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Workers try to restore the damaged railway track after landslides in Badulla, Sri Lanka, on December 13. Many parts of the island were inundated in the wake of Cyclone Ditwah. Photo: EPA

Letters | Asia is not built for extreme weather. This must change

Readers discuss the urban planning features essential to climate resilience, the demise of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, and the Legislative Council election.

2 hours ago

Indonesian elephants tasked to help in flood recovery spur conservation debate

3 hours ago

Don’t build on ‘active zones’, experts warn Indonesia as Sumatra recovery begins

18 Dec 2025 - 6:00PMvideocam

‘Just say thank you’: Malaysians fume as Indonesian minister belittles flood aid

Tito Karnavian dismissed the US$60,000 aid package as ‘not much’ compared to Jakarta’s own disaster response, touching a raw nerve online.

17 Dec 2025 - 5:59PMvideocam

Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian as he appeared on the Suara Lokal Mengglobal podcast. Photo: YouTube/HelmyYahyaBicara

37 die in Morocco in torrential rain and flash floods

Rain and floods inundated about 70 homes and businesses and swept away 10 vehicles in the coastal city of Safi.

15 Dec 2025 - 11:33PM

Over 200 still missing in Indonesia as flood death toll passes 1,000

With vast areas hit and thousands of people injured, 1.2 million have been forced to take refuge in temporary shelters.

13 Dec 2025 - 7:41PMvideocam

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‘Could go extinct here’: orangutans at risk as Indonesia floods devastate habitat

Orangutans have disappeared since landslides struck Sipirok in North Sumatra province.

9 Dec 2025 - 10:00PMvideocam

A Tapanuli orangutan, and its young, hanging on a tree in Batang Toru, Tapanuli, North Sumatra, Indonesia in 2015. Photo: Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme/EPA-EFE

Is Indonesian disaster response failing Sumatra’s flood victims?

Prabowo’s government is ‘busy bragging about its quick reaction’ while deaths mount and people suffer from lack of aid, critics say.

9 Dec 2025 - 6:31PMvideocam

Australian bushfires destroy homes in 2 states as firefighter killed

More than 50 bushfires are burning across New South Wales as a massive blaze is contained in Tasmania.

8 Dec 2025 - 12:18PM

627 dead in Sri Lanka landslides as rains batter South, Southeast Asia

At least 1,812 people have been killed in the natural disasters rolling across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

7 Dec 2025 - 7:45PM

An aerial view of flooded Niyamgamdora, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Letters | Asia is waking up to storms that are stronger – and more polluted

Readers discuss new research that shows how typhoons spread microplastic pollution, encouraging the use of an anti-scam app, and the migrant domestic workers who fell victim to the Tai Po fire.

6 Dec 2025 - 11:30AM

A man crosses a muddy street where cars piled up after being swept away in floods brought on by Typhoon Kalmaegi, in Bacayan, Cebu City, the Philippines, on November 5. Photo: Reuters

The Philippines

6 cyclones, 5 weeks: Philippines can’t escape its endless cycle of disaster

Corruption, complacency and climate chaos conspire to turn the Philippines’ natural hazards into man-made tragedies.

6 Dec 2025 - 8:17AMvideocam

Video | ‘Please help us’ appeal from Indonesia flood survivor

Death toll has risen to more than 830 with hundreds still missing in Sumatra.

9 Dec 2025 - 6:28PM

Video | Toxic smog caused illness in 200,000 New Delhi residents

Residents in New Delhi are demanding government action over poor air quality.

4 Dec 2025 - 5:24PM

New Delhi records over 200,000 respiratory cases due to toxic air

Editorial | Asia’s floods a deadly reminder of need to combat growing climate threat

Devastating flooding and landslides have focused attention on disaster preparedness efforts as rising temperatures threaten the region.

4 Dec 2025 - 7:15AM

A woman carries a child as she wades through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Wellampitiya, Sri Lanka, on November 30. Photo: AFP

Asia’s floods kill over 1,000, lay bare human cost of climate inaction

From Indonesia’s deadliest disaster since 2018 to a state of emergency in Sri Lanka, Asia reels from a week of climate-fuelled destruction.

3 Dec 2025 - 5:45PMvideocam

Indonesia’s cyclone tragedy exposes lethal cost of forest destruction

Green groups say plantations and mines have degraded Sumatra’s land, amplifying a disaster that killed more than 700 and displaced thousands.

4 Dec 2025 - 3:26PMvideocam

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One man kept his home dry amid Thailand’s floods. Here’s how he did it

Wicharit Leelakorn fortified his house with a makeshift flood-protection system after the first heavy rain fell on November 21.

2 Dec 2025 - 6:05PM

Wicharit Leelakorn keeps his house dry with a makeshift flood-protection system during November’s floods in Hat Yai, Songkhla province, Thailand. Photo: Facebook/wicharit.leelakorn

Video | Indonesian flood survivor returns to ruined home

Separate weather systems brought torrential, extended rainfall to the entire island of Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia in late November 2025.

2 Dec 2025 - 4:19PM

‘Dying en masse’: Japan’s oyster farmers face ruin as waters heat up

Japan’s oyster farms hit by 90% deaths due to rising sea temperatures and high salinity, threatening the country’s top production area.

1 Dec 2025 - 4:48PM

Natural disasters

Video | Nearly 1,000 killed in flooding across Asia

Torrential storms have unleashed devastating floods across Asia.

1 Dec 2025 - 4:44PM

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Soldiers deployed in Sri Lanka, Indonesia as Asian flood toll tops 1,000

Indonesia sent three warships carrying aid while Sri Lanka used military helicopters to reach people stranded by flooding.

2 Dec 2025 - 4:21PMvideocam

Army personnel ride a truck carrying boats to rescue stranded people in Wellampitiya, on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Flood death tolls rise in Indonesia, Sri Lanka as aid trickles in

Flooding has killed hundreds in both countries and displaced thousands, as damaged roads and downed power lines hamper rescue efforts.

1 Dec 2025 - 4:40PMvideocam

Death toll climbs above 370 in flood-hit Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia

‘This is the worst flood ever in our village. There were floods before … but it wasn’t like this’.

29 Nov 2025 - 8:01PMvideocam

153 dead, 191 missing in Sri Lanka after cyclone wreaks havoc

The nation has appealed for international aid after the devastating Cyclone Ditwah caused most rivers and reservoirs to overflow.

29 Nov 2025 - 11:46PM

A man wades through a flooded road after heavy rainfall on the outskirts of Colombo on Saturday. Photo: AFP

‘We’ve lost everything’: deaths in Indonesia’s flood-hit Sumatra rise to 174

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in North Sumatra and Aceh, while hundreds are missing.

28 Nov 2025 - 9:15PM

Rescuers carry the body of a victim at a village hit by a flood in Malalak, West Sumatra, Indonesia, on Friday. Photo: AP

Thailand flood death toll doubles as government faces mounting criticism

Floods in Thailand have killed 145 people and displaced millions, with relief efforts accelerating as the waters recede, revealing the damage.

28 Nov 2025 - 5:59PMvideocam

Thai flood victim bitten by deadly snake waits 32 hours for rescue

Trapped in her submerged Hat Yai home, she hid her agony from her young child until a viral online plea brought help.

28 Nov 2025 - 7:42PM

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