Siow How Phiew, a Malaysian of Chinese descent, has spent almost 40 years hand-crafting lion heads used by lion dance troupes across Malaysia. It is an art form prized by the ethnic Chinese minority in the country. Although lion dances are commonly performed during Lunar New Year, Siow says the number of traditional lion-head artisans has shrunk over the years, with just 10 left in Malaysia. Still, Siow is confident in the future of his craft. 

Nobel laureate and journalist Maria Ressa and her news site Rappler were acquitted by a Philippine court of tax evasion charges on January 18, 2023. The case stemmed from accusation by a state revenue agency that Rappler had omitted from its tax returns the proceeds of a 2015 sale of depositary receipts to foreign investors. 

At least one person was killed, 10 were injured and several others remained  missing after an explosion on an oil tanker in Bangkok's southwestern Samut Songkhram province on January 17, 2023. Thai authorities reported there were 16 people on board the vessel when the blast occurred. Many were Burmese welders, as the ship was undergoing repairs at the time. An investigation is underway. 

At least one person was gored to death and dozens more were injured during Jallikattu, a traditional bull-taming festival in southern India’s Madurai District on January 14, 2023, according to news agencies citing local media. The bull-taming competition is a hugely popular annual event which sees young men grab the bull's sharp horns or humps and try to hold on as long as they can. Fatalities were common until in 2014, when India's top court outlawed the festival. However, the state government of Tamil Nadu managed to lift the restrictions in 2017.
 

On January 6, 2023, Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen visited troops at an airbase in the county of Chiayi to offer encouragement and to boost their morale ahead of the Lunar New Year. Tsai has urged mainland China to resume talks to help maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state. But many oppose possible attempts to take the island by force.
 

Chinese pharmaceutical companies are trying to keep up with the surge in demand for fever-reducing medicine, as the country grapples with a spike in Covid-19 cases after Beijing ended its strict zero-Covid policy late 2022. Officials say production of paracetamol and ibuprofen has risen to four times as much as early December’s output. 
 

A 212kg (467lb) bluefin tuna sold for 36.04 million yen (US$273,000) at Tokyo’s annual New Year’s tuna auction held on January 5, 2023 at the Toyosu fish market. While the winning bid is just a fraction of 2019’s record price of 410.92 million yen (US$3.1 million), it is more than double the top price at last year’s auction, breaking a pandemic trend of slumping demand. 
 

Pakistan’s government has announced on January 3, 2023 that all malls and markets will be closed by 8:30pm under a new energy conservation plan. The defence minister said the measures are aimed at saving the country, now grappling with an economic crisis, about 62 billion Pakistani rupees (US$274 million), as global energy prices skyrocket. But some businesses are refusing to comply, saying the plan would hurt their earnings. 
 

Two helicopters collided mid-air over Australia’s Gold Coast on January 2, 2023, killing four passengers, including two UK nationals. Australian police said one chopper was taking off and the other was landing when the incident occurred near the tourist hotspot’s Sea World Resort Australia theme park. A further investigation into the cause of the crash is under way. 

The China-built Pokhara International Airport, the 3rd international airport in Nepal, was put into operation on January 1, 2023 in the country’s second largest city. The Pokhara airport was built by a Chinese company with loans from China. The project is seen as a “key project” for the Belt and Road Initiative, according to a Chinese official.
 

South Korea said on December 30, 2022, that it will require travellers from China to undergo mandatory Covid-19 testing on arrival, joining the United States, Japan and other countries in adopting new border control measures amid a surge in cases in the country. According to officials, starting January 2, people arriving from China will have to take a PCR test upon arrival and beginning January 5, they will be required to submit a negative result for a PCR test taken within 48 hours, or a rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours of departure. 
 

Bangladesh opened its first metro rail line in the capital city, Dhaka, on December 28, 2022. The line, partially funded by Japan, connects Dhaka’s centre and a prime neighbourhood. As one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Dhaka and its over 20 million residents suffer from traffic congestion. Excited residents waited in a long queue for their rail ride.

Japan announced that visitors from or travelling through mainland China will be required to take a Covid-19 test on arrival. Health authorities cited the current Covid-19 surge in the mainland as the reason behind the new restrictions. The new measures represent an additional hurdle for Chinese nationals, who will be able to travel to and from the mainland quarantine free for the first time since late 2019, starting on January 8, 2023.

A new highway in China featuring the longest spiral tunnel opened to traffic in Henan province on December 26, 2022. It connects Xinxiang city in Henan and Jincheng city in neighbouring Shanxi province, which are separated by the Taihang Mountains. The group of tunnels along the Xinxiang-Jincheng Expressway have shortened travel time between the two cities by 2 hours.

The death toll from the Christmas Day rains in the southern Philippines rose to 13, with the search for 23 missing continuing as floodwaters start to recede, according to local authorities on December 27, 2022. Affected areas include Visayas, Mindanao, and Palawan. More than 45,000 people have been forced to take shelter in evacuation centres.

Former communist insurgent leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal was appointed Nepal’s new prime minister for a third time on December 25, 2022. The Maoist communist party leader will lead the new government for the first half of the five-year term, after which his coalition partner from the Communist Unified Marxist-Leninist will take over the post, according to local media.
 

A blizzard in northwest Japan left at least eight people dead and dozens injured as of the morning of December 23, 2022. The snowstorm has been battering the coast of the Sea of Japan or East Sea since December 17, causing massive traffic disruptions and leaving tens of thousands without power. Japan’s Meteorological Agency reports the storm is intensifying. 

Indonesia’s once-prosperous and non-binary Bissu community has been facing the threat of extinction, with fewer than 40 members remaining. Bissu, who are believed to be neither male nor female but embody all genders, play cultural and shaman-like roles to prevent their traditions from dying. Their recent ceremony held annually in November marked the start of the planting season on the island of Sulawesi.

Serial killer Charles Sobhraj has been ordered released from a Nepal prison on December 22, 2022, due to his health condition and good behaviour. The 78-year-old has served 19 of his 20-year life sentence. The French national, nicknamed ‘the serpent’, is linked to the killings of over 20 Western backpackers across Asia during the 1970s and 1980s.

China and Russia conducted joint naval exercises in the East China Sea on December 21, 2022. Beijing said the drill aims to strengthen the partnership between the two countries. The first joint China-Russia naval exercise was held in 2012.

Rapid antigen test (RAT) kits and flu medicines were in short supply in Hong Kong after anxious residents started buying up supplies to send to friends and family in mainland China where a wave of Covid-19 infections has reportedly triggered shortages. Shelves were cleared in some Hong Kong stores as of December 18, 2022, while pharmacies in Thailand reported increased demand from mainland Chinese people buying the items online for shipment overseas.

North Korea confirmed that it has built a spy satellite undergoing its “final-stage” test, conducted at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on December 18, 2022. State media KCNA released two pictures of South Korean cities, including its capital, captured by the satellite during the test. Pyongyang aims to complete the satellite by April 2023.

North Koreans commemorated Kim Jong-il’s 11th death anniversary in the capital Pyongyang. The former leader and father of current leader Kim Jong-un, died of medical conditions aggravated by a heart attack on December 17, 2011. Residents and soldiers brought flowers and gathered at the statues of Kim Jong-il and his father, the first supreme leader Kim Il-sung.

North Korea held a food exhibition on December 13, 2022, state media KCNA reported. The event featured food products made from flour, such as pastries and noodles to “diversify our diet and improve our people’s lives”, said the event organiser. According to the UN World Food Programme, more than 40 per cent of North Korea’s population is undernourished.
 

Filipino artist Elito Circa has been painting with his own blood for decades, due to a lack of resources and poverty. He gets his blood professionally drawn every three months at a local health centre and keeps 500 ml (17oz) of his blood at a time in a cooler for use in future projects. It takes Circa about 15 ml (0.5 oz) of his blood and five hours to complete a painting.