Asia

Japan ministry worker loses sensitive files on night out2 days agoJoel GuintoBBC NewsA Japanese finance ministry employee on a night out with colleagues lost documents containing the personal data of 187 people suspected of drug smuggling, local media say.
The employee, who has not been named, reportedly drank nine glasses of beer during a five-hour-long night out with co-workers in Yokohama, south of the capital Tokyo, on 6 February.
Local media said that he did not realise he had lost his bag until after he got off his train ride home in Sumida, another city near central Tokyo.
The finance ministry has said it was “deeply sorry” for the incident that “significantly undermined public trust”, according to public broadcaster NHK.
The bag had contained documents which had the names and addresses of 187 suspected drug smugglers and recipients of marijuana seeds, the ministry said.
It had also contained business laptops with the employee’s personal data.
The employee, who is assigned to th..

Teacher fatally stabs eight-year-old in South Korea2 days agoKoh EweBBC NewsA teacher has fatally stabbed an eight-year-old girl at an elementary school in South Korea, in an incident that has shocked the nation.
The female teacher, who is in her 40s, confessed to stabbing the student in the central city of Daejeon, police said.
The girl was found with stab wounds on the second floor of a school building at 18:00 local time (09:00 GMT) on Monday and was pronounced dead at hospital. The teacher was found beside her with stab wounds that police said may have been self-inflicted.
South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok ordered an investigation into the case on Tuesday and urged authorities to “implement necessary measures to ensure such incidents never happen again”.
Some locals laid flowers and a stuffed doll at the gate of the school, which was closed on Tuesday.
In a police briefing, Yook Jong-myung, head of the Dajeon Western Police Station, said the teacher was currently recove..

With Trump’s tariffs looming – will countries scramble to cut deals?6 days agoJoão da SilvaBusiness reporterA decision by US President Donald Trump to place a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports has left some of the US’s major trade partners scrambling to make a deal.
The US is a major steel importer, importing nearly a quarter of the steel it uses, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute, which adds that its dependence on aluminium is even greater.
Its neighbours Canada and Mexico, as well as some allies in Asia are among its main suppliers.
Trump has said his latest tariffs will take effect on 12 March “without exceptions or exemptions”.
With just over a month to go before the tax kicks in, here is how some countries have responded.
As one of the largest suppliers of both commodities to the US, Canada has a lot to lose.
“Canada has extra reasons for irritation as they are the largest steel supplier and one of the largest aluminum suppliers to the US,”..

India sees huge spike in hate speech in 2024, says report3 days agoMeryl Sebastian, BBC News, KochiInstances of hate speech against minorities jumped 74% in India in 2024, peaking during the country’s national elections, according to a new report.
The report, released on Monday by Washington-based research group India Hate Lab, documented 1,165 such instances last year, adding that politicians like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were among the most frequent purveyors of hate speech.
Muslims were targeted the most, with 98.5% of recorded instances of hate speech directed against them.
The report said most of the events where hate speech occurred were held in states governed by Modi’s party or larger alliance.
The BBC has sought comment on the India Hate Lab report from several spokespersons at Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Over the years, BJP leaders have often been accused of targeting India’s minority communities, especially Musli..

Trade, tariffs and visas to dominate Trump-Modi talksJust nowMichael KugelmanForeign policy analystWhen Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington and meets President Donald Trump later on Thursday, there will be some warm hugs and shared laughs. But that will not be all.
Trump and Modi have developed a strong personal rapport over the years, marked by high-profile meetings and joint appearances. This time, they will also hold a joint press briefing, according to the White House.
Since their first meeting in Washington in 2017, their bond has grown through other events, including joint appearances at massive rallies in Houston and Ahmedabad. Their chemistry stems from shared worldviews and politics and a mutual strategic focus on countering China, a concern that has also strengthened the broader US-India partnership.
Not surprisingly, Trump has often criticised India, but he has never criticised Modi.
And so, during Modi’s visit, the two leaders will probably spend time mapp..

Japan truck found in pipe weeks after falling in sinkhole3 days agoKoh EweBBC NewsA truck cabin that was swallowed by a sinkhole in Japan two weeks ago has been located in a nearby sewer pipe, authorities say.
Drone images suggest that a human body is inside the cabin, but it is unclear if it is that of the truck’s missing 74-year-old driver.
The sinkhole, which now measures 40m (131ft) in diameter, opened at a road intersection in Yashio city near Tokyo. It is believed to be caused by a sewer rupture.
Search teams are unable to enter the 5m-wide pipe due to continuous water flow and high levels of hydrogen sulfide or sewer gas, officials said.
They will need to install a temporary bypass pipe to stop the water flow and access the truck. That process could take three months, Saitama Governor Motohiro Ono said.
While rescuers were able to pull the truck’s loading platform from the sinkhole, they were unable to reach the cabin which had the driver.
The driver was able to communicate with..

‘Ineffective’ generic drugs fuel rare public anger in China1 day agoKoh EweBBC NewsPublic anger in China over concerns raised by doctors that generic drugs used in public hospitals are increasingly ineffective has led to a rare response from the government.
Doctors say they believe the country’s drug procurement system, which incentivises the use of cheap generic drugs over original brand-name pharmaceuticals, has led to costs being cut at the expense of people’s safety.
But officials, quoted by multiple state media outlets on Sunday, say the issue is one of perception rather than reality.
One report said different people simply had different reactions to medicines and that claims about them being ineffective had “mostly come from people’s anecdotes and subjective feelings”.
The official response has done little to allay public fears over the reputation of drugs in public hospitals and pharmacies. It is the latest challenge to a healthcare system that is already under enormous strai..

Crackdown on Bangladesh protesters may be crime against humanity, UN says2 days agoSimon FraserAsia editor, BBC News websiteFormer Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her government tried to cling on to power using systematic, deadly violence against protesters that could amount to “crimes against humanity”, the UN has said.
UN human rights investigators accused the deposed government of a brutal response to mass opposition last year, in which they said up to 1,400 people had been killed, mostly by security forces.
The UN team said “an official policy to attack and violently repress anti-government protesters” had been directed by political leaders and senior security officials.
Hasina, who had been in office for 15 years, fled by helicopter to India shortly before crowds stormed her residence last August.
The unrest began as student-led protests against quotas in civil service jobs and escalated into a countrywide movement to oust Hasina and her Awami League party following ..

Salvador Dalí art comes to India for the first time3 days agoCherylann MollanBBC News, MumbaiAlthough the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí never visited India, an exhibition of his artworks is being held in the country for the first time.
Starting Friday, an exhibition in the capital Delhi will showcase an expansive collection of more than 200 of his original sketches, etchings and watercolour paintings.
The collection has been curated by Christine Argillet, daughter of Pierre Argillet, a French collector who was also Dalí’s friend and publisher.
“Dalí was fascinated by India, especially the West’s fascination with Indian mysticism in the 1960s and 1970s,” Ms Argillet told the BBC.
Some of the sketches in the collection are based on photographs her father had taken during a trip to India in the 1970s, when the hippie movement was at its peak and young guitar-toting Americans visited India on spiritual quests.
Dalí’s India features elephants and temples but,..

Casinos, high-rises and fraud: The BBC visits a bizarre city built on scams6 days agoJonathan HeadSouth East Asia correspondentReporting fromShwe Kokko, MyanmarThe tall, shiny buildings which rise out of the cornfields on the Myanmar side of the Moei river are a sight so jarring you find yourself blinking to be sure you haven’t imagined it.
Eight years ago there was nothing over there in Karen State. Just trees, a few roughly built cement buildings, and a long-running civil war which has left this area of Myanmar one of the poorest places on earth. But today, on this spot along the border with Thailand, a small city has emerged like a mirage. It is called Shwe Kokko, or Golden Raintree.
It is accused of being a city built on scams, home to a lucrative yet deadly nexus of fraud, money-laundering and human trafficking. The man behind it, She Zhijiang, is languishing in a Bangkok jail, awaiting extradition to China.
But Yatai, She Zhijiang’s company which built the city, paints a very dif..