This Week in Asia /

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Coronavirus pandemic
Climate change
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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
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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Malaysia

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

Malaysia

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

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

A dog in Bali, Indonesia, is given a rabies vaccination. Photo: AP
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.

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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
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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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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Tourists wander at Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia, Photo: EPA-EFE
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
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
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.

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.

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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Some 1,300 giant bluefin tuna were caught off the coast of Yeongdeok County, North Gyeongsang, South Korea on Tuesday morning. Photo: Yeongdeok county
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