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People walk through smog in New Delhi, India, on Monday. Photo: AP

‘Not able to breathe’: denial, deflection, dodgy data worsen India’s air crisis

‘Fed up’ citizens and experts demand honest action to tackle pollution that causes 1.5 million additional deaths every year in India.

18 Dec 2025 - 2:04PMvideocam

Bangladeshi politician’s threat targeting India’s northeast deepens row

18 Dec 2025 - 5:52PM

Delhi battles severe pollution with traffic bans, work-from-home order

17 Dec 2025 - 7:50PMvideocam

Indian police reveal Bondi Beach shooting suspect’s background

Police said the Indian family of Sajid Akram, who got a degree in commerce in Hyderabad, was unaware of his ‘radical mindset’.

17 Dec 2025 - 12:08PMvideocam

People leave floral tributes at the promenade of Bondi Beach in Sydney on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Nepal rolls out delayed tourist tracking system to keep tabs on foreign visitors

Starting next year, hotels and travel companies must begin automatically reporting visitor locations to a central government database.

17 Dec 2025 - 5:10PM

Kick-off in Kolkata: how Lionel Messi was dragged into an Indian election battle

The BJP has latched on to the crowd chaos during Messi’s visit to West Bengal to demand the resignation of the state’s chief minister.

16 Dec 2025 - 6:02PMvideocam

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Video | Men rescued after drunken quarrel lands them in bottom of a well

Video shows the men being pulled out of the well with ropes and a net for support.

16 Dec 2025 - 2:52PMvideocam

Photo: SCMP/Composite

India wary as US backs Pakistan with F-16 upgrades and mineral projects

Analysts say New Delhi faces an ‘uncomfortable truth’ as Washington and Beijing find rare common ground on stability in Pakistan.

16 Dec 2025 - 3:16PM

Bangladesh to airlift injured uprising leader to Singapore after shooting

Attackers shot student leader Sharif Osman Hadi shortly after a date was announced for elections, following on from last year’s uprising.

15 Dec 2025 - 11:03PMvideocam

Does India’s HIV success story overlook its poorest state?

Figures from one district in Bihar show thousands living with HIV, contrasting sharply with India’s broader success in cutting infections.

15 Dec 2025 - 7:45PMvideocam

A student displays messages painted on his hands during an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign in Chandigarh, India. The country has made significant progress in controlling the disease, though concerns persist in some regions. Photo: Reuters

In India, tycoon’s call to adopt ‘996’ work culture in China spurs debate

India’s parliament is debating a new law to allow staff the ‘right to disconnect’ from workplace communications after their official hours.

12 Dec 2025 - 5:56PM

Commuters walk at a railway station in Mumbai. Workers in India are among the most overworked globally, according to data from the International Labour Organization. Photo: AFP

Are India and Bangladesh sidestepping Hasina’s exile to improve frayed ties?

A national security bilateral meeting and Narendra Modi’s message of support for Khaleda Zia signal that ties are on the mend.

12 Dec 2025 - 6:03PMvideocam

China-India relations

Trump, Modi have ‘warm’ phone call – but 2025 unlikely to end with a trade deal

Even after calls for India to contribute more in the Indo-Pacific to counter China and deepen defence ties, Trump refuses to budge on trade concessions.

12 Dec 2025 - 7:07AMvideocam

Rupee slump ‘a little relief’ for Indian exporters amid US trade talks

The lower rupee is helping Indian industries that have been absorbing tariff losses in the hopes of a US-India trade deal, analysts say.

11 Dec 2025 - 6:24PMvideocam

A roadside vendor counts Indian rupee notes in Mumbai on November 28. Photo: AFP

India-EU trade pact nears finish line despite carbon tax dispute and Russia

Brussels is looking past India’s ties with Moscow to secure a vital economic win, with analysts predicting a deal within months.

10 Dec 2025 - 5:00PM

European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic (left) shakes hands with Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in India on Monday. Photo: X/MarosSefcovic

IndiGo flight chaos exposes risks of India’s aviation duopoly

India’s largest airline grounded nearly 3,000 flights last week, showing how easily a staffing crunch at one carrier can paralyse the sector.

10 Dec 2025 - 3:22PMvideocam

Nepal charges Chinese contractor with corruption over airport deal

A watchdog alleges the company colluded with ex-ministers to inflate costs and siphon off US$74 million from the Pokhara airport project.

9 Dec 2025 - 4:00PMvideocam

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Owners flee to Thailand after Indian nightclub fire killed 25

Authorities have appealed to Interpol for help to find brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, who escaped to Phuket.

9 Dec 2025 - 3:33PMvideocam

The charred interiors of a nightclub that caught fire in Goa, India, on Sunday. Photo: AP

Why a leading party in Bangladesh is facing uncertainty as election looms

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s leadership crisis threatens to undermine its advantage ahead of the February election, analysts say.

8 Dec 2025 - 9:01PM

‘Like a market’: Chinese marriage brokers hunt for brides in Nepal

China’s bachelor crisis meets Nepal’s poverty in a trade that blurs the lines between arranged marriage and coercion.

9 Dec 2025 - 2:36PM

India to pause coal power expansion beyond 2035 amid grid stress

Several Indian utilities are signing contracts with coal-fired power generators to meet a projected surge in demand for cooling.

8 Dec 2025 - 2:50AM

An Indian farmer sprinkles pesticide on a field as smoke rises from the chimneys of a coal power plant. The demand for coal-based power plants has risen due to prolonged heatwaves. File photo: Reuters

Bangladesh mass grave from 2024 uprising exhumed with UN support

The UN says up to 1,400 people were killed in the crackdowns, forming the basis for the former prime minister’s conviction for crimes against humanity.

7 Dec 2025 - 10:54PM

Family members of Sohel Rana, who disappeared during Bangladesh’s July mass uprising, react as they stand outside the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in Dhaka on Sunday. Photo: AFP

India regulator faults airline CEO amid severe disruption

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers has been ordered to explain the cancellations that affected almost half of its flights.

7 Dec 2025 - 7:28PM

627 dead in Sri Lanka landslides as rains batter South, Southeast Asia

At least 1,812 people have been killed in the natural disasters rolling across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

7 Dec 2025 - 7:45PM

Tourists among 25 killed in India’s Goa nightclub fire

A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident at the Birch nightclub in Arpora.

8 Dec 2025 - 1:17PMvideocam

The burned nightclub where a fire broke out in Goa, India, on Sunday. Photo: AFP

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