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A sweeping election victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar has raised fresh questions about the future of India’s political opposition.Analysts say the landslide outcome – which defied predictions of a close race – highlights an increasingly lopsided political landscape, with a dominant BJP facing a fragmented opposition, particularly a Congress party struggling with internal drift and unresolved leadership issues.The BJP, its main regional ally, Janata Dal United, and other parties in the alliance secured 202 of the 243 seats in the state legislature earlier this month, well above the threshold of 122 seats for…

Malaysia’s state broadcaster has suspended the animated Nickelodeon children’s series Santiago of the Seas following viewer complaints that an episode contained an LGBTQ scene.The controversy erupted after viewers reported seeing the character Rio, a mermaid, kiss his partner Martin on the cheek in an episode that aired on Sunday on TV2.RTM, which operates the channel, said an internal review had found no evidence of any such display of same-sex affection but halted the show “to avoid public sensitivities” while a detailed review into the series was carried out.Santiago of the Seas is an animated action-adventure series aimed at preschoolers that…

A leading advisory panel on China policy urged Congress on Tuesday to establish a “consolidated economic statecraft entity” to handle technological and other national security challenges posed by China’s “systematic and persistent evasion” of American export controls and sanctions.“This recommendation addresses the critical gap between export controls and sanctions as written and their actual enforcement, recognising that China and Russia continue to successfully circumvent existing safeguards while US technological advantages erode,” the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) said in its annual report.“The current fragmented approach across multiple agencies dilutes accountability and prioritisation.”The call for stronger enforcement, part of…

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he will travel to Turkey this week in an attempt to jump-start negotiations on ending Russia’s war, which began nearly four years ago.Turkey provided a setting for low-level talks between Ukraine and Russia earlier this year, though the only significant progress in Istanbul was on exchanging prisoners of war. U.S.-led international peace efforts have brought no breakthrough, either.Zelenskyy said that he would be in Turkey on Wednesday, a day after visiting Spain where he hoped for pledges of new support on Tuesday.“We are preparing to reinvigorate negotiations, and we…

China is offering a glimpse of some of its latest drones and fighter jets at the Middle East’s biggest air show this week, seizing an opportunity to promote the country’s aviation products in the region.Among those displaying their advanced aircraft at the Dubai Air Show is China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (Catic), a major state-owned Chinese defence company.Its offerings include a full-scale model of the Wing Loong-X unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an export variant of the medium-altitude, long-endurance drone designed for multi-role functionality, including maritime escort and anti-submarine warfare.According to a Catic official at the event, the Wing…

Officials say the temporary deferral will apply to developers whose facilities depend on water for cooling servers that run around the clock, amid growing unease among residents and environmentalists that billions of dollars in tech investment are colliding with basic water needs.Johor is now home to 15 operational data centres with dozens more under construction. Cooling these vast server farms, which are essential for everything from artificial intelligence to e-commerce, requires about 675 million cubic metres (178.3 billion gallons) of water per day, according to government estimates.A data centre is seen under construction in Malaysia’s Johor state last year. Photo:…

China Hongqiao Group, the country’s largest private aluminium producer, aims to raise HK$11.68 billion (US$1.5 billion) from a share sale to fund projects and repay debt, capitalising on robust industry margins and a buoyant Hong Kong equity market.The company planned to sell up to 400 million existing shares for HK$29.20 each, representing a 9.6 per cent discount to its closing price on Monday, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday.“In view of the current capital market conditions, the board considers the placing and the subscription represent a good opportunity for the company to raise further…

China Hongqiao Group, the country’s largest private aluminium producer, aims to raise HK$11.68 billion (US$1.5 billion) from a share sale to fund projects and repay debt, capitalising on robust industry margins and a buoyant Hong Kong equity market.The company planned to sell up to 400 million existing shares for HK$29.20 each, representing a 9.6 per cent discount to its closing price on Monday, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday.“In view of the current capital market conditions, the board considers the placing and the subscription represent a good opportunity for the company to raise further…

Gold prices have been smashing new records this year, and a growing cadre of wealthy investors and family offices are no longer content to let their gold bars sit idle in vaults. They are leasing their bullion to refiners, jewelers, and fabricators for interest, defying gold’s reputation as a non-yielding asset. “We’ve got a whole bunch of phone calls with people saying, I have $2 million of gold bars, I have a million dollars-worth of gold bars. Can you lease it out for me?” said Gaurav Mathur, founder of SafeGold. “What’s changed very substantially in the last few months is…

Hong Kong stocks fell on Tuesday, tracking a sell-off on Wall Street as investors reassessed lofty artificial intelligence-related valuations and the outlook for US monetary easing.The Hang Seng Index declined 1.3 per cent to 26,027.06 as of 9.55am local time, adding to the 0.7 per cent loss on Monday. The Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 1.5 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index retreated 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.6 per cent.Tech heavyweights led the retreat. Online games provider NetEase slid 1.6 per cent to HK$215 and short-video-sharing platform Kuaishou Technology fell 2.5 per…