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Nguyen, O. T. H., Aksenov, I., Phan, N. T., & Sakulyeva, T. (2021). Russia's foreign policy priorities in the Asia‐Pacific region. Journal of Public Affairs, e2745. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2745. The above article, published online on 17 August 2021 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) has been retracted by agreement between the journal's Editor‐in‐Chief, Laura Corazza and Shaista Wasiuzzaman and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed following concerns regarding manipulation of the peer review and publishing process. Concerns were originally raised by a third party (1). Further investigation by the publisher has found manipulation of the peer review process, and overlapping text with other publications. The retraction has been agreed because the peer review of the article was compromised and there is unattributed overlap between this article and several other articles (2)(3). Abalkina, A. (2022). Publication and collaboration anomalies in academic papers originating from a paper mill: evidence from a Russia‐based paper mill https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.13322 Burdzik, T. (2019). Slowly but Surely: Russia's Foreign Policy in Southeast Asia https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics‐and‐comments/columns/asian‐kaleidoscope/slowly‐but‐surely‐russia‐s‐foreign‐policy‐in‐southeast‐asia/?sphrase%5fid=34631795 Rumer, E., Sokolsky, R., Vladicic, A. (2020). Russia in the Asia‐Pacific: Less Than Meets the Eye https://carnegieendowment.org/publications/82614 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The South and Southeast Asia region has the second‐highest number of people living with HIV globally. Despite progress in reducing HIV incidence and AIDS‐related deaths, the region still has a long way to go in achieving the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) 95‐95‐95 HIV testing, treatment and viral suppression targets. HIV self‐testing (HIVST) is recommended by the World Health Organization as an additional approach to HIV testing. This paper provides a commentary on the implementation status, benefits, barriers and recommendations for HIVST implementation in South and Southeast Asia. Additionally, it presents perspectives from HIV testing service experts from 11 countries in the region to put forth recommendations to accelerate the implementation of HIVST in South and Southeast Asia. Discussion: There is uneven progress in national HIVST policy development and implementation across the region. HIVST, as an additional testing approach, can help to enhance testing coverage, frequency and demand for follow‐up HIV services among key populations. Key factors influencing the implementation and scale‐up of HIVST include the degree of awareness of HIVST among general and key populations, the development and implementation of supportive national HIVST policies and the availability of public funding for HIVST. To address barriers and leverage enablers to HIVST implementation, generating evidence on cost‐effectiveness and budget impact, developing multisectoral partnerships for market shaping, promoting differentiated and decentralized delivery models, and optimizing linkage to further testing and care are recommended. Conclusions: It is crucial to accelerate the implementation and scale‐up of HIVST to differentiate and decentralize the delivery of HIV testing services in South and Southeast Asian countries. Sharing experiences among country experts is vital to foster the adoption of best practices and facilitate the trial‐and‐error process of HIVST implementation. Such collaborative approaches can help South and Southeast Asian countries attain the UNAIDS 95‐95‐95 targets, especially the first 95 on HIV diagnosis, and play a significant role in ending the global AIDS epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper maps emerging trends and South‐South cooperation in regional knowledge networks through a bibliometric analysis of avian influenza research in Southeast Asia, between 2004 and 2019. The findings indicate that a substantial research output involving researchers and organisations in the region was generated. However, wide disparities between countries existed, both in terms of output and participation in the regional network, which was largely driven by non‐regional actors. A more proactive involvement of institutions for regional cooperation such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would increase local ownership, sustainability and redress imbalances in the regional research system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban expansion is a major threat to diversity, especially in rapidly developing tropical countries where urban areas are growing at great pace and protection is limited.We conducted a systematic review of published research on the ecology of lentic habitats in tropical urban areas. The review focused on understanding: (1) how much is currently known about the biodiversity of these habitats; (2) whether this knowledge is biased towards certain taxonomic groups and/or geographic areas; (3) what is known about the factors influencing their diversity; and (4) which ecosystem services urban lentic habitats provide. The review aimed to establish whether existing knowledge is sufficient to help guide conservation and provide evidence to policy makers of the importance of conserving tropical urban wetlands.We found 64 papers that addressed questions about the diversity and/or distribution of lentic ecosystems within tropical urban areas. Papers came from 15 countries, although almost half (45%) were from India; relatively few countries from Southeast Asia, tropical Africa, or South America were represented in the literature.Publication patterns revealed a growing interest in urban wetlands, but several biases and gaps were evident from the review. Firstly, papers generally focused on larger natural or semi‐natural wetlands, with other types and sizes of lentic habitat under‐represented in published work. Secondly, most papers focused on a single site, with a limited number of multi‐site, city‐wide, or landscape‐scale diversity assessments. Thirdly, studies tended to focus on understanding the influence of water quality on diversity, with work assessing the influence of physical habitat or factors related to dispersal and connectivity very limited. Finally, work assessing the ecosystem services provided by wetlands in tropical urban areas remains narrow in focus, with few quantitative assessments of the relationship between ecological characteristics and ecosystem functions and services.We suggest a number of research focal points and approaches to help address these biases. Research is needed to improve understanding of the distribution patterns tropical freshwater species in urban areas and of the relationships between species diversity and a wider set of environmental and spatial conditions. Overall, there is a need for diversity assessments of tropical urban wetlands of all types and sizes, especially new and novel habitats, and scope for much greater adoption of ecosystem service concepts and evaluation tools to help emphasise the importance of these habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haze is a product of in‐situ biomass fires that becomes mobile as it moves across state boundaries in Southeast Asia. The literature on the governance of transboundary air commons has largely been fixed at the national or supranational scalar of reference. Hence, successes and failures tend to be evaluated based on policy and diplomatic (non)progress. This paper contributes to recent literature that argues that haze should be treated as a challenge and opportunity for transboundary governance and not merely transnational governance. Transboundary governance does not restrict the study of cross‐border relations to national scales of analysis but encompasses resource connections that traverse borders at all scales of governance. This paper focuses on Singapore, a state where biomass fires do not occur but where the effects of haze are acutely felt. Among ASEAN member states, Singapore has been viewed as a particularly active player in region‐wide governance on haze. However, the role of non‐state environmental stewardship initiatives in pathfinding, nudging, and signalling state, corporate and regional actors towards emergent transboundary governance arrangements have been underplayed. By focusing on the efforts of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), Singapore Environment Council (SEC), and People's Movement to Stop Haze (PM Haze), this paper explores how transboundary publics can fill policy gaps in transnational haze governance regimes. As a highly depoliticised city‐state, Singapore's experience serves as a microcosm for ways forward within the broader ASEAN geopolitical culture favouring depoliticised 'engaged non‐indifference'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faith‐based and non‐faith‐based non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) are significant service providers in the developing world, yet limited research has compared these organisations, especially in the context of Southeast Asia. This paper explores a theoretical concept related to why religious faith may distinguish Christian faith‐based organisations (FBOs) from non‐faith‐based NGOs. Qualitative data were analysed from 41 interviews across 13 Christian FBOs and 12 non‐faith‐based NGOs working with women and children in Cambodia who have been (or were at risk of being) sexually exploited, trafficked or involved in sex work. Faith was found to distinguish FBOs from non‐faith‐based NGOs in all four of the dimensions comparatively examined in the study: (1) goals and missions, (2) motivations, (3) approaches to care and (4) conceptions of success. It is argued that the contrasts between these two types of organisations, in terms of faith, are related to the combination of both the infusion of faith in FBOs and factors related to the development context in which these organisations worked, a theoretical concept posited as Context‐Infusion Convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019, the United Nations (UN) promulgated the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration which charts the UN's global migration policy strategy, affording central importance to safety in migration. This ascendant focus on safe migration is echoed in a range of national and regional policy initiatives. Despite the policy enthusiasm for safe migration, to date, there is a dearth of critical scholarly attention to this policy shift. This paper builds on 7 years of ethnographic research on safe migration interventions in mainland Southeast Asia. Centring on the Mekong region, this paper examines two interlocking effects of safe migration policy instrumentalisation. On the one hand, safe migration discourse' spatio‐temporal underpinnings dispositions programmes to gravitate towards policy abstractions. Yet, in practice, safe migration interventions heavily depend on informal constellations of sociality, where migrants become re‐embedded as both objects and instruments of policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the economic and institutional determinants of Taiwan's outward direct investment in six Southeast Asian countries from 1998 to 2017, applying the panel ARDL--Pooled Mean Group estimation. We specially examine the effects of institutional quality with five dimensions inclusively, using the Worldwide Governance Indicators. The results show the locational economic factors are the primary determinants in the long run. The tight and historic trading relation with Southeast Asia has a long-run positive effect. On the contrary, the institutional quality of the host countries has strong positive effects in both the long run and short run. Further, the paper displays the dynamics of this investment in the last 20 years. These results are important for Taiwan and Southeast Asia policy-makers in setting up the short-run and long-run policies to sustain their diversified economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will focus on bicorporates, the enigmatic composite animals with one head and two bodies which have been left rather outside of scholastic attention. The first known bicorporates appeared on Mesopotamian cylinder seals around the third millennium BCE. They subsequently appeared in Minoan, Greek, Etruscan and Roman art. In mediaeval Europe, they flourished in Romanesque churches, especially, Southern Europe and Scandinavia. Furthermore, they also emerged in India and Southeast Asia and China. Bicorporates exist across a remarkably wide geographical and chronological range. Even though a small number of scholars carried out some research on them, most of their focus was trying to trace the migration route of the images. No previous study had focused on answering the most intriguing question, how these enigmatic images came about and the reason why they spread and recurred beyond geographical and chronological borders. Therefore, this paper will focus on the questions and seek to provide the answers, by applying neuropsychological reading and analytical psychology. The findings of this study suggest that Lewis‐Williams' neuropsychology and Jung's analytical psychology are intertwined and both offer explanations for the origin and widespread occurrence of bicorporate images. However, the contrast between these two theories lies in the fact that Lewis‐Williams' theory relies on the perspective of materialistic science, implying that these images are solely products of the human brain and nervous system. In contrast, Jung's theory allows for the possibility of exploring the invisible or esoteric realm, which cannot be disproven or proven by current materialistic science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid the proportion of work on 'Muslim geographies', the majority has focused on Muslims as a minority discussed within societies of the West. Additionally, this work rarely discusses the positionality of the researcher despite significant overlap with work in feminist, social, and cultural geographies. This paper takes 'Muslim geographies' as a starting point to further problematise accounts of knowledge, subjectivity, and power with regard to the treatment of Islam in geography. I argue that geographical analysis from different standpoints is needed to yield other ways of knowing about Muslims and how they orient themselves across space and time. This theoretical intervention is informed by my fieldwork experience as a Muslim male conducting ethnographic research on migration and labour precarity with other Muslim migrants across Taiwan. As I transited through various Muslim spaces, being Muslim provided privileged access and shaped the direction in which the research progressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the extent to which households in rural Thailand across the income distribution are able to mitigate income risks in the face of shocks. It uses especially high‐quality household income and consumption data spanning 64 Thai villages over 15 years. The paper identifies income shocks by village‐level variations during drought conditions. It finds that richer households are better able to mitigate income risk than poorer households, in contrast to some studies of the South Asian subcontinent. These possibilities for managing income risk are shown to be correlated with the type of contract the head of household is likely to be employed in, the share of salaries in total household income, the education level of the head, the relative youth of the heads of richer households, and location effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how Chinese transnational investments, as (re)framed in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), contribute to changes in urbanisation processes in Southeast Asia. On the ground, the BRI becomes contextualised and intersects with local and national development trajectories. The growing presence of Chinese actors in the region intensifies urban dynamics, especially in secondary cities and emerging urban sites, where the BRI is used as a lever for local internationalisation strategies. The heterogeneous nature of the links between the BRI and various large urban projects is demonstrated on the basis of case studies involving changing consortia of private and public Chinese and Southeast Asian actors. A regional approach allows us to identify connections and shared processes across Southeast Asian countries. It provides a historically grounded understanding of how the BRI incorporates long‐term interactions with China and more recent partnerships in Southeast Asian countries. The paper paves the way for a research agenda that contests the image of China as a monolithic actor implementing the BRI uniformly and consistently. Further analyses are needed to examine systems and networks of actors as well as the local urban politics that affect the BRI on the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuing expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative (formerly known as One Belt One Road) has attracted considerable commentary, but little attention has been given to the formation of alternative networks in Southeast Asia or to the earlier history of trade and trust networks centred in the temples and regional association offices of the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia. This paper examines the formation and continuing expansion of a horizontal network of Chinese temples dedicated to the tutelary god (Earth God) of the port cities of Southeast Asia. The World Dabogong Federation was founded in 2017 and is now 5 years old. It currently includes over 160 temples from over 100 port cities. This paper explores the nature of this network and its relation to earlier temple and trust networks as well as its engagement with new media and technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Disasters is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The production of illicit synthetic drugs has undergone a significant shift from China to the Golden Triangle, profoundly impacting Southeast Asia's legal systems, drug enforcement and public health. This paper reviews the production, distribution and use of illicit synthetic drugs in the region, explaining their alignment with regulatory policies in China and Southeast Asia. The public health effects resulting from the increased production and use of synthetic drugs in Southeast Asia are reviewed, emphasizing the importance of public health protections such as harm reduction, treatment and rehabilitation. This study also discusses legal mechanisms to enhance control over illicit drug activities, mainly compound‐wide legislative prohibitions targeting present and future fentanyl and methamphetamine analogues. Moreover, it underscores the urgency for collaborative efforts between China and Southeast Asian states to mitigate the influence of Chinese cartels operating in the region. By elucidating the multifaceted challenges posed by the shifting drug production landscape, this paper highlights the importance of a comprehensive approach encompassing regulatory, law enforcement and public health measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Disasters is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines how global trade shapes and intensifies disasters. Juxtaposing three basic, everyday consumer goods – a t‐shirt, a brick, and a tea bag – with disasters manifesting in their respective global supply chains, it highlights how climate change, local environmental degradation, and carbon emissions are dynamically shaped by consumption. Analysis of data collected in South and Southeast Asia reveals that local environmental degradation linked to international trade interacts with global climate change and the policies intended to mitigate it, influencing how and where disasters manifest. Underpinning this analysis is the physical and conceptual presence of the container. With more and more of the natural environment packaged and redistributed for global trade, the container thinking that underpins these logistics is increasingly imbricated in environmental processes. Indeed, as this paper aims to show, the container logic that frames analysis of these processes – linked to and drawn from the logistics of global trade – serves as both obfuscator and actor in the global landscape of environmental risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no such thing as a neighbourhood. But neighbourhoods are everywhere. Neighbourhoods are regularly described as things, but we cannot touch them. We typically understand neighbourhoods as places, but we can neither see them nor find their edges. The more one stares at a neighbourhood, the more it seems impossible to see it. Nevertheless, there is something—an often intangible and indescribably social something—compelling us not only to imagine but to experience the neighbourhood being stared at as a real thing. In social science analysis, one important thing that we stare at but cannot see is 'the social'. To more properly understand the neighbourhood, then, this paper takes the social seriously. It places people and their relationships at the centre of a project to develop a working understanding of the neighbourhood. Instead of asking, 'What is a neighbourhood?' the paper suggests that we must always begin by asking, 'Who is a neighbourhood?' The empirical basis for the paper's conceptual reflections on the neighbourhood emerge out of a collaborative research project conducted under the auspices of a multicity research project called the Southeast Asia Neighbourhoods Network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Asian Politics & Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In recent decades, agrarian transformations in Southeast Asia have resulted in significant environmental and social change, yet insufficient attention has focused on the particular pathways by which these changes have increased vulnerability to climate change. In particular, climate precarity, a situation in which class, social, labour and/or gender inequities amplify negative impacts from climate change, has been on the rise for many smallholders. Using case studies in Vietnam of changes to swidden agriculture in upland areas and the loss of deepwater rice systems in the Mekong Delta lowlands, the paper examines social differentiation and ecological outcomes of these processes and how they have increased climate precarity, particularly for poor households and women. Based on longitudinal fieldwork in affected regions, we identify key changes contributing to climate precarity as farming systems intensify. In particular, loss of flexibility in farmer decision‐making, loss of voluntary engagement with markets, and declining access to social capital and entitlements have increased risks for households and reduced adaptation options. Suggestions are made to more directly address these elements in future agricultural and climate policies, rather than current approaches to climate adaptation that often promote even more intensification of agriculture, which runs the risk of exacerbating precarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a sample selection model with spatial correlation in the selection and outcome variables and studies the maximum likelihood method of estimation. Consistency and asymptotic normality of the maximum likelihood estimator are established by the spatial near‐epoch dependent properties of the variables. Monte Carlo simulations show its good finite‐sample performance. This model is used to examine the impact of climate change on cereal yields in Southeast Asia and projects that climate change may cause a reduction in cereal yields by 7%$$ 7\% $$ (31%$$ 31\% $$) in the minimum‐change (maximum‐change) scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies optimum currency area (OCA) theory to Southeast Asia to assess the potential for a monetary union in that region. We construct a panel of 10 Southeast Asian countries over the period 1990–2018 and apply the dynamic OLS estimator to quantify the costs and benefits of a potential OCA. A possible monetary union in Southeast Asia is vulnerable to asymmetric shocks, although the degree of specialisation has decreased and the openness index increased. Estimates confirm that both OCA criteria favour an increase in the region's income and FDI inflows and a reduction of its unemployment rate. However, inadequate labour mobility and stagnating intra‐trade shares are major obstacles in this regard, but if addressed they could benefit economic development and GDP per capita in the ASEAN region. We conclude that Southeast Asia is far from being an optimum currency area, but if it were to form a common currency area, the loss of economic sovereignty and its costs would be more than offset by the resulting monetary efficiency gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The planet is predicted to become drier because of accelerating global warming, increasing great challenges to the survival of terrestrial species. However, the understanding of when and where increasing aridity in the future will lead to abrupt biodiversity loss is still limited. Here, we predicted the spatiotemporal dynamics of future vertebrate biodiversity loss driven by increasing aridity at the assemblage scale under the scenario framework of the shared socio‐economic pathways (SSPs) and representative concentration pathways (RCPs). The results show that, under the high‐emissions scenario of SSP5‐8.5, more than 24.19% of terrestrial assemblages are projected to have at least one vertebrate species exposed to unprecedented aridity conditions by 2100, leading to 55.29% of terrestrial vertebrate species experiencing local habitat loss. In addition, the mean magnitude of global exposure is expected to reach 17.47% by 2100. Within these assemblages, most species will be simultaneously exposed to unprecedented aridity conditions, with an average exposure abruptness of 78.00%, most of which will occur intensively after 2050. If we manage to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the SSP1‐2.6 (SSP2‐4.5) scenario, the magnitude of exposure can significantly decrease to 7.35% (10.56%), and the onset of exposure can be delayed by 43 (30) years, averaging approximately 30% (14%) of vertebrate species from local habitat loss. Our findings also highlight that the concurrent extremes of increasing aridity and rising temperature in Southeast Asia and Amazon rainforests may amplify exposure risks, which can motivate decision‐makers to respond early and effectively to mitigate abrupt ecological disruption. Plain Language Summary: The global land surface is predicted to become more drier in the future due to the accelerating global warming, which places great challenges on the survival of terrestrial species. In this paper, we predicted the future spatiotemporal dynamics of biodiversity loss of vertebrate species as a result of the increase in aridity, trying to understand when and where the increasing aridity will cause biodiversity loss intensively and lead to abrupt ecological disruption. We found that, under the high‐emissions scenario (∼4.4°C global temperature rise), more than 24.19% of global terrestrial assemblages are projected to have at least one vertebrate species exposed to aridity condition exceeding their niche, leading to the consequence that 55.29% of species will experience habitat loss. The exposure events within most terrestrial assemblages will occur simultaneously after 2050. If we manage to reduce emissions to the low (intermediate)‐emissions scenario (∼1.8°C and 2.7°C global temperature rise), the onset of exposure can be delay by 43 (30) years. Our findings also highlight that the concurrent extremes of increasing aridity and rising temperature in Southeast Asia and Amazon rainforests may amplify exposure risks, which can motivate decision‐makers to respond early to mitigate abrupt ecological disruption. Key Points: We predicted and highlighted the risk of abrupt biodiversity loss in terrestrial vertebrate species driven by increasing aridityMore than 24% of terrestrial assemblages will be exposed to unprecedented aridity, and 55.29% of species will experience local habitat lossConcurrent extremes of increasing aridity and rising temperature in Southeast Asia and Amazon rainforests may amplify exposure risks [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Reproduction mobility' adopted in this article indicates a rising trend of social reproduction mobility serving the purpose of maintaining an alternative life that many middle‐class Chinese parents, mostly mothers, are taking their children out of the hyper‐competitive domestic education arena in mainland China to attend international schools in Chiang Mai. This escape implies macro‐level changes in the global education market on two fronts: Chinese national education is enveloping families into a national education competition from which they cannot withdraw; meanwhile, Thailand's international education market is being industrialized as part of the neoliberal marketization of international education in less developed countries. This paper analyses the calculation, evaluation and agentive selection of Chinese families as they pursue an increasingly popular education project of reproduction mobility. It identifies different modes of mothering that are similar to the domestic phenomenon of 'mothering brokerage' but practised in the international education environment of Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modelling rainfall extremes and dry periods over the Southeast Asia (SEA) region is challenging due to the characteristics of the region, which consists of the Maritime Continent and a mountainous region; it also experiences monsoonal conditions, as it is located between the Asian summer monsoon and the Australian summer monsoon. Representing rainfall extremes is important for flood and drought assessments in the region. This paper evaluates extreme rainfall climatic indices from regional climate models from CORDEX Southeast Asia and compares them with the results of high‐resolution global climate models with a comparable spatial resolution from the HighResMIP experiment. Observations indicate a high intensity of rainfall over areas affected by tropical cyclones and long consecutive dry day periods over some areas in Indochina and the southern end of Indonesia. In the model simulations, we find that both coupled and sea surface temperature‐forced HighResMIP model experiments are more similar to the observations than CORDEX model results. However, the models produce a poorer simulation of precipitation intensity‐related indices due to model biases in the rainfall intensity. This bias is higher in CORDEX than in HighResMIP and is evident in both the low‐ and high‐resolution HighResMIP model versions. The comparable performances of HighResSST (atmosphere‐only runs) and Hist‐1950 (coupled ocean–atmosphere runs) demonstrate the accuracy of the ocean model. Comparable performances were also found for the two different resolutions of HighResMIP, suggesting that there is no improvement in the performance of the high‐resolution HighResMIP model compared to the low‐resolution HighResMIP model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adults and various immature stages of the stag beetle Torynognathus chrysomelinus Bomans, 1986 were found inside the nests of Pseudolasius ants in Peninsular Malaysia. This paper provides a detailed description of T. chrysomelinus, which is the first ever record of myrmecophily in this genus and the third record in the family Lucanidae. This is also the first record of myrmecophilous Coleoptera with Pseudolasius ants as a host. The description includes the illustration of the male genitalia, mouthparts, larva, and pupa of this genus for the first time. Furthermore, the systematic position of T. chrysomelinus was inferred by the molecular phylogenetic analysis of the family Lucanidae. The results suggest that Torynognathus is a sister taxon to the genus Aegus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moisture sources and transport processes play a critical part in hydrological cycle and determine regional precipitation. This paper utilizes the Water Accounting Model‐2layers (WAM‐2layers) and the ERA5 reanalysis data to track the sources of precipitation over the Pearl River Basin (PRB). The contribution of external moisture and the role of local recycling are investigated. The results show that during the period from 1980 to 2020, oceanic sources including the western North Pacific and Indian Oceans serve as the primary moisture sources of precipitation over the PRB. The contributions to total seasonal precipitation are respectively 62.57% in MAM, 54.79% in JJA, 43.70% in SON and 60.88% in DJF. By contrast, the contribution of local recycling is generally below 5.50%. In the dry years of 1994, 1997 and 2001, the contribution of terrestrial sources is about 19.22%; in the wet years of 1989, 2009 and 2011, the contribution is about 16.31%. The summer precipitation anomalies are mainly attributable to moisture anomalies from the Equatorial Indian Ocean in the wet years and from Southeast Asia in the dry years. Furthermore, vertically integrated moisture flux anomalies over the boundaries of the PRB are generally the result of anomalous wind rather than anomalous moisture. In the wet years, low‐pressure systems induce strong cyclonic moisture transports, increasing the PRB precipitation. In the dry years, high‐pressure anomalies over the PRB block the moisture transports from the Indian Ocean and western North Pacific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the trends and driving forces for the relatively recent growth in cross‐national marriages in East and Southeast Asia with a specific focus on the experiences of female marriage migrants from Southeast Asia. It explicates the various forms of inequality faced by the low‐income marriage migrant women including gender power dynamics within the household, socioeconomic inequalities, integration into the destination society, and intergenerational transfer of inequalities. We acknowledge that the inequality experienced by marriage migrant women results from a complex web of intersecting social‐cultural, political, and economic forces occurring in Asia in the past three decades. As a result of rising female educational attainment and the practice of marriage hypergamy in Asia, an increasing number of low socioeconomic‐status men from developed countries seek marriage partners abroad from lower‐income and less‐developed countries. Upon entering the cross‐national marriage market, many low‐income migrant women face multiple disadvantages in the host country due to inadequate socioeconomic support, language barriers, social stigma on foreign brides, and a lack of legal status. These inequalities exacerbate their initial disadvantages to perpetuate a vicious cycle of intergenerational disadvantages for their offspring. We conclude with a critique of extant literature and identify promising future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence for hypomineralization disorders (rickets and osteomalacia) in non‐adults at Man Bac, a Neolithic site from northern Vietnam dated to 4000–3500BP, contributing to the well‐described disease burden at the site that includes scurvy, treponemal disease, thalassemia, and malaria. Forty‐four non‐adults (<20 years of age‐at‐death) were assessed for macroscopic and radiographic evidence for hypomineralization disorders. Differential diagnosis was completed using traditional methods and three‐level standardized criteria to combat the challenges of overlapping pathological features between hypomineralization disorder and the other diseases already diagnosed at the site. In addition, a diagnostic certainty approach was applied to investigate the impact of lesion ambiguity on our findings. Kaplan–Meier and Fishers exact tests were applied to assess age‐at‐death‐related epidemiological patterns of hypomineralization disorder and co‐morbid relationships with scurvy, thalassemia, and treponemal disease. Almost 50% of the non‐adult assemblage presented with evidence for hypomineralization disorder, which was associated with decreased survivorship in childhood. Potential epidemiological relationships between scurvy and hypomineralization disorders, and thalassemia and hypomineralization disorders are described. The former relationship may be due to the likelihood of the introduction of rice resulting in multi‐micronutrient deficiency, including vitamin C and calcium deficiency, and cultural attitudes to sunlight. The latter relationship may relate to the pathophysiology of thalassemia that can result in secondary osteomalacia possibly contributing to the development of hypomineralization disorder in the thalassemic non‐adults. The findings are significant as they present possible approaches for diagnosis of disease embedded within complex disease burdens where individuals are likely suffering from co‐morbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the changes of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) associated winter rainfall relationship in Southeast Asia (SEA) in the historical period (1981–2010) and future period (2071–2100) based on the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) models simulations. Twenty general circulation models (GCMs) are chosen from the Scenario Model Intercomparison Project (ScenarioMIP) highest emission scenario—Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) 5‐8.5. This study focuses only on the GCMs that have been able to replicate the consistent associated patterns observed, referred to as "teleconnection‐consistent models" (TCMs). During historical period, ENSO has significant negative association with SEA winter rainfall, particularly over Indochina mainland, Maritime Continent (MC) and northern Borneo. The significant negative‐associated teleconnection affected area has increased under future climate, particularly over southern part of South China Sea (SCS). The weakening of south westerlies at Western North Pacific (WNP) centred near 20°N reduces the moisture transport from Indochina into south of China, increase the negative correlated affected area in the SEA regions above equator. The northeasterlies/easterlies that prevailed from the WNP anticyclone (AC) brings significant moisture flux into southern Borneo, causing increment of significant positive‐associated moisture flux convergence to that region. The weakening of upward motion in TCM results in less warm and moist air rising over SEA MC, reducing the rainfall availability. The 1° eastward expansion of WC downward branch eastern edge leads to suppression of convective activities, increasing the dry affected area. The results suggest that the ENSO has a larger influence on the negative‐associated SEA rainfall and atmospheric circulation in the December–January–February (DJF) late‐21st century when compared to the 1980–2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Low lAtitude long Range Ionospheric raDar (LARID), which consists of two high frequency (HF) radars looking toward the east and west of Hainan Island, respectively, has been developed and installed at Dongfang (19.2°N, 108.8°E, dip lat. 13.8°N), China. This paper describes the system design of LARID and its first observational results of equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) irregularities. The antenna array of LARID is composed of a west‐looking array and an east‐looking array. Each array consists of 20 log‐periodic antennas for transmission and reception and 4 log‐periodic antennas for interferometry, and has a beam steering capability in the azimuth angles of ±24° due the boresight pointing east (or west). Observational results show that the LARID is capable of detecting backscatter echoes from EPB irregularities and the ground, with a distance of 4,000 km or more away from Hainan Island. Multiple EPB structures were continuously observed on 17 April 2023, with eastward drifts ranging between 70 and 130 m/s. Based on ray tracing simulations, the backscatter echoes of EPB irregularities were due to the 0.5‐hop and 1.5‐hop propagation modes. The distances between the successive EPB structures were estimated ranging between 500 and 900 km in longitude. The LARID observations, together with other instruments in the East and Southeast Asian sector, provided a clear picture of longitudinal variation of EPBs in 90–125°E. It is expected that the LARID will provide an important tool to study the generation and evolution of EPBs and their short‐term prediction in East and Southeast Asia. Key Points: A Low lAtitude long Range Ionospheric raDar (LARID) operating at 8–22 MHz has been developed and installed at Hainan Island, ChinaFirst long‐range observations of equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) irregularities and their zonal drifts by the LARID were presentedThe LARID is expected to play an important role in the study of EPB and its short‐term forecasting in East and Southeast Asia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty years ago Robert Blust published a comprehensive, comparative analysis of what he called the 'thunder complex'. Found among linguistically and culturally diverse populations in the Philippines, Indonesia, and peninsular Malaysia, the complex comprises a series of taboos and rites that centre on a belief that certain actions involving a confusion of categories will bring about a punitive storm and the death of offenders in resulting floods, landslides, or lightning strikes. The most typical and widespread of such taboos concern making fun of animals—for example, by dressing them in human clothes, talking to them, or otherwise making them appear ridiculous and so causing people to laugh. The present paper has three objectives. First, I identify a series of rituals performed by adherents of the complex that involve deliberately breaking taboos on animal mockery in order to produce needed rain. Secondly, I introduce a ceremony performed by ethnic minorities in southwestern China for the same purpose. The ceremony has all the hallmarks of the thunder complex and coexists with taboos on making fun of animals. Finally, I discuss what the complex, found among otherwise culturally and linguistic diverse societies, implies for their ontology in regard to human‐animal relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The COVID‐19 pandemic presented numerous challenges to acute malnutrition screening and treatment. To enable continued case identification and service delivery while minimising transmission risks, many organisations and governments implemented adaptations to community‐based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) programmes for children under 5. These included: Family mid‐upper arm circumference (MUAC); modified admission and discharge criteria; modified dosage of therapeutic foods; and reduced frequency of follow‐up visits. This paper presents qualitative findings from a larger mixed methods study to document practitioners' operational experiences and lessons learned from these adaptations. Findings reflect insights from 37 interviews representing 15 organisations in 17 countries, conducted between July 2020 and January 2021. Overall, interviewees indicated that adaptations were mostly well‐accepted by staff, caregivers and communities. Family MUAC filled screening gaps linked to COVID‐19 disruptions; however, challenges included long‐term accuracy of caregiver measurements; implementing an intervention that could increase demand for inconsistent services; and limited guidance to monitor programme quality and impact. Modified admission and discharge criteria and modified dosage streamlined logistics and implementation with positive impacts on staff workload and caregiver understanding of the programme. Reduced frequency of visits enabled social distancing by minimising crowding at facilities and lessened caregivers' need to travel. Concerns remained about how adaptations impacted children's identification for and progress through treatment and programme outcomes. Most respondents anticipated reverting to standard protocols once transmission risks were mitigated. Further evidence, including multi‐year programmatic data analysis and rigorous research, is needed in diverse contexts to understand adaptations' impacts, including how to ensure equity and mitigate unintended consequences. Key messages: COVID‐19 CMAM programme adaptations enabled service continuity despite pandemic‐related challenges. Further evidence is needed on long‐term impacts.Family MUAC was well‐accepted and addressed screening gaps from COVID‐19 disruptions. Challenges included sustaining caregiver measurement accuracy; handling inaccurate self‐referrals to encourage health‐seeking behaviours; and limited programme design and monitoring guidance and tools.Modified admission criteria and therapeutic food dosage reduced contact between staff and children and streamlined logistics and implementation. Concerns remained about effects on programme admissions and outcomes.Reduced frequency of follow‐up visits successfully reduced facility crowding and need for caregiver travel. However, infrequent monitoring of childrenmay miss deterioration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guest Editorial: Crossing the river by feeling the stones - Alternative imaginaries of China and Southeast Asia in contemporary contexts The second aspect is to uncover alternative imaginaries and responses of the Chinese government's official development discourses such as the BRI in Southeast Asia with historically informed perspectives in examining current and future China-Southeast Asia relations as China repositions itself. On 27 February 2021, I The Economist i published a briefing titled "Tea and Tributaries", stating 'in no region is China's influence felt more strongly than in Southeast Asia', noting that historically Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam were important tributaries to imperial China ( I The Economist i , 2021). Indeed, the balancing act of engaging China and United States fruitfully is ASEAN's bread and butter business, which highlights situating China relationally with other major powers in the alternative imaginaries of China in Southeast Asia. [Extracted from the article]

Most existing studies use 'reterritorialization' to describe the outward expansion of Chinese power in Southeast Asia. This paper, however, flips this familiar narrative. It examines Sino‐Southeast Asian diplomacy hidden in the Chinese hinterland and embedded in the everyday. I focus on the landlocked province of Jiangxi, where the Chinese government created two enclaves for communist exiles and displaced diaspora respectively—both hailing from Southeast Asia. I argue that this domestic operation of foreign affairs helped absorb the impact of unfavourable foreign policy outcomes or drastic policy reversals. As post‐Mao China re‐engaged with the world, the PRC state's management of Cold War migrants enabled its reconstruction of geopolitical relations with Southeast Asia. With China's foreign policy reorientation and the progression of market reform, the state's governing strategy in the two study areas changed from one of privileged segregation to a strong push for economic self‐reliance. Meanwhile, the entrepreneurial individuals from these two communities represented, repackaged and retooled an inconvenient past the state tried to erase for the elevation of their individual socioeconomic statuses and the development of their respective communities. Through their creative mediation, the history of PRC's Cold War engagement with Southeast Asia is reinscribed in new time‐space contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on climate exposures and human migration has focused largely on assessing short‐term responses to temperature and precipitation shocks. In this paper, we suggest that this common coping strategies model can be extended to account for mechanisms that link environmental conditions to migration behavior over longer periods of time. We argue that early‐life climate exposures may affect the likelihood of migration from childhood through early adulthood by influencing parental migration, community migration networks, human capital development, and decisions about household resource allocation, all of which are correlates of geographic mobility. After developing this conceptual framework, we evaluate the corresponding hypotheses using a big data approach, analyzing 20 million individual georeferenced records from 81 censuses implemented across 31 countries in tropical Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. For each world region, we estimate regression models that predict lifetime migration (a change in residence between birth and ages 30–39) as a function of temperature and precipitation anomalies in early life, defined as the year prior to birth to age four. Results suggest that early‐life climate is systematically associated with changes in the probability of lifetime migration in most regions of the tropics, with the largest effects observed in sub‐Saharan Africa. In East and Southern Africa, the effects of temperature shocks vary by sex and educational attainment and in a manner that suggests women and those of lower socioeconomic status are most vulnerable. Finally, we compare our main results with models using alternative measures of climate exposures. This comparison suggests climate exposures during the prenatal period and first few years of life are particularly (but not exclusively) salient for lifetime migration, which is most consistent with the hypothesized human capital mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secularization, expansion of higher education, and urbanization have led to disenchantment with politics and the erosion of political trust in many societies. Religion may continue to be salient, however, how these forces interact with enduring religious influences to shape political trust is unclear. This paper examines the issue using Asian Barometer Survey (2001–2016) data with hierarchical age–period–cohort (HAPC) models. Our results show supportive evidence for the following findings: in East and Southeast Asia, urbanization is associated with less political trust for most religions except Islam; education is associated with less political trust; education's effect is the most salient for the atheists and Buddhists, but it disappears among the Muslims. The findings suggest the power of modernization and secularization significantly differs across cultures and religions. We should not simply perceive religion as a universally conservative force; instead, we need to understand religions through an integrated macro‐micro perspective by situating it in the social contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the ways in which the religious subject can be a contingent position that is responsive to the broader socio‐religious context within which it is expressed. These contingencies are acutely observed among short‐term missionaries (STM), who seek out encounters with difference in pursuit of a more cosmopolitan subjectivity. Yet, while spaces of missionary encounter are inherently relational, the missions literature has tended to downplay the effects of relationality on the realisation of these subject positions. By focusing on the experiences of Singaporean missionaries working among Christian communities in Southeast Asia, I contribute a more nuanced and less pre‐determined understanding of the dynamics that underpin intra‐Asian missionary encounters. Drawing on interviews conducted with Singapore's STM community, I explore how materiality and new media can structure encounters and subject positions within relational missionary space. I also emphasise the limits of relational space by highlighting its untranslatability beyond the missionary terrain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting the peak‐season (July–September) tropical cyclones (TCs) in Southeast Asia (SEA) several months ahead remains challenging, related to limited understanding and prediction of the dynamics affecting the variability of SEA TC activity. Here, we introduce a new statistical approach to sequentially identify mutually independent predictors for the occurrence frequency of peak‐season TCs in the South China Sea (SCS) and east of the Philippines (PHL). These predictors, which are identified from the preseason (April‐June) environmental fields, can capture the interannual variability of different clusters of peak‐season TCs, through a cross‐season effect on large‐scale environment that governs TC genesis and track. The physically oriented approach provides a skillful seasonal prediction in the 41‐year period (1979–2019), with r = 0.73 and 0.54 for SCS and PHL TC frequency, respectively. The lower performance for PHL TCs is likely related to the nonstationarity of the cross‐season TC‐environment relationship. We further develop the statistical approach to a hybrid method using the predictors derived from dynamical seasonal forecasts. The hybrid prediction shows a significant skill for both SCS and PHL TCs, for lead times up to four or 5 months ahead, related to the good performance of models for the sea surface temperatures and low‐level winds in the tropics. The statistical and hybrid predictions outperform the dynamical predictions, showing the potential for operational use. Plain Language Summary: Tropical cyclones (TCs) have huge impact in Southeast Asia (SEA). Seasonal forecasts of SEA peak‐season (July–September) TCs remains challenging for both statistical and dynamical models. In this paper, we introduce a novel statistical approach to sequentially identify independent predictors tailored for the frequency of SEA peak‐season TCs. The predictors are routinely constructed from far‐field sea surface temperatures and low‐level winds in the preceding‐season. The main concept in this approach is that each predictor represents a unique cluster of TC formation and propagation in the peak‐season. We also develop the approach to a hybrid prediction method by building the predictors from dynamical seasonal forecasts. The seasonal predictions based on the new approach perform much better than the current statistical and dynamical models. Such predictions can provide useful warning service for SEA TC activity 4–5 months ahead. Key Points: A new approach to identify independent predictors of Southeast Asia (SEA) tropical cyclone (TC) frequency is introducedThe preceding‐season predictors represent different clusters of TC formation and propagation through a cross‐season effectThe new method outperforms existing statistical and dynamical predictions for SEA TCs [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thousands of rural‐to‐urban migrant women find employment in urban areas of mainland Southeast Asia as beer sellers, beer promoters, and karaoke girls whose duties include selling alcoholic drinks, often on commission, and entertaining clients. Using the label of beer sellers to refer to all of these workers, this paper draws from a sequential mixed‐methods participatory study conducted with migrant beer sellers in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand to examine beer selling as intimate labor. Deploying emotional, affective, and embodied labor as interactive components of intimate labor, migrant beer sellers as members of the urban precariat are subject to myriad forms of surveillance that operate in concert to inform the parameters of beer selling as an intimate industry, the somato‐social presentation of workers' bodies, and their intercorporeal interactions with clients. Together, they work to reinforce gendered and racialized social hierarchies and the normative social order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the 2019 China Invested Firms and Employees Survey (CIFES), this study explores the convergence of Chinese enterprise and employee (E&E) evaluation in Southeast Asian countries. The results show that convergence varies greatly across the nine Southeast Asian countries. Union organisations and economic factors play a key role in convergence. Firms with labour unions report a more effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance than others, while employees in the construction sector report their firms' CSR and those in the manufacturing and service sectors. Interestingly, the number of years worked by an employee correlates positively with their perception of firms' CSR performance. This paper uses China Invested Firms and Employees Survey data to compare employer‐reported and employee‐perceived corporate social responsibility performance of Chinese firms in nine Southeast Asian countries in terms of employees' union participation, working experience as well as industrial sector of the firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid deployment of modern renewable energy generation capacity in the fast‐growing Southeast Asian region will be crucial to ensure that the region can meet its increasing future energy demand in a sustainable way. However, many countries will need assistance through international cooperation and foreign aid to develop their sustainable energy sources. The three East Asian donor states Japan, South Korea and China are particularly crucial because they account for a large share of aid disbursement to the region and serve as development role models for many recipient countries. All three states are signatories of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and thus committed to the global goals of climate protection and sustainable energy development. This paper is based on an analysis of official aid databases and second‐party data to explore the details of the energy‐related aid contributions of the three key donor states to Southeast Asia during the last 15 years. The findings indicate that all three states contradicted their own international pledges by financing fossil‐fuel power generation projects in many countries in the region. Although recent policy changes in Japan and South Korea are cause for optimism, the opacity of China's energy‐related aid flows combined with its renewed support for domestic coal power generation are worrying signs for the future of energy development in Southeast Asia and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fostering innovation and upskilling labour pools have become key goals in national economic development plans and education and training system reforms since the mid‐1990s. For their transformation into knowledge‐based economies, countries in Southeast Asia have relied on importing transnational higher education providers and have envisioned themselves as international education hubs. As existing research from transnational education and higher education governance studies as well as economic geography and regional studies has not sufficiently addressed this nexus of transnational education and regional economic development, this paper investigates the role of foreign higher education institutions in economic development strategies in Malaysia and Singapore. It explores why and how states have strategically coupled their higher education systems with transnational education. The comparative case analysis draws on empirical evidence from 42 semi‐structured interviews. It finds that despite the two states' ostensibly similar ambitions to attract foreign higher education institutions, policies and outcomes differ strongly. Whereas in Malaysia a structural coupling led foreign subsidiaries to provide foreign degrees to domestic students and generate revenue in the private higher education sector, in Singapore foreign subsidiaries have been deployed strategically to upgrade the talent pool and public higher education system of the city‐state via functional coupling. Conceptualizing transnational education policies as forms of strategic coupling contributes to understanding their embeddedness within states' broader, historically formed economic development strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of global warming on lightning flash rates remains relatively unknown. In this study, the South China Sea (SCS) and the surrounding areas within Southeast Asia were selected to examine the long‐term trend and future projection of lightning activity based on the currently longest satellite‐based lightning data set available and climate models. Our study revealed a reduction in the observed lightning flash rates around the SCS, with a linear trend of −0.11 fl km−2 yr−2 during 1996–2013. In contrast, the precipitation around the SCS exhibited an increasing trend and was negatively correlated with the local lightning flash rate. The sea surface temperature gradient over equatorial Pacific Ocean, latent heat flux over the equatorial Indian Ocean, local convective available potential energy, precipitation and aerosol changes collectively accounted for 82% of the variance in the lightning fluctuations over the SCS and Southeast Asia. Multiple linear regression proxies of lightning flash rates were constructed and applied to the climate models. The models indicated that lightning activity around the SCS is projected to intensify by 10% and 12% by the end of the 21st century under SSP245 and SSP370, respectively. Plain Language Summary: The projection of future changes in lightning activity is uncertain owing to various factors, and different regions exhibit distinct trajectories. In this study, the focus was on the South China Sea (SCS) and Southeast Asia, and past variations in lightning activity was examined and used to predict future variations in lightning activity. Employing a multiple linear regression approach, we identified the large‐scale thermodynamic drivers and local environmental factors that influence lightning activity around the SCS. The research findings indicated a reduction in lightning activity over the past few decades over the SCS and Southeast Asia region. The simulation results indicate that in the future under ongoing global warming, regional lightning activity will intensify. Key Points: Lightning activity and precipitation show opposing regional trends around the South China Sea (SCS)Remote thermodynamic and local environmental factors both contribute to the variability in lightning around the SCSUnder future climate change scenarios, lightning activity around the SCS is projected to gradually increase [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic activity drives extensive tropical deforestation, particularly in Southeast Asia where 16% of total forest cover was lost between 2000 and 2020. While land surface changes significantly affect the atmosphere, their net impact on convective clouds is not well‐constrained. Here, we use satellite data to demonstrate long‐term deforestation in Southeast Asia robustly alters cloud properties and provide the first observational evidence that the magnitude of this response depends on the atmospheric environment. Deforestation drives a shift toward more widespread, shallower clouds during the daytime, with amplified effects in dry inland areas compared with moist coastal regions. Aerosols only weakly modulate the cloud fraction response, but offset the cloud top height response to deforestation, suggesting the influence of aerosol indirect effects. We conclude that the local signature of forest loss is not uniform, and regional differences in climatology must be considered when assessing deforestation impacts on clouds and the climate system. Plain Language Summary: Humans are driving widespread deforestation in the tropics. Changes to the land surface following forest loss are generally known to affect the atmosphere, but it is hard to tell how deforestation will impact clouds in a given area. Here, we focus on Southeast Asia, a region of the world facing dramatic large‐scale deforestation. We use two decades of satellite data to estimate how the loss of tropical forests impacts cloud properties. On average, we find that deforestation leads to more widespread and shallower clouds. We then look further into how this cloud response to deforestation depends on other environmental factors like moisture and aerosols. This gives us a better idea of which regions are most sensitive to changes in forest cover. Overall, our results show there is an observable cloud response to deforestation, but this response may be stronger in some regions than in others depending on underlying moisture and aerosol conditions. As forest loss continues in Southeast Asia and across the world, it is important to further study these region‐dependent interactions between the atmosphere and the land surface so we can better understand the impacts of human‐driven deforestation on weather and climate. Key Points: Deforestation in Southeast Asia drives a robust shift toward more widespread and shallower clouds on an annual timescaleThis effect has been debated in modeling studies, but we demonstrate this observationally using two decades of satellite dataSome regions are especially vulnerable to deforestation‐driven changes in clouds, depending on atmospheric moisture and aerosol loading [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subduction initiation in oceans is key to understanding regional and global plate tectonics and ocean basin dynamics; however, its genetic mechanism is still enigmatic. The most famous model that predicts intraoceanic subduction initiation along transform faults or fracture zones (i.e., the Subduction Initiation Rule) has been widely used to explain arc‐like geochemical signatures within the Neo‐Tethyan ophiolites, but fails to account for the speculation and/or calculation of a sub‐parallel relationship between the Jurassic subduction zones and paleo ridges of the western Neo‐Tethys. Here, we propose a ridge‐parallel detachment fault‐hosted subduction re‐initiation model for the Jurassic western Neo‐Tethys. Based on field geological and geochemical evidence, we show that the Refahiye ophiolite in the İzmir–Ankara–Erzincan suture of northern Turkey has diagnostic characteristics indicative of (ultra)slow seafloor spreading. An (ultra)slow‐spreading nature also characterizes many Neo‐Tethyan ophiolites from the Alps to Southeast Asia, either at mid‐ocean ridges or in suprasubduction zones. Due to its extremely weak nature, detachment faults were probably a key candidate for the Jurassic intraoceanic subduction re‐initiation of the western Neo‐Tethys in response to far‐field compression after its long‐lived northward subduction. This model is applicable to both the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous ophiolites, but is questionable for the Late Cretaceous ophiolites. Its utility deponds on the kinematics of ancient plate boundaries and compositions of ophiolites. The detachment fault‐hosted subduction re‐initiation model can explain the arc‐like geochemical features of the Jurassic western Neo‐Tethyan ophiolites, but its effect on the structure and component of ophiolites is diverse. Plain Language Summary: Subduction of oceans is key to understanding regional and global plate tectonics. However, where and how ocean subduction initiates (i.e., subduction initiation) is still enigmatic, in particular for those vanished oceans in Earth's geologic history. In this study, we propose a new model of ridge‐parallel detachment fault‐hosted subduction re‐initiation for the western Neo‐Tethys Ocean in the Jurassic. Based on this study and a global compilation, we show that the ophiolites along the Neo‐Tethyan orogenic belt commonly contain slow‐ and ultraslow‐spreading oceanic lithospheres, either formed at mid‐ocean ridges or in suprasubduction zones. As for the western Neo‐Tethys, detachment faults adjacent to the paleoridges may have served as key candidates for subduction re‐initiation after the long‐lived northward subduction in the early stage, rather than along transform faults or fracture zones as previously suggested. This new model provides alternative explanations for the geochemical and structural diversities of the western Neo‐Tethyan ophiolites, and its utility in global ophiolites needs further examination. Key Points: The Neo‐Tethyan Refahiye ophiolite in northern Turkey formed at an (ultra)slow‐spreading ocean basin, probably at mid‐ocean ridgesDetachment fault is a key candidate for the Jurassic subduction re‐initiation of the western Neo‐Tethys OceanThe utility and diversity of detachment fault‐hosted subduction re‐initiation is discussed for the origin of Neo‐Tethyan ophiolites [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the termination of seafloor spreading in the South China Sea (SCS) basin, abundant intraplate volcanism widely spreads in the Indochina block, SCS basin, and Leiqiong area, forming the Southeastern Asian Basalt Province (SABP). The geodynamic origin of the SABP has long been enigmatic and debated. Here, we present a high‐resolution 3‐D upper mantle S‐wave velocity model in the region by conducting earthquake‐based surface wave tomography with seismic data collected across Southeast Asia. The resultant images depict a plume‐like structure beneath the central area of the SABP, characterized by a continuous, sub‐vertical low‐velocity column in the upper mantle. Our new findings, combined with previous geochemical and geodynamic evidence, suggest that the extensive post‐spreading intraplate volcanism within the SABP is likely induced by this focused mantle upwelling, which could be further traced down to the core‐mantle boundary as inferred by existing global velocity models. Plain Language Summary: The well‐known Southeastern Asian Basalt Province (SABP), which covers an extensive area of the South China Sea (SCS) and surroundings, is characterized by voluminous volcanism after the cessation of seafloor spreading in the SCS basin. However, the geodynamic mechanism responsible for the formation of the SABP remains debated and not well understood. In this study, we build a high‐resolution 3‐D seismic velocity model in the region utilizing multiple sources of seismic data collected throughout Southeast Asia. We find a distinct plume‐shaped low‐velocity anomaly in the upper mantle beneath the central region of the SABP. Combining with previous geochemical and geodynamic research results, we interpret that the abundant intraplate volcanism within the SABP may be contributed by the underlying focused mantle upwelling. This mantle upwelling, as evidenced in previous global seismic velocity models, could be further traced down to the core‐mantle boundary (∼2,900 km below the Earth's surface). Our tomographic images provide valuable insights into the origin and mantle dynamics related to the young intraplate volcanism that occurred in Southeast Asia. Key Points: A high‐resolution 3‐D upper mantle S‐wave velocity model surrounding the South China Sea is constructedA continuous, low‐velocity column is imaged beneath the central region of the Southeastern Asian Basalt ProvinceThe post‐spreading intraplate volcanism within the Southeastern Asian Basalt Province is likely induced by the focused mantle upwelling [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In December 2021, Super Typhoon Rai caused significant devastation to the South Philippines and East Malaysia. In the meantime, an unprecedented flood event occurred in Peninsular Malaysia at 2,000 km west of the typhoon's path, causing comparable socioeconomic impacts as Rai. Record‐breaking 3‐day precipitation was received by Peninsular Malaysia during 16–18 December. Based on the storm tracking results, this study identified two mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) that were directly responsible for the flooding. The two MCSs were directly initiated by a tropical depression and sustained by an elongated easterly water vapor corridor originating from the Super Typhoon Rai. The return period and joint frequency analysis of key drivers indicate that the 3‐day downpour was more severe than a "once‐in‐a‐century" event. Historical records suggest such anomalous moisture channel has become more frequent in Southeast Asia, which alarms heightened attention in forecasting winter flood. Plain Language Summary: On 16–18 December, Peninsular Malaysia received a record‐shattering 3‐day precipitation, resulting in catastrophic socioeconomic impacts. Due to the temporal coincidence with Super Typhoon Rai but far away in space, there were speculations that there might be a teleconnection between the two events. Our results reveal that their relationship could be more straightforward. Based on the analyses of storm tracking database and synoptic data records, we found that two consecutive mesoscale convective systems were responsible for the heavy precipitation, which were produced by a tropical depression that hovered over the peninsula. Meanwhile, Super Typhoon Rai provided a long‐range water vapor transport, akin to adding fuel (i.e., moisture) to the engine (i.e., the tropical depression), and therefore, the precipitation over the peninsula was significantly enhanced. Such long‐range moisture transport has become more frequent during the boreal winter season, posing an increasing risk of flooding in Southeast Asia. Key Points: A stretched moisture channel from Typhoon Rai and a strong tropical depression are key synoptic drivers for the flooding eventReturn period and joint probability of key drivers indicate that the 2021 Peninsular Malaysia flood was more severe than "once‐in‐a‐century"There is an increasing trend in such anomalous moisture channel, suggesting a rising risk of severe flooding in Southeast Asia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]