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This Week in Asia /

Health & Environment

Related Topics:
Coronavirus pandemic
Climate change
Wellness
A satellite image of Galang Island, or Pulau Galang, taken in 2021. Photo: Shutterstock
Indonesia

As Indonesia plans an island refuge for wounded Gazans, is it helping Israel?

Critics fear moving thousands of Gazans to Indonesia’s Galang Island could inadvertently support Israel’s plan to annex more territory.

The Philippines

South China Sea film Beijing condemned set to open in Philippine cinemas

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South Korea

After 80 years, will South Korea’s atomic bomb survivors finally be heard?

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The Philippines

Police defend K9 care after photo of gaunt bomb dog draws outrage in Philippines

Officers insist Kobe was fit for duty but animal rights groups demand transparency and reform.

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Members of the Philippine National Police Regional Explosive and Canine Unit accompany Kobe, the bomb-detection dog, during his visit to the Animal Kingdom Foundation’s offices in Manila. Photo: Facebook / Animal Foundation Kingdom
Members of the Philippine National Police Regional Explosive and Canine Unit accompany Kobe, the bomb-detection dog, during his visit to the Animal Kingdom Foundation’s offices in Manila. Photo: Facebook / Animal Foundation Kingdom
Malaysia

‘Deeply regressive’: sanitary pad protest stirs outrage in Malaysia

The DAP’s stunt came days after a new report detailing how menstrual stigma affects Malaysian girls’ school attendance and mental well-being.

Malaysia

Cover-up or tragic fall? Malaysia wants answers after student’s death

Rumours of a cover-up have spread like wildfire online. But for Zara Qairina Mahathir’s grieving family, the questions are all too real.

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Japan

Sleepless in Seoul, scorching in Tokyo: East Asia roasts under record heat

Japan records its highest temperature ever at 41.2 degrees as South Korea endures 23 nights in a row above 25 degrees.

A woman uses a portable fan to cool herself during a heatwave in Tokyo, Japan, on July 17. Photo: Reuters
A woman uses a portable fan to cool herself during a heatwave in Tokyo, Japan, on July 17. Photo: Reuters
The Philippines

Unearthing potential: US eyes Philippine rare earths as China tightens grip

The Philippines may have been unwittingly supplying China with key ingredients for everything from smartphones to missiles, insiders say.

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Japan

Japan urges 2 million to evacuate after powerful Pacific quake

‘If you wait until you see the tsunami, it will be too late,’ officials warned as waves as high as three metres were initially forecast.

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India

Toddler in India bites cobra to death in bizarre encounter

The two-year-old boy bit the head of the venomous snake and passed out, but survived the experience.

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A two-year-old boy in India bit off the head of a venomous cobra and managed to survive the encounter. Photo: Shutterstock
Malaysia

‘Just ban it’: growing furore in Malaysia as calls to curb vaping go up in smoke

Malaysia is facing growing public pressure to ban vapes nationwide as horror stories emerge of young people suffering damaged lungs.

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Malaysia is facing growing public pressure to ban vapes nationwide. Photo: Shutterstock
Malaysia is facing growing public pressure to ban vapes nationwide. Photo: Shutterstock
Singapore

Brave migrant workers rescue woman from Singapore sinkhole

The construction workers rushed to the driver’s aid after a three-metre deep sinkhole opened up in eastern Singapore.

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

Air pollution readings are hovering around 90, with outdoor activities to be cancelled if the mark exceeds 100.

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A police officer sprays water in an attempt to extinguish a fire that razes through a peatland field in Ogan Ilir, Indonesia’s South Sumatra, on July 20. Photo: AP
Climate change

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

The landmarks ruling holds that countries and big corporations have a legal duty to shield people from environmental harm.

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People make their way through floodwaters on a wooden boat the town of Kawit, Cavite province, Philippines, on Thursday. Photo: EPA
People make their way through floodwaters on a wooden boat the town of Kawit, Cavite province, Philippines, on Thursday. Photo: EPA
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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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.

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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.

The Dharmasthala temple authority has said it it supports a “fair and transparent” investigation and expressed hope that investigators will get to the bottom of the claims. Photo: Shutterstock
The Dharmasthala temple authority has said it it supports a “fair and transparent” investigation and expressed hope that investigators will get to the bottom of the claims. Photo: Shutterstock
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.

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.

Indonesia’s future capital city of Nusantara is seen under construction in July last year. Photo: AFP
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
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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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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A ferry carrying residents and visitors evacuating from Akuseki island, as multiple earthquakes hit the island, a part of the Tokara island chain in southwestern Japan’s Kagoshima prefecture on July 4. Photo: Kyodo via Reuters
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