Around 10,000 people, mostly foreigners, have been freed from telecom fraud operations in Myanmar in recent days. Lured by lucrative job offers, they had found themselves trapped in scam centres where they were forced to work swindling people around the world. The latest crackdown sheds light on the multi-billion-dollar illegal industry, which has flourished in Myanmar's lawless borderlands.

Watch moreInside Cambodia's cyber-scam centres, where workers are victims of human trafficking

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Japan continues to grapple with a post-Covid influx of tourists. A lack of cultural understanding and sometimes outright bad behaviour have caused an uproar among locals.

Scores of false killer whales have been put to death in Australia after they got stranded on a remote Tasmanian beach. Bad sea and weather conditions made it impossible to rescue them back into the ocean.

In Muslim-majority Indonesia, the island of Flores is a bastion of Catholic faith. Our reporters visit the world's largest seminary there, which trains and sends out priests to serve all over the world.

Finally, a Philippines village is offering bounties to people for capturing mosquitoes dead or alive, as the country faces an unexpected surge in dengue fever cases.

"I missed you a lot": Donald Trump gave Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a warm welcome at the White House. But behind the hugs, smiles and handshakes were intense negotiations. The US president complained about India's high tariffs on US goods while offering the Asian nation access to F-35 fighter jets. The Indian leader, for his part, was eager to ease friction on trade and immigration. FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer discusses the two country's ties with Suhasini Haidar, diplomatic editor of The Hindu.

US President Donald Trump's decision to freeze foreign aid programmes and effectively shut down USAID – the US government agency responsible for international development – has rattled countries across Asia. In Thailand, home to some 90,000 refugees from Myanmar, medical care for the displaced people has already been paralysed.

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It's called the silent killer: air pollution is killing over 100 children under the age of five every day across East Asia and the Pacific, according to a new report by UNICEF. The UN agency's policy specialist Nicholas Rees tells FRANCE 24 that air pollution not only affects children's health, it also deprives them of basic rights including education.

Plus, as the US president begins a trade war with China, a Trump-inspired opera has been a smash hit in Hong Kong, where people packed the iconic Sunbeam Theatre to see an unlikely mix of geopolitics, time travel and Cantonese singing laced with black humour.

The Maha Kumbh Mela has got underway in northern India, with organisers expecting over 400 million visitors throughout the festival. In this week's show, we speak to India's permanent representative to UNESCO, who discusses how the Hindu festival is being used as a soft-power tool by New Delhi. Plus, we bring you a report on how Afghan migrants in Pakistan fear deportation. Finally, we see how the political chaos in South Korea is driving young women and men apart.

This week, as South Korea's impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol remained holed up in his presidential compound, thousands of his supporters guarding the site against attempts to arrest him held up US flags and banners saying "Stop the Steal" in English. That phrase was used by Donald Trump's supporters after the 2020 US presidential election. FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer and Yena Lee take a closer look at Yoon's ties with South Korea's far right.

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Rescue efforts continue amid aftershocks and sub-zero temperatures after a powerful quake killed at least 126 people and destroyed homes in Tibet. Some are accusing China's industrial activity of making the region more vulnerable to natural disasters.

Meanwhile, France has condemned the killing of a Cambodian opposition politician, who also had French citizenship, in Thailand. Lim Kimya was shot and killed outside a Buddhist temple on January 7, shortly after arriving from Cambodia. Although the suspect has been arrested, human rights groups are calling for a thorough and transparent investigation, saying the murder was likely to be politically motivated.

Plus, we meet Masana Izawa, Japan's "poop-soil master" who has avoided using indoor toilets for half a century in order to "give life back" to nature.

Nations around the Indian Ocean are preparing to mark 20 years since a devastating earthquake and tsunami wiped entire villages off the map and killed around 230,000 people. Even though early warning systems and preventive measures have been put in place since the tragedy, the trauma of the disaster on December 26, 2004 still haunts survivors.

Watch moreIndonesia: Twenty years after tsunami, Aceh province ruled by Sharia law

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Is artificial intelligence a friend or foe for content creation? Japan's celebrated manga and anime industry is facing a dilemma: while some people have embraced the technology as something that makes their labour-intensive job much easier, others have launched lawsuits over AI-assisted plagiarism.

And with Christmas almost upon us, we take a look at some of the unique traditions Asian nations have for the festival.

Tensions between Dhaka and New Delhi have been on the rise since the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh’s interim Prime Minister has alleged India is spreading disinformation about the fate of the country’s Hindu minority. Ties between the two sides are also at a new low with Hasina in exile in India.

In this edition, we meet the Oprah Winfrey of China. Born a man and once crowned the country's best male dancer, Jin Xing has gone on to become China's first transgender icon and a star TV host. Now in Paris for her upcoming show, she shares her life story with FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer.

In February and March, at Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Jin's dance company will present four choreographic creations.

Meanwhile, Australia has passed a law banning social media to under-16s. The move is meant to protect young people's mental health, but has also sparked controversy.

Finally, Japan's traditional sake-making methods are due to join UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.