Asia

Man jailed for attempted murder of former Japan PM2 days agoShaimaa KhalilJapan correspondentReporting fromTokyoGavin ButlerBBC NewsReporting fromSingaporeA man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the attempted murder of Japan’s former prime minister Fumio Kishida in 2023.
Ryuji Kimura, 25, hurled a pipe bomb at Kishida as the country’s leader approached a crowd for a speech during an election event in the city of Wakayama.
Although Kishida was unharmed, the explosion of the homemade device caused minor injuries to a police officer and a member of the public.
The attack shocked Japan as it came less than a year after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead at an outdoor election campaign event.
Kimura, who was sentenced on Wednesday, claimed during questioning his intention was not to kill Kishida, but to object to the country’s election age regulation which prevented him from getting into politics.
The minimum age to become a member of parliament in Japan is 25 for the..

Manila says it will file a formal protest over the latest incident in the South China Sea.

Scores of whales to be euthanised after mass stranding in Australia5 days agoTiffanie TurnbullBBC News, SydneyAustralian authorities are euthanising about 90 false killer whales which survived a mass stranding on a remote beach in Tasmania.
A team of experts at the site said complex conditions have made it impossible to save them.
They are part of a pod of 157 whales that had beached near Arthur River, in the island’s north west. The rest had died shortly after the stranding.
Tasmania has seen a series of mass whale strandings in recent years – including the country’s worst-ever in 2020 – but false killer whales haven’t mass stranded there in over 50 years.
False killer whales are technically one of world’s largest dolphin species, like their orca namesakes. They can grow up to 6m (19ft) and weigh 1.5 tonnes.
Authorities on Wednesday said the pod had been stranded at the site for 24 to 48 hours, and the surviving animals were already under extreme stress.
Local resident Jocelyn Flint ..

India seeks AI breakthrough – but is it falling behind?5 days agoNikhil Inamdar, BBC News@Nik_inamdarTwo years after ChatGPT took the world by storm, China’s DeepSeek has sent ripples through the tech industry by collapsing the cost for developing generative artificial intelligence applications.
But as the global race for AI supremacy heats up, India appears to have fallen behind, especially in creating its own foundational language model that’s used to power things like chatbots.
The government claims a homegrown equivalent to DeepSeek isn’t far away. It is supplying startups, universities and researchers with thousands of high-end chips needed to develop it in under 10 months.
A flurry of global AI leaders have also been talking up India’s capabilities recently.
After being initially dismissive, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman this month said India should be playing a leading role in the AI revolution. The country is now OpenAI’s second largest market by users.
Others like Microsoft have put ..

Facing Islamist threats, Bangladesh girls forced to cancel football matches7 days agoAnbarasan EthirajanBBC NewsAsha Roy, 17, was excited to take part in a women’s football tournament, but her hopes were dashed as Islamists forced the organisers to cancel the match in northern Bangladesh.
Shortly before the game began earlier this month, the Islami Andolan Bangladesh group announced a protest rally against the event in Rangpur region, saying it was un-Islamic.
Fearing trouble, local police stepped in and the women’s team members were asked to return to their home for their safety.
“I was frustrated and frightened. We had never faced such a situation before. It was disappointing that we came back without playing,” Ms Roy told the BBC.
Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation, is currently undergoing a political transition after widespread protests ousted its authoritarian government last year.
An interim administration is currently in charge but there are concerns that Islamist groups, whic..

DeepSeek ‘shared user data’ with TikTok owner ByteDance1 day agoImran Rahman-JonesTechnology reporterSouth Korea has accused Chinese AI startup DeepSeek of sharing user data with the owner of TikTok in China.
“We confirmed DeepSeek communicating with ByteDance,” the South Korean data protection regulator told Yonhap News Agency.
The country had already removed DeepSeek from app stores over the weekend over data protection concerns.
The Chinese app caused shockwaves in the AI world in January, wiping billions off global stock markets over claims its new model was trained at a much lower cost than US rivals such as ChatGPT.
Since then, multiple countries have warned that user data may not be properly protected, and in February a US cybersecurity company alleged potential data sharing between DeepSeek and ByteDance.
DeepSeek’s apparent overnight impact saw it shoot to the top of App Store charts in the UK, US and many other countries around the world – although it now sits far below ChatG..

Japan to increase reliance on nuclear energy in post-Fukushima shift1 day agoShaimaa KhalilTokyo correspondentJapan says it will increase its reliance on nuclear energy in a major policy shift as it seeks to meet growing demand from power-hungry sectors like AI and semiconductors.
An energy plan approved by the cabinet on Tuesday called for “maximising the use of nuclear energy” and dropped reference to “reducing reliance on nuclear energy”.
The energy plan,written by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry says that by 2040, nuclear energy should account for 20% of Japan’s grid supply in 2040, more than double the 8.5% share in 2023.
It comes as the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster from 14 years ago continues to hang over the country, conjuring painful memories.
In March 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake near Japan’s north-east coast spawned a tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people, wiping out entire towns and flooding the reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
Japan now ope..

‘Everyone must go’: New Zealand’s tourism drive draws ire3 days agoKoh EweBBC NewsDepending on how you read it, New Zealand’s latest tourism tagline can be a well-meaning plea for people to visit – or a threat to kick Kiwis out.
“Everyone Must Go!” reads a slogan printed across posters of people in New Zealand’s majestic landscapes – part of a NZ$500,000 ($285,000; £227,000) campaign unveiled on Sunday.
But what was meant as a catchy call to action aimed at Australian tourists has been accused of being tone-deaf, as New Zealand deals with record emigration rates and unemployment.
The government has defended the campaign, with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon saying he “[appreciates] there’s lots of chat about whether everyone loves the slogan or not”.
“The fact that we’re talking about it is a good thing. It’s a great thing,” he added.
Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, tourism spokesperson for the opposition Labour Party, told local news outlet Radio New Zealand (RNZ) that the new slogan “..

‘Died for stealing chocolate’: Pakistan anger over death of child maid6 days agoAzadeh MoshiriPakistan correspondentUsman ZahidBBC NewsA couple in north-east Pakistan has been detained on suspicion of murdering a 13-year-old girl who worked for them as a maid, for allegedly stealing chocolates.
The girl who goes only by one name, Iqra, succumbed to multiple injuries in hospital last Wednesday. A preliminary police investigation said she had been tortured.
The case in Rawalpindi has sparked widespread outrage and posts with the hashtag #JusticeforIqra having garnered tens of thousands of views, and reignited a debate over child labour and the mistreatment of domestic workers.
Laws pertaining to child labour can vary across the country, but children under the age of 15 cannot be employed as domestic workers in the province of Punjab.
“I felt completely shattered inside when she died,” Iqra’s father, Sana Ullah, told the BBC.
He said that he had received a call from the police about Iqra ..

Olympic shooter Manu Bhaker is named BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year for 2024 after a global public vote.