SCMP Asia·Sunday, December 28, 2025

SCMP Asia - Sunday, December 28, 2025

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

5-year-old dies after ski lift accident in Hokkaido, Japan

A 5-year-old boy died after his right arm became trapped in a moving walkway at a resort in northern Japan on Sunday, local authorities said. Firefighters said they received an emergency call from the boy’s mother at about 10am saying he was trapped on the autowalk in Otaru, Hokkaido. The victim was identified as Hinata Goto, who lived in Sapporo, a major city neighbouring Otaru. The boy fell as he was trying to get off the walkway, which connects the facility’s car park and the ski slope,...

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Who is running for Thai PM? Unofficial campaign starts as parties name candidates

Political parties in Thailand on Sunday registered their candidates for the next prime minister, marking the unofficial start of campaigning for the February 8, 2026 general election. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dissolved Parliament earlier this month to call early polls, after the main opposition party prepared to seek a no-confidence vote over constitutional change. Calling a new election allows Anutin and his Bhumjaithai Party to build up their numbers in the House of Representatives..

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South Korea closes 4,000 schools permanently amid demographic crisis

More than 4,000 elementary, middle and high schools across South Korea have shut their doors as the country’s student population shrinks, new data shows. According to the Ministry of Education’s latest figures, revealed on Sunday by Representative Jin Sun-mee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, 4,008 schools under 17 regional education offices nationwide have closed so far as student numbers continue to decline. Junior schools account for most closures, with 3,674 shut down permanently,...

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Philippines in 2025: a year of crisis, from corruption scandal to South China Sea tensions

As the Philippines wraps up a tumultuous year punctuated by colourful barbs thrown across warring political houses, an ongoing corruption scandal surrounding flood control projects threatens to derail President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s administration. Externally, Manila has been embroiled all year in a long-standing territorial row with Beijing in the South China Sea that shows no signs of waning, while also gearing up for the hot seat as next year’s chair of the Association of Southeast Asian...

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Vietnam’s pickleball craze brings fun and frustration: ‘it drives me nuts’

The piercing pop-pop of pickleball paddles starts before sunrise and ends after midnight at dozens of newly built courts across Hanoi, as residents relish one of Vietnam’s fastest-growing sports – or rage at the noise it makes. The initial craze saw more people in Vietnam pick up a paddle per capita than anywhere else in Asia, according to one survey. Now unwitting spectators are yelling fault, filing noise complaints and petitions to curb playing hours that have left authorities in a pickle. In

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Singapore’s Pritam Singh faces leadership test as Workers’ Party seeks special meeting

Singapore’s Workers’ Party (WP) on Sunday said that its party cadres have requested a special conference to be held and that the party’s top decision-making body – the Central Executive Committee (CEC) – will be “following up on the request”. WP’s statement comes after party secretary general Pritam Singh’s conviction for lying to a parliamentary committee, with the matter set to be discussed in parliament on January 12 next year. More than 20 cadres have signed a letter calling for the special.

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Thailand’s 2025 of turmoil: border war, scam crackdowns and PM musical chairs

It was a year defined by war with Cambodia, but also the unravelling of cyber scams around Thailand’s borders, the rise and demise of political dynasties and another period of musical chairs in the prime minister’s office. There was also national mourning with the death of Queen Mother Sirikit, a towering figure over recent Thai history, and the omnipresence of Lalisa Manobal – or Lisa of South Korean girl group Blackpink – who rapped, acted, gyrated and produced content that seized the...

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How Japan’s space industry can regain thrust after H3 rocket failure

Japan’s latest rocket failure has triggered much soul-searching and resurrected a debate about whether the country’s space programme, long defined by caution and incremental progress, is equipped for a market that now rewards speed, repetition and a tolerance for failure. On Monday, the domestically built H3 rocket, Japan’s new flagship launcher, failed, costing the country a satellite and drawing sharp criticism from the Japanese media. Local media called the incident a “significant setback” to

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Myanmar votes in election expected to prolong military rule

The first day of voting in Myanmar’s three-stage election was held on Sunday, a process decried as a charade with the most popular pro-democracy party banned and up to half the war-torn country unable to vote. In the capital, Naypyidaw, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cast his vote in an election he views as a way to cement the future of the military in a country torn apart by civil war since he seized power after the public rejected army-linked parties in the last poll. “People should vote,” the...

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Indonesian rescuers search for Spanish father, 3 children after tourist boat sinks

Indonesian rescuers searched for four members of a Spanish family on Saturday after a tour boat carrying 11 people sank overnight near Padar Island, a popular destination within Komodo National Park, officials said. The boat was carrying the family of six, four crew members and a local guide when it went down on Friday evening after suffering engine failure on a trip from Komodo Island to Padar, said Fathur Rahman, who heads the Maumere Search and Rescue Office. He said three people were rescued

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