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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. Why is the Philippines exempted from US foreign aid freeze?

2. Ramadan price gougers put on notice in Malaysia as holy month looms

3. Indonesia’s budget battles sink its aircraft-carrier dreams

4. The PhD paradox: high education meets record unemployment in South Korea

5. ‘Business must go on’: why India is reaching out to the Taliban

6. 1 dead, thousands flee as Japan’s biggest wildfire in decades continues to rage

7. Public sex by tourists in Thailand’s Pattaya sparks call for clampdown



Xi on North Korean military ties; US blacklists Chinese tech firms: SCMP’s 7 highlights

Tokyo Sézanne’s missing stars; Hongkonger shed 32kg in 8 months: 7 Lifestyle highlights

Chinese carmakers race Tesla on humanoid robots; BYD launches ‘God’s Eye’: 7 EV reads

Philippines’ deadly quake, India’s rise in critical minerals: 7 Asia highlights

SCMP Highlights

Ramadan price gougers, Philippines’ US exemption, India-Taliban ties: 7 Asia highlights

Soldiers march during a military parade held to mark the 89th founding anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines at Camp Aguinaldo in Manila on December 20, 2024. Photo: AFP

Two Philippine Air Force FA-50 fighter jets fly with two US Air Force B-1 bomber aircraft during a joint patrol and training over the South China Sea on February 4, 2025. Photo: AP 

People buy food from street vendors for iftar (fast-breaking) meals at the Ramadan bazaar in conjunction with the celebration of the holy month of Ramadan in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in March 2024. Photo: Getty Images

The Italian aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi pictured in 2016. Indonesia is reportedly considering buying the recently retired vessel. Photo: AFP

Students at a university campus in Seoul. Photo: Shutterstock

The Afghan embassy in New Delhi, India, in September 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE

Firefighters battle a wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE

A foreign tourist sunbathes on a beach in Pattaya in Thailand. Photo: EPA-EFE

Khalil Fong dies, Trump-Zelensky row, China’s ‘Fantastic Four’: 5 weekend reads you missed

Khalil Fong has died at the age of 41. Photo: Handout

Khalil Fong at his book launch in 2018. Photo: SCMP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump talking over each other in the Oval Office. Photo: Reuters

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

US President Donald Trump attends a press conference with British PM Keir Starmer at the White House on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Kuala Lumpur city skyline. Malaysia’s goal to become a digital economy faces challenges such as a shortage in skilled manpower. Photo: Shutterstock

Questions raised over arrest of Malaysian journalist following trafficking cartel exposé

A man looks at Malaysia Airlines’ aircraft parked on the tarmac at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on February 25, 2016. Photo: AFP 

The Office of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Photo: Shutterstock 

Bali fumes at frugal tourists, Tesla faces boycott calls in Malaysia: 7 Asia highlights

Tourists wander at Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia, on February 3. Photo: EPA-EFE

Tourists at Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia. More than 6.3 million international travellers visited Bali last year. Photo: EPA-EFE

A portrait of Kim Ha-neul is displayed at an altar at a hospital in the central city of Daejeon, two days after she was stabbed to death by her teacher. Photo: dpa

US Army soldiers conduct a test of the Mid-Range Capability (MRC), or Typhon, launcher in California in 2023. Photo: US Army

Elon Musk listens to US President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office on February 11. Photo: Reuters

The US Air Force’s F-35 fifth-generation fighter aircraft performs at Aero India 2025, a military aviation exhibition held in Bengaluru last Thursday. Photo: AFP

Parliament House in Singapore. The city state’s nominated member of parliament scheme faces a reckoning. Photo: Shutterstock

South Korean actress Kim Sae-ron, 24, at the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong. She was found dead at home after enduring years of online abuse following a drink-driving incident. Photo: Reuters

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From Ramadan price gougers in Malaysia to outrage in Thailand over public sex, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting


From Ramadan price gougers in Malaysia to outrage in Thailand over public sex, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting.


Ramadan price gougers, Philippines’ US exemption, India-Taliban ties: 7 Asia highlights

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Ramadan price gougers in Malaysia to outrage in Thailand over public sex, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting

1. Why is the Philippines exempted from US foreign aid freeze?

From Ramadan price gougers in Malaysia to outrage in Thailand over public sex, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting