte is currently detained in the Netherlands. Photo: AP

Christopher “Bong” Go has denied being involved in the “operational requirements of the war on drugs”. Photo: Facebook/Christopher Bong Go

National police chief Roland Dela Rosa (centre) at the national police headquarters in Manila in 2017. He has not been seen in public since November 10. Photo: AFP / Philippine National Police-Public Information Office 

Japan turns to AI to hunt down overseas manga, anime pirates

A still from the anime One Piece. Japan’s anime and manga sectors are struggling to expand sales at home. Photo: Handout

A visitor looks at products on sale at the Tokyo Comic Con 2025 in Chiba on Friday. As part of its “Cool Japan” strategy, Japan’s government has grand ambitions for anime, manga and games. Photo: EPA

A man walks past a statue of young swordsman Tanjiro Kamado (left), the title character in the Japanese anime film “Demon Slayer”, at a cinema in Tokyo. The “Demon Slayer” manga is published by Shueisha. Photo: AFP

A recreated scene of titans descending from above from the Japanese manga series “Attack on Titan” is displayed at an exhibition in Kai Tak, Hong Kong, in September. Photo: Eugene Lee

News

Asia

From a viral image prompting a beauty debate to Chinese marriage brokers eyeing Nepal, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting


From a viral image prompting a beauty debate to Chinese marriage brokers eyeing Nepal, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting.


Philippines cyclones, Singaporean Chinese dubbed ‘least attractive’: 7 Asia highlights

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From a viral image prompting a beauty debate to Chinese marriage brokers eyeing Nepal, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting

1. Thailand launches air strikes on Cambodia after soldier killed

From a viral image prompting a beauty debate to Chinese marriage brokers eyeing Nepal, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting