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Charles McDermid

Charles McDermid

Charles McDermid joined the South China Morning Post as Asia Correspondent in 2018. He has worked for the New York Times, Al Jazeera and the Institute of War and Peace Reporting.

Four years ago, he was found comatose from a near-fatal drug overdose in a Nevada brothel. Now he’s playing for the Mighty Sports Philippines travelling team.

Muhammad Attamimi Halilintar, who belongs to a family of entertainers, hopes his achievement will encourage other Indonesians to attain the same success on YouTube.

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Thailand’s ruling junta faces its first general election since seizing power in a bloodless coup in 2014. There are concerns Facebook’s ban could hurt the more social media-savvy opposition

The social media giant has election teams working in Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. But with near to a billion people posting every month, some say the genie is already out of the bottle

Christians in Asia have a cross to bear. They face persecution on a scale unheard of since the Cultural Revolution, yet if anything this has brought new life to their beliefs. Come again?

Nearly 140 million Christians suffered high levels of hostility in Asia last year, a region the report describes as ‘the new hotbed of persecution’, while experts say China seems to be trying to turn the group ‘weak, small and invisible’

The region’s economy is a cause of optimism for most experts, a survey has found, even if there’s little confidence in trade deals such as the CPTPP.

More than 68 per cent of those canvassed lack confidence in the US as a ‘strategic partner and provider of regional security’ – but there is also recognition of Beijing as the unstoppable force it has become.

Five commentators and This Week in Asia’s editor say the next 12 months for Asia will be shaped by China’s relations with the US, shifts in global trade, and key elections in Australia, India, Indonesia and Thailand

The Communist Party of the Philippines – infamous for its jungle raids and assassination squads – was set up in December 1968 in Mao Zedong’s honour

As Theresa May’s postponement of a vote on the UK’s departure from the EU hits the pound and Asian markets, analysts fear a new era has dawned in Asia’s trade with the West – one dominated by geopolitical chaos

The Indonesian carrier’s crash that killed 189 people in October has raised questions over whether Asia’s aviation sector is struggling to keep up with breakneck growth and soaring demand.

State-sanctioned discrimination and public hostility has struck terror into the gay community as the influence of hardline Islamist groups looks set to play a crucial role in polls next year