These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
Get up to speed with what’s happening in the fastest growing region in the world.
While Santa is in North Pole, all-women Msian expedition team reaches South Pole
The All Women Expedition to Antarctica (Aweta) team, which is on a mission to unearth a time capsule buried at the southern continent, reached the vicinity of the South Pole early today.
The team, led by polar adventurer Dr Sharifah Mazlina Syed Abdul Kadir, arrived in Antarctica at about 2am Malaysian time and are now just 89 degrees from the South Pole, Bernama reported.
Aweta, which began its gruelling trek on 18 December, is scheduled to complete its mission on 3 January. – New Straits Times
Court to decide on dissolution of Future Forward on Jan 21
The Constitutional Court said on Wednesday that it would rule on the dissolution of the opposition Future Forward Party on Jan 21 following a complaint that its actions were seditious and that it plans to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
The complaint alleges the party's triangle logo resembles a symbol of the Illuminati, a secret society that conspiracy theorists believe seeks world domination. – Bangkok Post
Miserable Christmas Day: Typhoon Phanfone pummels central Philippines; 10 dead
Typhoon Phanfone pummelled the central Philippines on Christmas Day (Dec 25), destroying homes and cutting off power with powerful winds and flooding villages with incessant heavy rains on what is supposed to be Christendom's happiest day.
At least 10 people were reported killed - one each in Kananga and Abuyog towns in Leyte province and eight, including a 3-year-old boy, in Iloilo and Capiz provinces. – Straits Times
Protesters demand end to internet blackout in Rakhine
Around 50 activists, mostly ethnic Rakhine, protested in Yangon’s Mahabandoola Park on December 24 against the government’s ongoing internet shutdown in northern Rakhine State.
U Oo Hla Saw, an ANP member of the Lower House for Mrauk-U who spoke at the protest, told The Myanmar Times that “from any point of view” the blackout was “a great loss” economically and socially for his constituents. He said cutting off the internet violates basic human rights. – Myanmar Times
Cambodia can play strategic role in resolving Rohingya crisis
Bangladeshi Foreign Affairs Minister AK Abdul Momen has called on countries around the world to urge Myanmar to repatriate Rohingya refugees temporarily housed in his country.
Since 2015, more than one million Rohingya have fled from their homes in Rakhine state to nearby Cox’s Bazar. Currently, the area around it is classified as the world’s largest refugee settlement, with about 1.1 million Rohingya who settled in southeast Bangladesh. – Khmer Times