Asia

EPA India’s Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, whose office warned the change would disrupt families The Indian government has said a new $100,000 (£74,000) fee for applicants seeking US skilled worker visas will have “humanitarian consequences”. President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the new fee for H-1B visa applications, …

A man has been charged in Pakistan over the killing of 17-year-old TikTok star Sana Yousaf who had repeatedly rejected his advances. Ms Yousaf’s murder in June drew widespread condemnation but also some comments appearing to blame her, igniting a fierce debate about women on social media. Umar Hayat, 22, …

Koh EweSingapore and Riana IbrahimBBC Indonesian, Jakarta Netflix Norma is the tale of a scandalous affair between a woman’s husband and her mother For months, Indonesian movie audiences have been talking about one film: Norma, the story of a seemingly blissful marriage shattered by the husband’s clandestine affair with his …

A court in South Korea has ordered a social media user to pay 500,000 won ($360; £265) for defaming a K-pop boyband – whose members are virtual characters. The five members of K-pop group Plave are voiced and animated through motion-capture technology by real, anonymous performers. Last year, Plave’s agency …

An Australian doctor who raised the alarm about Erin Patterson has been sanctioned by the medical regulator over disparaging comments made about the triple murderer. Chris Webster was a key witness in Patterson’s trial, at which a jury found her guilty of killing three relatives and attempting to kill another …

The Taliban government has removed books written by women from the university teaching system in Afghanistan as part of a new ban which has also outlawed the teaching of human rights and sexual harassment. Some 140 books by women – including titles like “Safety in the Chemical Laboratory” – were …

Soutik BiswasIndia correspondent Vivek R Nair This single-celled brain-eating amoeba can enter the nose during swimming On the eve of Onam, the most joyous festival in India’s Kerala state, 45-year-old Sobhana lay shivering in the back of an ambulance, drifting into unconsciousness as her family rushed her to a medical …

Prosecutors have downgraded some of the most serious sex abuse charges against veteran broadcaster and former Wallabies coach Alan Jones after a court hearing on Thursday. Mr Jones now faces 27 charges which allege that he indecently assaulted or groped nine men over two decades. Eleven charges of aggravated indecent …

The leader of the controversial Unification Church has denied allegations that her organisation bribed South Korea’s former first lady with luxury gifts in exchange for business favours. Han Hak-ja flatly rejected claims that she directed the bribery when confronted by reporters as she emerged from nine hours of questioning at …

Joel GuintoSingapore and Virma SimonetteManila BBC Ms Tolentino on her daily boat ride – her mother is rowing them to the clinic Crissa Tolentino has long been resigned to floods as a way of life. The 36-year-old public school teacher takes a paddle boat through the inundated streets nearly every …

The boss of Nvidia has told the BBC he is “disappointed” that China has reportedly ordered its top technology companies to halt purchases of the firm’s artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Jensen Huang added he would be “patient” in response to the move from China’s internet regulator. “There are a lot …

American tennis star Taylor Townsend has apologised after coming under fire for comments she made on social media about Chinese food. The 29-year-old who is in the Chinese city of Shenzhen for the Billie Jean Cups final, had posted videos on Instagram in which she talked about dishes that featured …

Jean MackenzieSeoul correspondent, Serin HaBBC Newshour and Yuna KuBBC Korean EPA The South Korean workers, seen here boarding buses at Incheon airport, were repatriated last Friday When Youngjin looked out of his office window and saw armoured trucks and immigration enforcement officers running around with guns, he was surprised, but …

Rama ParajuliBBC Nepali, Kathmandu, Kamal PariyarBBC Nepali, Kathmandu and Kelly NgBBC News, Singapore Tanuja Pandey Tanuja Pandey holds up an anti-corruption slogan during protests last week Nepal’s Gen Z protesters brought down a government in under 48 hours – but the victory has come at a heavy price. “We are …

Farmers in Zambia have filed an $80bn (£58.5bn) lawsuit against two Chinese-linked firms, blaming them for an “ecological catastrophe” caused by the collapse of a dam that stored waste from copper mining. Million of litres of highly acidic material spilled into waterways in February, leading to “mass fatalities” among fish, …

Two teenagers who peed into a pot of broth at a hotpot restaurant have been ordered to pay 2.2m yuan ($309,000; £227,000) to two catering companies in China. The incident, which happened in February at a Shanghai branch of China’s biggest hotpot chain Haidilao, sparked widespread criticism after the 17-year-olds …

Soutik BiswasIndia correspondent Hindustan Times via Getty Images Women in India account for just over half of all new cases, but men make up the majority of deaths Women in India are more likely to get cancer. Men are more likely to die from it. The paradox, revealed in a …

Samira HussainSouth Asia correspondent, Kathmandu Pritam Roy There is grief, anger and disbelief that so many young people were killed “Everyone said rubber bullet, rubber bullet. It was not a rubber bullet. If you see my son, his head was broken, a hole is there.” Narendra Shrestha wants to know …

One and a half million Australians living in coastal areas are at risk from rising sea levels by 2050, according to a landmark climate report. Australia’s first National Climate Risk Assessment predicted more frequent and severe climate hazards like floods, cyclones, heatwaves, droughts and bushfires. “Australians are already living with …

Nepal’s newly-appointed interim prime minister says she will be in the post for no longer than six months. “I did not wish for this job. It was after voices from the streets that I was compelled to accept,” Sushila Karki said, speaking for the first time since being sworn into …