Asia

Australasia
East Asia
Southeast Asia
South Asia
This Week in Asia
Travellers look at updates on flights, as they stand next to a screen displaying details of cancelled IndiGo airlines flights, at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, India, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

South Asia

India caps airfares as IndiGo crisis hits 5th day, stranding hundreds

IndiGo’s spate of cancellations has prompted fare increases on flights operated by other airlines on popular routes.

6 cyclones, 5 weeks: Philippines can’t escape its endless cycle of disaster

videocam

Jakarta vs the internet: Indonesia’s gamble with digital freedom

Economics

‘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.

A Thai engineer services AI-powered healthcare robots in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE
A Thai engineer services AI-powered healthcare robots in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE

Southeast Asia

Indonesia’s flood death toll hits 883, hundreds still missing

The governor of hard-hit Aceh warns starvation has become the gravest threat to survivors in remote villages cut off by the devastation.

videocam

Lifestyle & Culture

One-Punch Man and the human cost of Japan and South Korea’s soft power

Behind the multibillion-dollar export boom lies a hidden crisis of low wages, 60-hour work weeks and unliveable pressure on invisible staff.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Economics

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.

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

South Asia

India and Russia agree to boost trade to US$100 billion by 2030

India’s Modi greeted Putin with a bear hug before announcing free electronic visas for Russian tourists.

People

Malaysia under pressure to explain police shooting of trio as outcry mounts

Audio recording and forensic claims released by the men’s families appear to contradict police accounts of the confrontation.

Lifestyle & Culture

Singapore organisers in limbo over work visa ban on foreign performers

A scheme allowing foreign performers to work up to six months at public entertainment outlets in Singapore will end, following ‘widespread abuse’.

videocam
Performers at the HaveFun Live Show in Singapore. Photo: HaveFun

People

Hong Kong fire: dead Indonesian helper found huddled with ward hailed as selfless

Her grieving husband says his wife would have survived had she fled first, as the flat where she worked was on the fourth floor.

5
Indonesian domestic worker Sri Wahyuni had told her husband Sugeng Widodo that she liked her job in Hong Kong. Photo: Sugeng Widodo
Indonesian domestic worker Sri Wahyuni had told her husband Sugeng Widodo that she liked her job in Hong Kong. Photo: Sugeng Widodo

Southeast Asia

‘Crowd is missing’: stronger ringgit keeps Singapore shoppers away from Johor

‘This is probably the worst year-end crowd we have seen since the Covid-19 pandemic,’ a business owner says.

Lifestyle & Culture

Anger boils in Philippines over official’s US$8.50 Christmas feast budget

Critics call the Philippine trade chief’s 500-peso Noche Buena price guide for a family of four a ‘fantasy’ that insults the poor.

videocam
6

Lifestyle & Culture

‘Better late than never’: Singapore parents laud curbs on phone use in schools

The city state is among countries that have stepped up measures to curb screen time and tighten social media restrictions for adolescents.

Singapore is among countries that have stepped up measures to curb screen time and tighten social media restrictions for adolescents. Photo: TNS

Politics

Myanmar’s criticism of Takaichi signals ‘loyalty’ to China ahead of election

A junta spokesman slammed the Japanese prime minister’s comments on Taiwan, saying Tokyo had not shown remorse for its ‘crimes’ in Asia.

videocam
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing on the sidelines of celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in Moscow on May 9. Photo: Xinhua
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing on the sidelines of celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in Moscow on May 9. Photo: Xinhua

Politics

Can India still rely on Russia as a ‘time-tested’ defence partner?

India has to balance meeting its defence needs from Russia and managing its trade ties with the US as tariffs continue to loom.

videocam

Lifestyle & Culture

Japan weighs plan to punish sex buyers, but will it be enough?

Experts warn the sex industry will find ways to circumvent new rules and the problem needs to be tackled from various angles simultaneously.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Health & Environment

6 cyclones, 5 weeks: Philippines can’t escape its endless cycle of disaster

Corruption, complacency and climate chaos conspire to turn the Philippines’ natural hazards into man-made tragedies.

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

Politics

‘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.

Politics

Malaysia’s poorest state prepares a poll shock for the prime minister

Decades of neglect and withheld resource revenue have left short-changed Sabah seething and primed for a political fight.

15

Health & Environment

Climate collapse: Southeast Asia’s new normal?

With a 30th year of Cop climate talks under way in Brazil, for many of Asia’s most vulnerable populations, the crisis is already here.

Illustration: Huy Truong
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Highlights from
THIS WEEK IN ASIA

Health & Environment

6 cyclones, 5 weeks: Philippines can’t escape its endless cycle of disaster

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

Economics

Probe links Philippines flood corruption to Pogo crypto schemes

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

Politics

Jakarta vs the internet: Indonesia’s gamble with digital freedom

Young men play online games and surf the internet at a cyber cafe in Jakarta last month. Photo: AFP

Economics

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

A Thai engineer services AI-powered healthcare robots in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE

Lifestyle & Culture

One-Punch Man and the human cost of Japan and South Korea’s soft power

A still from Japanese superhero saga One-Punch Man. The latest episode garnered complaints about its uneven pacing and “rushed” storytelling. Photo: Netflix
MORE IN This Week in Asia
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
OPINION
Rupert Stone

Opinion | Not just China: India also a piece of the US opioid puzzle

Rupert Stone
Nicholas Spiro

Macroscope | India and Japan show impact of Trump’s tariffs extend beyond trade

Nicholas Spiro
Wang Xiangwei

Opinion | Trump’s world view offers Beijing a window of opportunity on Taiwan

Wang Xiangwei
4
Ren Yan

Opinion | Why Chinese are cancelling their trips to Japan

Ren Yan
18
Kavitha Yarlagadda

Opinion | If China can cut its pollution, why can’t India?

Kavitha Yarlagadda
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
MULTIMEDIA
Video

Filipino fishermen worry about Chinese nature reserve in disputed waters

Filipino fishermen worry about Chinese nature reserve in disputed waters
03:09
Video

Centenarian becomes oldest person to climb Mount Fuji

Centenarian becomes oldest person to climb Mount Fuji
02:34
Video

Cambodia unveils new Chinese-built airport

Cambodia unveils new Chinese-built airport
02:02
Video

Ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra to serve 1 year in jail

Ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra to serve 1 year in jail
04:27
Advertisement
Advertisement
TRENDING TOPICS
Singapore
Malaysia
South China Sea
The Philippines
Indonesia
Advertisement
Advertisement