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SCMP Asia·Tuesday, December 16, 2025

SCMP Asia - Tuesday, December 16, 2025

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

01

Philippines weighs using UN anti-corruption treaty for Zaldy Co’s extradition

The Philippine government is weighing whether a United Nations anti-corruption treaty can help track down and extradite a former lawmaker accused of being one of the masterminds behind the billion-peso flood control scandal and believed to be hiding overseas. Presidential press officer and undersecretary Claire Castro said Manila was studying a proposal by Senator Panfilo Lacson to tap the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) to help locate and extradite former congressman Zaldy Co. Co, who.

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02

Why South Korea is becoming China’s new bargain travel hotspot amid Japan spat

As Chinese tourists pull back from visiting Japan amid a diplomatic row, a slumping won is positioning South Korea as the new bargain destination for mainland travellers, analysts said. The Korean won has become Asia’s worst-performing currency in the second half of the year, weighed down by an interest rate gap with the United States and sustained equity outflows to the US market. In October, South Korea’s real effective exchange rate plunged to a 16-year low – falling even further than it did.

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03

Malaysia’s Anwar reshuffles cabinet to focus on ‘stronger growth’

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday announced his second cabinet reshuffle in two years, reassigning senior ministers and promoting new faces as he seeks to bolster his administration ahead of the next general election. The changes follow months of mounting political pressure on Anwar’s government, triggered by his close allies’ resignations, internal party bickering and persistent cost of living concerns. “This is about fine-tuning so the cabinet works as a team and focuses on...

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04

Singapore court dismisses challenge to mandatory death penalty for drug crimes

Singapore’s High Court dismissed on Tuesday the first legal challenge in years to the city state’s mandatory death penalty for certain drug crimes, a blow for campaigners in a year that has seen executions peak. Human rights activists and relatives of three executed drug convicts had petitioned the court, arguing that the mandatory death penalty violates parts of Singapore’s constitution guaranteeing the right to life and equal protection under the law. They also said legislation restricts...

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05

How Lionel Messi was dragged into an Indian election battle

India’s ruling party has seized on the chaotic handling of football legend Lionel Messi’s appearance in Kolkata to attack the government in West Bengal, turning the Argentinian’s visit into an election-season test for one of the country’s most politically consequential states. The visit descended into chaos as crowd unrest prompted arrests and an apology from West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. West Bengal’s opposition leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which governs...

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06

Japan tightens land law after Chinese buyers lead property rush near sensitive sites

A total of 3,498 properties around critical security facilities and remote islands in Japan were bought by foreign individuals or entities in fiscal 2024, with nearly half from China, a government study showed on Tuesday. Separately, the government announced it will demand from April 2026 increased disclosure when corporations attempt to acquire forested lands or properties deemed of national security importance, such as requiring them to disclose the nationalities of company heads in...

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07

Alleged Bondi Beach shooter’s radicalisation shocks Australia: ‘he was a nice person’

Standing in the rain outside a suburban Sydney railway station, seventeen-year-old Naveed Akram stares into the camera and urges those watching to spread the word of Islam. “Spread the message that Allah is one wherever you can … whether it be raining, hailing or clear sky,” he said. Another since-deleted video posted in 2019 by Street Dawah Movement, a Sydney-based Islamic community group, shows him urging two young boys to pray more frequently. Authorities are now trying to piece together what

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08

Thai-Cambodian border conflict disrupts holiday high season as tourists shy away

Economic and political stakes continue to rise from the Thai-Cambodian border conflict as the crucial high season for tourism begins for both countries. Thailand has imposed an overnight curfew in parts of Trat, the southern Thai province abutting Cambodia and a gateway to several popular resort islands. Late on Monday, Thai immigration police also announced extra screening of all air arrivals to prevent foreign “mercenaries” from slipping into the country. Meanwhile, Cambodia alleged the Thai..

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10

Abandoned baby reveals incest case involving teen siblings in Malaysia

The discovery of a Malaysian baby boy left behind a house in Kampung Alor Lintang, Terengganu state’s Kampung Raja on Sunday has revealed a case of incest involving a teenage girl and her younger brother, Sinar Harian reported. Acting Besut police chief Deputy Superintendent Md Sani Md Saleh told the Malay-language daily that investigations found the baby was the result of an illicit relationship involving the 16-year-old girl and was born in secret. “Shortly after birth, the baby was reportedly

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