Bloomberg via Getty Images India hopes to make its own rare earth magnets for domestic use In November 2025, India approved a 73bn-rupee ($800m; £600m) plan that could help it to cut its dependence on China in one of the most strategic corners of the global supply chain: rare earth magnets. These small but powerful…
In the middle of the night on Monday, Rachel Bloor stirred in her bed to find a heavy weight curled up on her chest. Half asleep, she reached out for her dog – and instead found herself petting a smooth, slithering object. As Bloor retreated further under the covers and pulled them up to her…
Leehyun Choi,BBC Korean, Seouland Kelly Ng Getty Images This verdict comes more than a year after Yoon’s short-lived martial law decree South Korea’s beleaguered ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol will on Friday receive the first verdict on charges linked to his botched martial law attempt in 2024. He is facing eight separate trials for charges ranging…
When Daidai realised her father was too old to slaughter two pigs for a traditional community feast in the run-up to Chinese New Year, she turned to social media. She didn’t want him to feel bad. “Can anyone help me?” she asked on Douyin, China’s version of Tiktok, at the end of last week. “My…
Getty Images Pritam Singh heads the Workers’ Party, the largest opposition party in Singapore Pritam Singh, the leader of Singapore’s largest opposition party, has been stripped of his title as the Leader of the Opposition. The move was announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Thursday, one day after parliament approved a motion that said…
Tessa WongAsia Digital Reporter, Singapore Getty Images Singh was the first person to hold the title of Leader of the Opposition Singapore’s Leader of the Opposition in parliament, Pritam Singh, has been stripped of his title by the prime minister following a vote by lawmakers. The vote took place on Wednesday in parliament, which is…
Narendra Modi/X The ship has no engine, powered only square sails The Indian Navy’s hand-stitched wooden sailing vessel INSV Kaundinya arrived in Oman on Wednesday to a water salute after completing 17 days at sea. The ship began sailing from Porbandar on India’s west coast on 29 December and arrived in Muscat, retracing the ancient…
A labour rights organisation claims it has found evidence of worker exploitation in a Chinese factory that makes the viral Labubu dolls. China Labor Watch (CLW), a US-based non-governmental organisation, alleges that its investigation found that one of Pop Mart’s suppliers made employees work excessive overtime shifts, sign blank or incomplete contracts and did not…
Two people were killed after a construction crane collapsed onto a highway in Thailand, a day after a crane accident in another part of the country left 32 people dead. The crane was being used to build an expressway in Samut Sakhon, a Bangkok suburb. Footage shows the moment the crane crashed onto the highway,…
AFP via Getty Images It was a piece of audio obtained by the BBC that revealed what worries the Taliban’s leader most. Not an external danger, but one from within Afghanistan, which the Taliban seized control of as the previous government collapsed and the US withdrew in 2021. He warned of “insiders in the government”…