The cooling trap: how Asia’s air conditioners are making heatwaves worse

South China Morning Post - Sep 20, 2026

As heatwaves become more frequent and intense across Asia, the region faces a dangerous power paradox. Soaring demand for air conditioning threatens to push electricity grids closer to failure just as extreme heat puts the infrastructure under greater strain, raising the risk of cooling disappearing when people need it most. That risk has been visible across the region this summer. In South Korea, President Lee Jae Myung called a record heatwave a “national disaster” in August after the death...

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This week’s milestones: Sept. 20 to Sept. 26

Sep 20, 2026

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Sept. 21, 2022 The National Historical Commission of the Philippines installed a historical marker at Basay, Negros Oriental, to commemorate “Ang Pagdaong ng USS Crevalle.” On May 11, 1944, the USS Crevalle, a submarine of the US Navy that reached various parts of the Philippines and confronted Japanese naval forces, arrived on the shores of

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Lost in translation no more: Gangnam upgrades administrative counters with AI

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In the bustling administrative offices of Gangnam District, the sleek area of southern Seoul famous for its glamour and wealth, public service counters are undergoing a futuristic transformation. Where transparent acrylic panels once merely served as physical barriers between residents and city officials, new artificial intelligence-powered displays are now translating spoken words with real-time subtitles across 130 languages. The Gangnam District Office said that it has deployed a state-of-the-art "Real-Time Transparent OLED Communication Window" as part of its drive to eliminate communication hurdles for foreign nationals and hearing-impaired residents. Developed in collaboration with private tech partners through an open innovation initiative, the system merges transparent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens with advanced speech-to-text and machine translation engines. For Gangnam's international and hearing-impaired residents, the technology eliminates the tedious routine of writing notes back and forth or waiting for on-call interpreters. The interface is relatively seamles

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Vietnamese professionals in Korea nearly double over 4 years

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Reporter’s note: two Delhis, one weekend – when the world came to dinner

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