CNA Correspondent

China has a huge appetite for durian and Vietnam wants a bigger bite of the market. But getting the fruit across the border is only part of the challenge. From winning over Chinese consumers to improving quality and speeding up customs, CNA's Otelli Edwards speaks with Shenzhen Correspondent Deborah Wong and Hanoi Correspondent Leong Wai Kit about what Vietnam is up against and why this durian boom tells a much bigger story about relationships and trade at the China-Vietnam border.

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Malaysia is dealing with two very different groups of foreigners - Chinese and Korean players squeezing local businesses on price, and tens of thousands of stateless Rohingya refugees it never recruited but has hosted for years. Now, as local resentment rises, and talk of repatriations to Myanmar increases, Arnold Gay asks CNA Senior Correspondent Melissa Goh how and where Malaysia is drawing the line.

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Donald Trump gave Xi Jinping a lavish welcome for their summit in Washington, but expectations of a major breakthrough were low even before the Chinese leader arrived. With both presidents facing pressures at home, how much of this meeting was about changing the US-China relationship and how much was about showing their own audiences who's holding the cards? Genevieve Woo speaks to correspondents Olivia Siong and Nick Harper to unpack what actually changed on trade, tech and Taiwan, and what the summit tells us about where the balance of power now lies.

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Deadly heatwaves in Europe. Floods, typhoons and scorching temperatures across Asia. Extreme weather is no longer just an environmental story. It's reshaping economies, disrupting livelihoods and exposing how prepared or lacking some countries really are. From Brussels to Bangkok, correspondents Will Denselow and Jack Board examine with Genevieve Woo why governments are still scrambling despite decades of climate warnings, what adaptation looks like on the ground, and why the difference between a crisis and a manageable disruption ultimately boils down to preparation, not prediction.

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Indonesia has warned that its wildfires may last until early November, with the haze expected to keep air quality in parts of the region in the unhealthy range. As the country combats stubborn peat fires that can smoulder underground and flare up again, Malaysia is battling blazes of its own, while Singapore and other nations cope with the fallout. After decades of transboundary haze, why is Southeast Asia still struggling with the same problem? CNA Senior Correspondents Saifulbahri Ismail and Melissa Goh report from Indonesia and Malaysia on the people fighting the fires, communities living dangerously close to them and the wildlife at risk as the haze takes hold.

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Thailand is now looking at clamping down on firearms, following a spate of shootings, including a 14-year-old student who went on a killing spree in his school. But with millions of legal and illegal firearms circulating through the country and deeper problems around violence, will the new measures hold? Genevieve Woo speaks with Saksith Saiyasombut about Thailand's gun control challenge.

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Thousands remain missing after catastrophic floods swept across the Nepal-Tibet border. Correspondents Jack Board and Rebecca Bundhun look beyond the devastation to the people living through the aftermath - families searching for loved ones, survivors returning to what is left of their homes and communities beginning the long process of rebuilding. What does recovery really mean when the search is still not over?

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In the remote fishing village of Lamalera, on Indonesia's Lembata Island, whale hunting isn't sport or industry - it's survival. This tradition has been practised the same way for hundreds of years and passed down the generations. CNA Senior Correspondent Saifulbahri Ismail spent part of the whaling season with the fishermen, the harpooners and the families who wait on the beach for them to return. Arnold Gay finds out whether Lamalera's centuries-old way of life has a future anymore.

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A fast-growing livestream industry is giving young people in China a new way to earn a living and pursue their dreams. But behind the polished performances are long hours, intense competition, emotional labour and an algorithm that can make or break careers. In this episode of the CNA Correspondent podcast, Otelli Edwards speaks with Correspondent Melody Chan, who followed one of Shenzhen's largest livestreaming companies to meet the performers and production crew driving this booming business. 

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For centuries, Japan has defined matcha through ritual, craftsmanship and the legendary tea-growing town of Uji. But today, China has quietly become the world's biggest producer, supplying around 70 per cent of global output. As global demand soars, which country will shape the future of matcha? Genevieve Woo speaks to CNA Senior Correspondent Michiyo Ishida in Tokyo and Correspondent Tan Si Hui in Beijing, exploring the growing contest between heritage and scale, tradition and technology, as two neighbours take very different paths to satisfy the world's matcha obsession. 

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