Southeast Asia Insights

On December 22, a Swiss court agreed to hear a climate lawsuit against Holcim, a large Swiss cement company. The decision marks the first time a Swiss tribunal has allowed a climate case against a major corporation.   The complaint was filed in January 2023 by four Indonesians from Pulau Pari, a small, low-lying island about 30 kilometers north of Jakarta. Much of the island sits barely 1.5 meters above sea level. As global temperatures ri...

Recent reports show that officials in the Philippines are studying whether Beijing can be held accountable for damage to coral reefs and marine life in the West Philippine Sea caused by years of illegal fishing and construction. Philippine officials argue that large scale harm to coral reefs and marine ecosystems constitutes a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), providing ground for legal action against Chin...

Myanmar is holding a national election while the country remains in civil war, with early results showing the military tightening its grip on power. The vote is being organized by the ruling junta and has been widely criticized as neither free nor fair.   The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has dominated early voting and is expected to win the remaining rounds. The junta claims the election marks a return to c...

Scams have become a hidden crisis across Southeast Asia, affecting millions of people from Vietnam to Malaysia. Most reporting focuses on the criminals running the scams, but what about the victims?   Families are losing money, trust, and peace of mind as online fraud spreads. In just one year, victims in the region lost an estimated $23.6 billion US dollars, while many continue to suffer emotional trauma that often goes unreported.  ...

The search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 resumed on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, marking the latest chapter in the mystery of the missing plane. The flight, which disappeared on March 8, 2014, with 239 people aboard, was on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it lost radar contact, sparking one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all time.   Search Efforts Kick Off: What’s Happening Now?   On December 31, the...