This Week in Asia /
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Malaysia
Southeast Asia’s rich buy sky garages while the middle class lose their homes
As wealthy buyers seek penthouses with living-room supercar parking, struggling families battle banks to keep a roof overhead.
13 Dec 2025 - 9:30AM
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Malaysia
‘We’re just trying to survive’: young Malaysians buckle under rising debt
11 Dec 2025 - 6:27PM
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India
Rupee slump ‘a little relief’ for Indian exporters amid US trade talks
11 Dec 2025 - 6:24PM
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India
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
European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic (left) shakes hands with Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in India on Monday. Photo: X/MarosSefcovic
India
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 - 3:22PM
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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
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Nepal
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 - 4:00PM
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Staff members wait for the arrival of passengers at Pokhara International Airport in December last year. Photo: China News Service/VCG/Getty Images
Nepal
‘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
Thailand
‘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 - 9:51AM
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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 - 5:00PM
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Asean
‘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
A Thai engineer services AI-powered healthcare robots in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE
Singapore
‘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
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India
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 - 7:37PM
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Singapore
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
India
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 - 6:45PM
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Workers scan packages ahead of dispatch from the Flipkart fulfillment centre in Haryana. Domestic consumer demand is a key pillar of India’s economy. Photo: AFP
India
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
Malaysia
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
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Japan
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 - 3:32PM
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People walk through Tokyo’s Shinjuku district, a major nightlife and shopping area popular with visitors. Photo: Shutterstock
India
‘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
Indonesia
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 - 6:00PM
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Malaysia
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
Indonesia
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 - 6:07PM
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A view of the presidential palace in Nusantara, the planned new capital of Indonesia in East Kalimantan. Photo: AFP
Russia
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
India
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 - 4:05PM
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Saudi Arabia
The China factor behind Trump’s decision to upgrade Saudi air power
The deal swaps F-35 jets for ‘guardrails’ on Chinese tech in the Gulf, analysts say – with Israel assured its military edge is safe.
24 Nov 2025 - 5:30PM
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