This Week in Asia /

Health & Environment

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Coronavirus pandemic

Sumatran elephants deployed to help clear tree debris last week following flash floods in Meureudu, Pidie Jaya district, Aceh province, Indonesia. Photo: AFP

Indonesian elephants tasked to help in flood recovery spur conservation debate

The four elephants deployed to lift debris in Aceh last week after flooding were also involved in the 2004 post-tsunami recovery efforts.

3 hours ago

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

18 Dec 2025 - 6:00PMvideocam

Deadly Indonesia fire fuels claims of ‘back-room dealings’ on safety

17 Dec 2025 - 6:00PMvideocam

Nepal rolls out delayed tourist tracking system to keep tabs on foreign visitors

Starting next year, hotels and travel companies must begin automatically reporting visitor locations to a central government database.

17 Dec 2025 - 5:10PM

A tourist admires the view of Mount Everest from Kala Patthar, Nepal. Photo: Shutterstock

Calls to halt Indonesia’s free meal drive after horror crash injures 21 children

One child lost 18 teeth and had to undergo reconstructive surgery. Critics blame the scheme’s ‘chaotic’ roll-out for the tragedy.

17 Dec 2025 - 5:06PMvideocam

‘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

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‘It’s life’: ex-NBA star in Singapore for brain cancer treatment exudes hope

Jason Collins, who is seeking an experimental treatment, has progressed from being ‘basically a vegetable’ to taking a two-hour walk.

15 Dec 2025 - 7:29PM

Ex-NBA player Jason Collins, who is in Singapore for an experimental brain cancer treatment, has identified the city state as the quickest way to get the treatment. Photo: Jean Iau

Does India’s HIV success story overlook its poorest state?

Figures from one district in Bihar show thousands living with HIV, contrasting sharply with India’s broader success in cutting infections.

15 Dec 2025 - 7:45PMvideocam

Hong Kong fire victim sent frantic final video to husband in Indonesia

Darwati, 48, died alongside the elderly woman she cared for, refusing to abandon her ward as the Wang Fuk Court fire spread.

15 Dec 2025 - 4:19PMvideocam

Japan’s retreat from global health funding hands China diplomatic opening

Tokyo’s over 52 per cent funding cut to a global body fighting Aids and malaria risks damaging its hard-won reputation as a ‘peace nation’.

15 Dec 2025 - 3:08PMvideocam

Mothers wait for their babies to receive a malaria vaccine in Malawi in 2019. Japan has slashed funding to a global health agency fighting infectious diseases. Photo: AFP

Japan tremors raise fears of overdue megaquake killing 199,000

Authorities are urging residents to review evacuation plans as simulations suggest a ‘maximum-class’ winter night quake could trap thousands.

15 Dec 2025 - 3:17PMvideocam

A house burns after a powerful earthquake hit Aomori, northeastern Japan, early on Tuesday last week. Photo: Jiji Press/EPA

Ex-NBA player with deadly brain cancer turns to Singapore for new treatment

Jason Collins, who said he could die within weeks, praised Singapore as ‘the city of the future’, where he got approval ‘within 48 hours’.

14 Dec 2025 - 10:18AM

Airbnb ban in Bali? Indonesia says no, but crackdown on illegal stays looms

Bali’s governor wants to ban the online platform but the island’s problems with illegal rentals go beyond Airbnb, critics say.

11 Dec 2025 - 10:51PMvideocam

South Korea to end cosmetic surgery tax break that fuelled medical tourism boom

The Korean Association of Plastic Surgeons warned that ending the VAT refund scheme could drive foreign patients to rival destinations.

11 Dec 2025 - 3:33PMvideocam

Shin Sang-ho, director of Krismas Plastic Surgery in Seoul, prepares to administer a Botox injection in December 2020. Photo: Reuters

Fur real? In Japan, rise in bear attacks spurs demand for robot wolf, AI cameras

Authorities in a prefecture have also deployed drones that mimic dogs barking and spark fireworks to scare off bears.

10 Dec 2025 - 8:00PM

The Monster Wolf robot emits LED light and loud sounds to scare off wild animals when activated. Photo: Kyodo

‘She loved us so much’: Indonesian family mourns mother killed in Hong Kong fire

Siti Khotimah was working to fund her children’s education when she died in the Tai Po fire. Her husband wants to see that wish fulfilled.

10 Dec 2025 - 3:55PMvideocam

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

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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

Satellite imagery shows Super Typhoon Fung-wong as it approaches the Philippines on November 9. Photo: NOAA/EPA

In wake of Hong Kong blaze, Southeast Asia’s fire hazards come under scrutiny

Serious structural defects and inefficient bureaucracy tainted by corruption are common in the region, fire safety experts say.

4 Dec 2025 - 6:42PM

Extreme weather

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

Men stand on logs swept away by flash floods in Batang Toru, North Sumatra, Indonesia, on Tuesday. The flooding has affected about 1.5 million people and displaced 570,000. Photo: AP

‘She asked me to forgive her’: Indonesian helper in Tai Po fire makes last call

Erawati leaves behind a six-year-old son who cannot understand why ‘mummy doesn’t call any more’.

2 Dec 2025 - 6:23PMvideocam

Erawati with her husband, Suyitno, and son, Doni. Photo: Suyitno

Last frontier: Nepal slashes pricey permit, but will it boost tourism, economy?

Upper Mustang residents worry that they will not be able to reap the benefits from the cheaper permit and instead be like ‘animals in a zoo’.

30 Nov 2025 - 4:25PM

‘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

A paper-eating invasive pest could wreak havoc on Japan’s cultural treasures

Boosting awareness about the fast-breeding ghost silverfish among archivists and curators is crucial to stop its spread, an expert says.

28 Nov 2025 - 8:00AMvideocam

Priceless documents and artefacts at Japan’s temples and shrines could be damaged by a fast-spreading invasive insect. Photo: Shutterstock

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