Japan’s Kumamoto prefectural government said on Saturday it has ended rescue operations at an Aeon shopping centre where seven workers died in an explosion shortly after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the southwestern Japan prefecture four days earlier. Officials said there should be no more people unaccounted for after local police and firefighters, joined by the Self-Defence Forces and others, searched the shopping centre in Kashima. Its second floor collapsed in a possible gas explosion...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he wanted to “forgive” protesters who abused him during recent youth-led demonstrations that dealt a rare political setback to his government. The remarks came after the online Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) mobilised large protests in New Delhi and other cities over examination paper leaks, posing the biggest challenge to Modi’s government in recent years. Some protesters featured in widely circulated videos shouting insults at the prime minister have since...

When a powerful earthquake jolted southern ⁠Japan this week, rattling ⁠homes and knocking out water and ⁠electricity, Tomoko Takaoka bundled up her beloved fluffy dogs and went in search of a safe place to stay. Unable to reach her parents, the 31-year-old factory worker turned to a nearby evacuation centre only to discover that Ku the chihuahua and Sheri the chihuahua-poodle mix were not welcome. Faced with the choice of sheltering without them or staying together, she chose the latter,...

High in the eastern Himalayas, where yak caravans once carried silk and salt between empires, a border crossing closed by suspicion six years ago is stirring back to life. The Nathu La Pass, a remote border trading post connecting India’s Sikkim state with China’s Tibet region at 4,310 metres (14,140 feet) above sea level, reopened to commerce on Saturday for the first time since 2020. For the roughly 600 registered traders in Sikkim who used to depend on this ancient route, the reopening means...

British trip-hop band Massive Attack has been barred from performing in Singapore after an investigation found two members unfurled a Palestinian flag during a concert, police said. Two band members who held the flag on stage during a concert on Wednesday were also banned from re-entering Singapore and issued with warnings, police said in a statement late on Friday, without naming the pair. Singapore, known for its tough laws on public speech and assembly, bans the open display of all foreign...

Lawmakers from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have launched a group aimed at promoting the rapidly growing trading card industry, seeing its potential as a globally competitive content sector. The group, consisting of some 20 lawmakers, is seeking to improve the trading card environment by setting up rules to address issues such as counterfeit cards and bulk purchases for resale. It is also keen to enhance market transparency to support the industry’s overseas expansion. The...

Voting in Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan election has closed as attention now turns to whether Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition will retain its hold or suffer another loss to federal ally but state rival Barisan Nasional (BN). The results, due by midnight on Saturday, are expected to be yet another stability gauge of Anwar’s unity government, and may determine if a snap general election is called well before the February 2028 deadline. The Negeri Sembilan race marked the...