This Week in Asia /

Health & Environment

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Coronavirus pandemic
Climate change
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Homes and fields are seen submerged in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province after the massive, widespread floods of 2022. Photo: AP
Pakistan

Climate chaos is threatening Pakistan’s food security. Can it adapt in time?

Scientists warn that the country’s ‘new normal’ of extreme heat, floods and erratic rainfall is pushing farms and supply chains to the brink.

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Malaysia

Malaysian students allowed to stay at home as annual haze crisis begins

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Climate change

World’s top court just changed the game for climate action

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Japan

Whale of a row in Japan as Interpol drops activist’s red notice

Tokyo’s foreign ministry has vowed to continue requesting the Sea Shepherd founder’s extradition to Japan.

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Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson during a visit to Nice, France, on February 28. Photo: AFP
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson during a visit to Nice, France, on February 28. Photo: AFP
Indonesia

Rabies fears rise in Bali as tourist hotspots declared ‘red zones’

Officials say the recorded number of dog bites in the affected areas remains low but the risk of the disease spreading is still high.

India

Skeletal remains force India to probe Dharmasthala mass burial claims

Hundreds of secret burials linked to Dharmasthala, Karnataka, have come to light as a whistle-blower eyewitness seeks protection.

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Malaysia

Malaysia on edge as police hunt armed robbery suspect amid surge in shootings

A series of audacious shootings has rocked Malaysia. The latest saw a robbery suspect fire a gun outside a Johor store on Saturday.

A police dog from a K-9 unit takes part in a Police Day parade in Malaysia. The latest violent incident unfolded in Seri Alam township, less than an hour’s drive from the Singapore border. Photo: AFP
A police dog from a K-9 unit takes part in a Police Day parade in Malaysia. The latest violent incident unfolded in Seri Alam township, less than an hour’s drive from the Singapore border. Photo: AFP
The Philippines

Haunted waters: the Philippine murder mystery spoiling Taal Lake’s catch

As divers brave volcanic eruptions and storms to search for human remains, their discoveries have a nation demanding answers.

Indonesia

Indonesia’s dream of a ‘smart forest’ capital becomes a vice-ridden nightmare

Sex work, cockfighting and illegal gambing are rife in Indonesia’s planned capital city, officials say, raising doubts about its future.

Aviation

After 2025’s string of aviation scares, are the skies still safe?

Experts say air travel is still the safest mode of transport and accidents such as the Air India crash remain ‘statistical outliers’.

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High-profile accidents may unsettle travellers, but they rarely result in long-term behavioural shifts, psychologists say. Photo: Shutterstock
South Korea

South Korean man drowns in flood after telling wife: ‘car being swept away’

Intense rainfall has battered South Korea in recent years, prompting questions about its flood prevention measures.

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Flooding caused by torrential rain in Yesan, South Korea. Photo: Yonhap via Reuters
Flooding caused by torrential rain in Yesan, South Korea. Photo: Yonhap via Reuters
Indonesia

Bali urges tourists to assess fitness after spike in accidents and rescues

The warning comes amid a string of emergencies involving foreigners on the island.

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Japan

Japan megaquake ... again? Disaster fears re-emerge over rash of island tremors

Japan’s weather agency has logged at least four ‘felt quakes’ in the area with an intensity of 4 on the country’s Shindo scale since Sunday.

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Japan

The smartphone squint: a closer look at Japan’s cross-eyed epidemic

The highest proportion of patients with the condition are middle and high school students, according to a recent study.

About one in 50 people in Japan have strabismus, with patients having one eye that is turned outward being most common. Photo: Shutterstock
Thailand

Thailand to require cannabis shops to convert into clinics staffed by doctors

Officials say only around 2,000 of the country’s 18,000 marijuana dispensaries are expected to stay open after the new rules go into effect.

A cannabis shop on Sukhumvit Road, one of the most popular tourist spots in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Reuters
A cannabis shop on Sukhumvit Road, one of the most popular tourist spots in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: Reuters
South Korea

Off the hook: South Korean fishers forced to dump US$1.9 million of bluefin tuna

After catching more than 1,300 bluefin tuna, the fishers from Yeongdeok county had to throw away the fish under an international obligation.

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Japan

Japan dives deep in race for rare earths, stirring a green backlash

While rich mineral deposits promise centuries of supply, critics argue Japan’s deep-ocean venture risks an irreversible ‘race to the bottom’.

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Singapore

Do Singapore’s insurers and private hospitals need a rethink as costs surge?

Great Eastern’s suspension of pre-treatment approval for admission to two Mount Elizabeth hospitals has sparked a debate on cost management.

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Great Eastern in Singapore has suspended pre-treatment approval for its policyholders seeking treatment in two Mount Elizabeth hospitals. Photo: Great Eastern SG/YouTube
Great Eastern in Singapore has suspended pre-treatment approval for its policyholders seeking treatment in two Mount Elizabeth hospitals. Photo: Great Eastern SG/YouTube
India

As Delhi scraps vehicle ban plan, what next for clean air in India’s capital?

Better traffic management and addressing gaps in public transport could be a start to fixing the problem, analysts say.

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Asean

Eating plastic: the hidden cost of convenience in Southeast Asia

If plastic pollution continues to worsen in the region, its people could face a wide range of health issues, medical experts warn.

India

Bollywood star’s sudden death reignites India’s quick-fix beauty treatment debate

The death of Shefali Jariwala, 42, a user of anti-ageing injections, has raised concerns about cosmetic treatment safety and heart-related deaths among young adults.

Shefali Jariwala’s sudden death has sparked concern in India over quick beauty treatments and rising cardiac events in young adults. Photo: Instagram/shefalijariwala
Japan

Explainer | What is Japan’s viral manga quake prophecy and how likely is it to come true?

Ryo Tatsuki’s manga novel predicts that a ‘megaquake’ will hit Japan on Saturday, creating tsunamis three times as tall as those from 2011.

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Massive tsunami waves triggered by a major earthquake in northeastern Japan engulf houses in Natori, Miyagi prefecture, on March 11, 2011. Photo: Kyodo
Massive tsunami waves triggered by a major earthquake in northeastern Japan engulf houses in Natori, Miyagi prefecture, on March 11, 2011. Photo: Kyodo
Thailand

Thailand’s doctors have to show cannabis use for medical reasons in new form

The reversal of Thailand’s decriminalisation of cannabis in 2022 is a major setback for retail sellers of the drug across the country.

Malaysia

Soft soil caused Malaysia’s huge gas pipeline fire: authorities

A high-level special committee will be formed to ensure sufficient measures are in place to prevent the incident from recurring.

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Indonesia

The rat in the room: understanding Indonesia’s hantavirus cases

Medical experts say there is no cause for alarm as the 8 reported cases of a disease linked to the virus happened at a local level.

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Indonesia has reported eight cases of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), one of the diseases caused by the rodent-linked hantavirus. Photo: Shutterstock
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