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This Week in Asia /

Health & Environment

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Coronavirus pandemic

Nepal’s Mera Glacier is among the handful of glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region that meets the World Glacier Monitoring Service’s benchmark standards. Photo: Patrick Wagnon/ICIMOD

Himalayan glacial loss threatens 2 billion as Asia’s ‘water tower’ shrinks

Conflicts, such as the Iran war, are diverting global attention away from the ecological crisis, scientists warn.

21 Mar 2026 - 3:00PM

Mortal combat: Southeast Asia fights fears of death to plan for the end

21 Mar 2026 - 8:00AM

India’s weight-loss drug price war begins as key patent expires

20 Mar 2026 - 1:55PM

Malaysia’s ‘shielded’ medical tourism sector to benefit from Iran war’s impact

With the war affecting the outlook of Dubai’s medical hub, Malaysia could draw more patients from the Middle East.

18 Mar 2026 - 6:13PMvideocam

A FlyDubai aircraft prepares for landing as smoke rises from an ongoing fire near Dubai International Airport on Monday. Photo: TNS

Artificial intelligence

Too hot to handle? Southeast Asia’s AI data centre gold rush strains power grids

Data centres crave cold. Southeast Asia is anything but. Now, the AI boom is pushing tropical engineering to the limit.

18 Mar 2026 - 6:06PMvideocam

Asean bets on new framework to remedy ‘uneven’ disaster response

The new ‘ASPECT’ initiative could help boost quicker collective regional responses during large-scale or evolving disasters, analysts say.

18 Mar 2026 - 3:33PMvideocam

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‘Ocean is our income’: the Malaysian fishers being pushed out by progress

Malaysia’s government says the Port Klang expansion is sustainable and essential. Local Mah Meri fishers fear for their livelihoods.

16 Mar 2026 - 5:00PM

Malaysian fisherman Lingan bin Man pulls up to the jetty in Kampung Sungai Kurau with his family. Photo: Ushar Daniele

US, Israel war on Iran

No longer safe: Iran war puts 9 million Indian workers in the line of fire

As missiles fly, drone strikes from Dubai to Doha are shattering the illusion of safety for millions of Indian expats living in the Gulf.

14 Mar 2026 - 4:00PMvideocam

‘Death is a release’: Indian parents win right to grant son a dignified death

Harish Rana was comatose and bedridden for over a decade. Now, the Supreme Court has ruled that his ‘endless misery’ can finally end.

13 Mar 2026 - 8:23PM

‘Quite severe’: coastal erosion threatens future of Bali’s famed Kuta Beach

Experts warn extreme weather and decades of coastal development on the resort island have worsened the situation.

13 Mar 2026 - 5:35PMvideocam

Tourists relax on Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2025. Officials say the erosion on Kuta Beach is “quite severe”. Photo: EPA

The Philippines

250 men went down with a WWII ‘hell ship’. Now the US is coming back for them

Eight decades after the Oryoku Maru was sunk by American bombs, specialist divers are returning to retrieve the 250 men still trapped inside.

13 Mar 2026 - 11:38AM

Hundreds perished when the Japanese “hell ship” Oryoku Maru was sunk in 1944. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Why Indonesia’s waste-to-energy goal may not be ‘quick fix’ for landfill crisis

With billions to be spent on new waste-to-energy plants, critics are questioning the potential cost to Indonesian cities and the environment.

12 Mar 2026 - 5:31PM

US, Israel war on Iran

Sowing the seeds of hunger: war on Iran puts Asia’s next harvest at risk

As Gulf gas plants go offline, missing fertiliser shipments today could mean empty shelves and record food prices by autumn.

11 Mar 2026 - 5:52PMvideocam

Thai police thought she was drunk. She was already dying

A 21-year-old died because an assumption was made. The same assumption later left a stroke victim in a coma with 50-50 odds of survival.

10 Mar 2026 - 12:25PM

A Thai officer interacts with a woman who was brought to a police station instead of a hospital following a motorcycle crash in Bangkok. Photo: Facebook / anuwatf.ch7

Malaysia slashes gym licence fees by 80% to fight urban obesity

Faced with some of Southeast Asia’s highest obesity rates, officials are dangling a regulatory ‘carrot’ to gym operators – but will it work?

9 Mar 2026 - 3:37PM

A man runs on a treadmill with a view of Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: Shutterstock

Singapore’s ban on caged lorries revives debate over migrant worker transport

The government says the move improves workers’ safety, but advocacy groups say the wider transport risks remain.

7 Mar 2026 - 7:00PMvideocam

Indonesia to ban under-16s from ‘high-risk’ social media platforms

Minister Meutya Hafid said the restrictions would protect children from online harms, but experts warned enforcement might prove difficult.

6 Mar 2026 - 9:00PMvideocam

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Muslims in Japan were falsely blamed for illegal buildings. Then came the fires

It started with social media posts falsely blaming Muslims for building violations. Then came the fires.

4 Mar 2026 - 1:15PMvideocam

The aftermath of a fire on Saturday at Ebetsu Masjid, a mosque in the city of Ebetsu, central Hokkaido, Japan. Photo: Facebook/Kamran Khan

Viral clip of Malaysian man clinging to ex-wife’s moving car leads to arrest

Police said the man clung to the car for around 2km and that he tested positive for ketamine use.

2 Mar 2026 - 12:23PM

Japan on track for hottest summer ever as ocean temperatures surge

Various regions across Japan are expected to register above-normal temperatures between June and August, the weather agency says.

27 Feb 2026 - 4:25PMvideocam

Thailand’s captive tiger industry faces backlash after 72 big cats die

‘By the time we realised they were sick, it was too late,’ said an official, as welfare groups decry a life of misery and confinement.

25 Feb 2026 - 5:02PMvideocam

A tiger chained to be photographed by tourists is seen at a tiger park in Pattaya, Thailand. Photo: AFP

‘Just ask for it’: Malaysia’s vape crackdown fails to break the habit

An estimated 1.4 million Malaysian adults vape, despite existing curbs. Many say new laws will simply push them back to cigarettes.

22 Feb 2026 - 8:00AM

A person vapes during a hike in Negeri Sembilan state, Malaysia. Photo: Shutterstock

Can Malaysia’s ban stop global flow of toxic e-waste?

Malaysian customs recently intercepted nearly 200 tonnes of e-waste, but high shipping volumes make detection a ‘challenge’, officials say.

15 Feb 2026 - 4:00PMvideocam

Indonesians weigh peril and promise of Jakarta – the world’s most populous city

Extreme heat, floods, pollution, congested traffic and a tough job market are some of the major challenges faced by the city’s residents.

15 Feb 2026 - 2:00PM

New Zealand catches flak for ‘secret’ US critical minerals talks

Opposition parties accuse the ruling coalition of keeping voters in the dark, fearing a fast track to environmental damage.

15 Feb 2026 - 11:00AM

Mining machinery in Greymouth, New Zealand. The South Pacific nation has reserves of 37 critical minerals key to clean energy development and advanced technology manufacturing, according to official assessments. Photo: AFP

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