Asia

NZ minister resigns after he ‘placed hand’ on staff’s arm3 days agoKoh EweReporting fromSingaporeKathryn ArmstrongReporting fromLondonNew Zealand’s commerce minister Andrew Bayly has resigned as a government minister after he “placed a hand” on a staff member’s upper arm last week, in what he described as “overbearing” behaviour.
Bayly said on Monday that he was “deeply sorry” about the incident, which he described as not an argument but an “animated discussion”.
He remains a member of parliament.
His resignation comes after he was criticised last October for calling a winery worker a “loser”- including putting his fingers in an ‘L’ shape on his forehead – and allegedly using an expletive directed at them. He later issued a public apology.
“As many of you know, I have been impatient to drive change in my ministerial portfolios,” Bayly said in a statement announcing his resignation.
“Last week I had an animated discussion with a staff member about work. I took the discussion too far, ..

4 days agoShareSaveVishnukant TiwariBBC HindiShareSaveThousands of villagers in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh are protesting against a multi-million-dollar river-linking project which, they say, will rob them of their homes and livelihoods.
The Ken-Betwa project, with a budget of 440bn rupees ($5.06bn; £4.05bn), will channel excess water from the Ken river in Madhya Pradesh to the Betwa river in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state through a network of tunnels, canals and a dam.
It is the first of 16 such river-linking projects earmarked under India’s National Perspective Plan for water resource development in the 1980s. The plan faced multiple delays – mainly due to environmental concerns and political disputes – before the government cleared it in 2021.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for its construction in December last year.
The project is supposed to help the drought-prone Bundelkhand region – which includes parts of Madhya Pradesh and ..

4 days agoShareSaveShaimaa KhalilTokyo correspondentShareSaveFor months, Japan’s entertainment industry has been rocked by a scandal that unseated one of its most popular celebrities and put one of its biggest broadcasters at risk.
But some believe it has also marked a turning point in how cases of sexual assault are perceived in Japan – where traditionally victims have been shamed into silence.
At its heart was Masahiro Nakai, a household name and leading presenter for Fuji TV, one of the country’s biggest broadcasters.
Nakai, who is also a former member of J-pop boy band SMAP, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a dinner party in 2023.
The revelations, which appeared last December in the weekly tabloid magazine Josei Seven and were then picked up by the Shukan Bunshun, marked the latest of a series of scandals involving celebrities in Japan, including that of late entertainment mogul Johnny Kitagawa, who was found by investigators to have abused hundreds of boys and young m..

India bans two opioids behind crisis in West Africa4 days agoVicky WongBBC NewsBBC Eye InvestigationsBBC World ServiceIndian authorities have banned two highly-addictive opioids in response to a BBC investigation which found they were fuelling a public health crisis in parts of West Africa.
In a letter seen by the BBC from India’s Drugs Controller General, Dr Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi said permission to manufacture and export the drugs had been withdrawn
BBC Eye found one pharmaceutical company, Aveo, had been illegally exporting a harmful mix of tapentadol and carisoprodol in countries like Ghana, Nigeria, and Cote D’Ivoire.
India’s Food and Drug Administration said the company’s factory in Mumbai had since been raided and its entire stock seized.
The circular from Dr Raghuvanshi, dated to Friday, cited the BBC investigation in his decision to ban all combinations of tapentadol and carisoprodol, which was to be implemented with immediate effect.
He said this also came after officials h..

India v Pakistan: Cricket’s ultimate grudge match in the desert3 days agoGautam BhattacharyyaCricket writer, DubaiThe last time India and Pakistan clashed in a major ICC 50-over contest was in 2023, at the highly anticipated World Cup league match in Ahmedabad.
As a contest, it turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax – India, in dominant form, comfortably chased down a subpar Pakistan target, securing a resounding victory.
And as Pakistani fans didn’t get visas to travel to India, aside from the cricket team, the country’s only notable presence was in the media centre.
Sunday’s ICC Champions Trophy clash between the arch-rivals at Dubai International Stadium promises a vastly different atmosphere.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) reported that tickets sold out within minutes – and with the UAE hosting more than 3.7 million Indians and nearly 1.7 million Pakistanis, a vibrant and well-represented crowd from both nations is all but guaranteed.
But can a sea of green flags in the..

Planes diverted as China conducts rare military drill near Australia4 days agoTessa WongBBC NewsReporting fromSingaporeSimon AtkinsonBBC NewsReporting fromSydneyPlanes flying between Australia and New Zealand have been diverted as China conducts a closely-scrutinised military exercise in nearby waters that may involve live fire.
The rare presence of three Chinese naval ships in the Tasman Sea has put both antipodean countries on alert in recent days, with Australia calling it “unusual”.
Australian airline Qantas told the BBC it “temporarily adjusted” the routes of its planes and other carriers have reportedly done the same.
China has said the exercise, which is taking place in international waters, is in accordance with international law.
The ships are now reportedly 340 nautical miles east of the New South Wales coast of Australia, although they were said to have come as close as 150 nautical miles from Sydney at one point.
Australia and New Zealand have been closely monitoring the Ch..

Man disguised as lawyer kills gang leader in court5 days agoKoh EweBBC NewsA notorious gang leader has died after he was shot inside a courthouse in Sri Lanka by a gunman disguised as a lawyer, say police.
Police say the gunman used a revolver which was smuggled in a hollowed-out book by a female suspect, who remains at large.
Gang leader Sanjeewa Kumara Samararathne had been escorted to court to face proceedings when he was shot. Police say he was a suspect in multiple murder cases.
The shooting in the capital Colombo is among a series of killings by rivalling gangs, which has persisted as authorities vow to crack down on gang violence in the country.
The gang leader, popularly known as Ganemulle Sanjeewa, had been in custody since he was arrested in September 2023.
Police said he had been escorted to the courthouse on Wednesday by a dozen police officers. He was taken to hospital after he was shot but was pronounced dead on arrival.
The gunman managed to flee the scene but was late..

Hong Kong’s main opposition party announces plan to dissolve5 days agoMartin YipBBC ChineseReporting fromHong KongTessa WongBBC NewsReporting fromSingaporeThe leaders of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party have announced plans to dissolve what was once the city’s largest opposition group.
Members will soon vote on the final decision on whether to shut down the 31-year-old party, chairman Lo Kin-hei said.
The party has been struggling to survive following moves by China to crack down on dissent in the city in the wake of the 2019 protests.
Beijing and Hong Kong’s government have argued that such moves were necessary for national security.
As part of the crackdown, Beijing overhauled the former British colony’s polling systems.
The so-called “patriots law” was passed in Hong Kong in 2021 that ensured only people regarded as loyal to the Communist regime in Beijing could serve as lawmakers or local councillors in the semi-autonomous territory.
This law effectively barred the Democratic Party fr..

Neighbours cancelled again, two years after revival4 days agoTiffanie TurnbullBBC News, SydneyBeloved Australian soap drama Neighbours has been cancelled again, two years after it was saved by Amazon MGM Studios.
Without specifying a reason, Amazon confirmed the series will finish at the end of 2025 – 40 years and more than 9,000 episodes after its television debut.
It was dropped by Channel 5 in 2022, but revived by Amazon for its streaming platforms just four months after a star-studded farewell episode watched by millions.
The soap – which helped launched the careers of Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce and Margot Robbie – has long been a huge hit with Australian and UK audiences, and last year received its first Emmy nomination.
A statement on the show’s social media said the soap would be “resting” from December.
“Audiences all around the world have loved and embraced Neighbours for four decades and we are very proud of the huge success over the last two years,” executive producer Jason H..

7 days agoShareSaveJoão da SilvaBusiness reporterShareSaveA meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and some of the country’s foremost business leaders this week has fuelled excitement and speculation, after Alibaba founder Jack Ma was pictured at the event.
The charismatic and colourful Mr Ma, who was one of China’s most prominent businessmen, had withdrawn from public life after criticising China’s financial sector in 2020.
His reappearance at Monday’s event has sparked a wave of discussion, with experts and analysts wondering what it means for him, China’s tech sector and the economy in general.
The response has been overwhelmingly positive – tech stocks, including those of Alibaba, rallied soon after the event.
On Thursday, the e-commerce giant reported financial results that beat expectations, with shares ending the trading day in New York more than 8% higher. The company’s shares are up 60% since the beginning of the year.
So what are analysts reading into Mr Ma’s appearanc..