It’s a dance, a viral meme, and now a trend among elite athletes. Over the last few weeks, social media feeds all over the world have been flooded with videos of a sunglass-wearing young boy in Indonesia, balancing on the tip of a long racing boat and doing what is …

In a sweltering city in Afghanistan, taxis have been spotted with scrubby barrels and exhaust tubes mounted to their roofs. These are the hand-made air coolers that taxi drivers have cobbled together in their desperate efforts to beat the heat. Temperatures regularly exceed 40C (104F) in the southern city of …

Koh Ewe and Rachel Lee BBC News Reporting fromSingapore and Seoul Getty Images South Korea, home to the world’s lowest birth rates, is seeing a fertility industry boom When she started in vitro fertilisation (IVF) last November, Kim Mi-ae knew it would be a gruelling test of patience – something …

South Korean singer Taeil, formerly from the K-pop band NCT, has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison for rape. Taeil, 31, and two accomplices, named in South Korean reports only as Lee and Hong, admitted in June to taking turns assaulting their victim – a Chinese …

A school principal and an attendant have been arrested in India after allegations that female students were stripped naked to check if they were menstruating after blood stains were found on a toilet wall. The police action came after the mother of one of the “10 to 15 girls” who …

ANI Sonalben Padhiyar lost six family members in the accident Survivors of a bridge collapse in India’s Gujarat state on Wednesday that killed at least 15 people have said that they initially thought it was an explosion or earthquake. The cause of the collapse is still to be ascertained, and …

A North Korean defector is set to file civil and criminal charges against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and four other Pyongyang officials for abuses she faced while detained in the country. Choi Min-kyung fled North Korea to China in 1997 but was forcibly repatriated in 2008. She said …

The nominee for the US ambassador to Singapore, Anjani Sinha, drew criticism during his Senate confirmation hearing when he struggled to answer questions about the island-state. On Wednesday Dr Sinha was grilled by Senator Tammy Duckworth on the US’s relationship with Singapore and the island-state’s role in South East Asia. …

Anbarasan Ethirajan South Asia Regional Editor Getty Images Fast-changing geopolitics has compelled Delhi to reach out to China to reset ties, experts say After years of border tensions, India and China appear to be gradually moving towards resetting ties – but larger challenges and suspicions remain. The visit of two …

Getty Images China’s “dog days” arrived early this year, catching millions in the country’s eastern region off guard As Chinese authorities issue warnings for extreme heat in the country’s eastern region, students are leaving their stuffy dormitories to camp in hallways and supermarkets. Some have ditched their campuses altogether. “We …

South Korea’s former president has been rearrested over last year’s failed martial law bid that plunged the country into political turmoil. Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached in April over the order, which saw military rule introduced for six-hours in December. A senior judge at Seoul’s Central District Court issued an …

One of Australia’s largest private childcare operators will speed up the rollout of CCTV across more than 400 centres, days after child sex abuse allegations against an employee emerged. G8 Education will also let parents and carers choose who can change their children’s nappies and take them to the toilet, …

An Indian nurse who is on death row in war-torn Yemen is set to be executed on 16 July, campaigners working to save her have told the BBC. Nimisha Priya was sentenced to death for the murder of a local man – her former business partner Talal Abdo Mahdi – …

Tiffanie Turnbull BBC News, Sydney Watch: CCTV and audio shown to court in mushroom trial Within minutes of Erin Patterson walking into a tiny hospital in rural Victoria, doctor Chris Webster realised she was a cold-blooded killer. “I knew,” he tells the BBC. “I thought, ‘Okay, yep, you did it, …

Christopher Giles, Riddhi Jha, Rafid Hossain and Tarekuzzaman Shimul BBC Eye Investigations and BBC Bangla AFP A deadly crackdown on student-led protests in Bangladesh last year was authorised by then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, according to audio of one of her phone calls verified by BBC Eye. In the audio, …

Tessa Wong BBC News, Asia Digital Reporter Getty Images The 2023 exercise saw assault amphibious vehicles defending a beach from a fictitious Chinese attack Taiwan’s annual military exercise, Han Kuang, begins on Wednesday as the island ramps up its defence against a possible invasion from China. Billed as the largest …

Tony Han Global China Unit Getty Images As the world races to cut carbon emissions in the fight against climate change, a potentially game-changing milestone may have been reached. China – currently responsible for some 30% of global emissions – saw its emissions decline in the 12 months up to …

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for two of the Taliban’s top leaders, accusing them of persecuting women and girls in Afghanistan. The Hague-based court said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani had committed a crime against humanity …

More than 200 children are being treated in hospital with lead poisoning in north-west China after school chefs used inedible paint to decorate their food. Eight people have been arrested after tests showed the food samples from a kindergarten in Tianshui City in Gansu province had lead levels that were …

Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki has begun erupting again – at one point shooting an ash cloud 18km (11mi) into the sky – as residents flee their homes once more. There have been no reports of casualties since Monday morning, when the volcano on the island of Flores began spewing ash …