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Air pollution is bringing death and disease to India, including to children, and even threatens the country’s future generations. The government will need to look far beyond New Delhi to curb the issue, experts warn.

The ban aims to reduce “harms” on children and will take at least a year to implement, the PM says.

Every year when winter arrives, India’s capital region is choked by smog and smoke. Experts say there are already solutions waiting to be implemented, but more political will is needed.

Matiullah Jan’s arrest sparks outcry over alleged abduction and terrorism charges. He was covering a protest by supporters of Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Miao Hua, a senior official in China’s top national defense body, is being investigated as China continues to probe its armed forces. Beijing also dismissed reports that it was investigating Defense Minister Dong Jun.

A depression in the south-west part of the Bay of Bengal has caused heavy rains while cyclone conditions were developing off Sri Lanka’s north-eastern coast. The storm is now moving toward India.

China announced more than $2.03 trillion in stimulus to boost economic growth, but many analysts think Beijing hasn’t gone far enough. Are the Chinese awaiting Donald Trump’s second term before unleashing more liquidity?

Muslim groups say the changes are politically motivated but the government says it is responding to demands for reform.

The exchange was reportedly months in the making, and included the release of at least one Chinese citizen in US custody.

Chinese women have taken it upon themselves to prove that the length of sanitary pads often fall short of what is advertised.

Taiwan staged an air defense exercise as tension simmers over President Lai Ching-te’s upcoming Pacific trip. The Taiwanese Defense Ministry also reported two Chinese balloons near the island.

The capital Seoul saw the third heaviest snowfall since records began, with more than 40 cm of snow piling up in parts of the city. More than 140 flights were canceled as a result.

It is the first time the CEO of the chain’s owner, Fast Retailing, has directly addressed the issue.

Video of a man seen praying then being approached by soldiers has been verified by BBC Verify.

FRANCE 24 spoke to Sebastien Lai, the son of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon, pro-democracy activist and founder of the now-defunct tabloid Apple Daily newspaper, Jimmy Lai. The elder Lai, in prison since December 2020, is currently on trial in Hong Kong for alleged collusion with foreign forces.

German car giant VW said that it would sell its factory and test track in Xinjiang for "economic reasons." China has been accused of using forced labor from ethnic Uyghurs in the region.

As Indonesia carries out its first-ever simultaneous regional elections, important local issues hang in the balance. However, after a mammoth presidential election, officials worry voters are becoming ambivalent.

At least one person is reported to have died as a result of the weather, which has also grounded flights.

Min Aung Hlaing is accused of crimes against humanity in the alleged persecution of Rohingya people.

Pakistan has grown its solar energy capacity by an astounding amount in a remarkably short space of time. The shock surge has given residents the power to survive blackouts, but it threatens to disrupt the grid.

Relations between the neighbours have been tense since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina as Bangladesh PM.

The top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday asked judges to grant an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s junta leader. Min Aung Hlaing is suspected of committing crimes against humanity through the deportation and persecution of the mainly Muslim Rohingya minority which accuse the military of mass killings and rape. Some 750,000 Rohingya are estimated to have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh.

Revelations that the actor had a baby outside marriage have shaken up ideals of the “traditional” family.

The NZ$3.75m ($2.2m; $1.7m) sale makes it the most valuable Māori portrait in New Zealand history.

Nearly 1,000 people have been arrested in Islamabad since Sunday after taking part in a protest march calling for the release of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan, the capital’s police chief said Wednesday.

People from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are four times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, and earlier, than Europeans. New research indicates a link to genetics.

Police continue to investigate the deaths of six tourists in the tourist town of Vang Vieng.

At least four people died in the violence which broke out over a Centuries-old mosque in Sambhal city.

Russians have been flocking to Thailand since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as they can enter the Southeast Asian country without a tourist visa. Last year, more than half a million Russians visited Thailand, some 20 percent more than in 2019. But tens of thousands of them don’t go home. They are opponents of President Vladimir Putin, deserters and young men avoiding conscription for the war in Ukraine.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi is the youngest player to get a deal in the world’s richest cricket competition.

Beijing had “organised naval and air forces to monitor and guard the trajectory of the US aircraft” that flew over the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, said a spokesman for China’s Eastern Theatre Air Force. The US Navy’s 7th Fleet said in an earlier statement that one of its patrol aircraft flew over the Strait on Tuesday “in international airspace”.

Four members of the security forces were killed as thousands marched on Islamabad Tuesday demanding the release of ex-prime minister Imran Khan, defying tear gas and roadblocks. Khan, barred from February elections amid rigging allegations, faces multiple legal cases he claims are politically motivated to block his return to power.

Delhi gets all the attention, but other parts of northern India are also dealing with toxic air.

Inspired by South Korea feminists, some women in the US are abstaining from sex with men to resist misogyny. What’s driving them?

The silent youth protest against China’s draconian COVID restrictions ended with the pandemic. However, former protesters warn that deep-running tensions could trigger more unrest in the future.

The final round of negotiations taking place in South Korea for a worldwide plastics treaty will look to rapidly cut surging plastic pollution. But oil and gas interests could scupper a deal.

Around 1,000 houses were destroyed in the blaze, officials say, months after a similar incident in the Philippine capital.

A conference on how to end plastic pollution opened on Monday in Busan, South Korea, but there was little consensus between nations on how to deal with the 90 percent of plastic produced globally that is not recycled.

The deaths of six tourists sent shock waves through the backpacker scene in Vang Vieng.

At least 82 people were killed and dozens were injured after days of clashes that began Thursday after gunmen attacked convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort. The incident sparked retaliatory attacks against Sunni residents and gunfights between groups from both sides. A Pakistani government team has managed to mediate a seven-day ceasefire deal between rival sectarian groups on Sunday, a team member said.

At the World Chess Championship, defending champion Ding Liren from China duels with Dommaraju Gukesh from India. For the first time, the men’s title fight is an all-Asian affair.

A final draft deal released Sunday at the UN COP29 summit proposes that developed nations commit at least $300 billion per year by 2035 to help poorer countries confront climate change. A number of developing countries have already responded that they need far more to help them shift away from fossil fuels and adapt to a warming planet.

Narita International Airport now has a zero tolerance policy for abusive passengers. Other businesses are also reporting a rise in threats to employees. Is famously polite Japan becoming less tolerant?

Another young tourist on Friday died in hospital after being subject to suspected alcohol poisoning during a night out in Laos, bringing the total death toll to six. The Laotian government has expressed its “sincere sympathy and deepest condolences” to the victims’ families and has promised to bring the perpetrators to justice. In all, about a dozen tourists fell ill or died after drinking alcohol authorities believe was laced with methane.

More than 30 people have been killed and dozens more wounded after Shiite Muslims on Friday attacked a Sunni-dominated market and set it on fire in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in northwestern Pakistan. Sporadic fighting has regularly broken out between the two groups in the area in recent months, leading to more than 150 deaths.

On Access Asia this week, we bring you the latest on the fallout after US officials announced they had charged Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and others with bribery and fraud. Billions have been wiped off the group’s market value on the Indian stock market, and the opposition is calling for Adani’s arrest. We also speak to a Hong Kong activist who has a bounty on his head about where the special administrative region’s future is heading and whether Hong Kong has truly lost its shine.

At the COP29 summit draws to a close, this report takes us to a renewable energy farm in India, partly owned by billionaire Gautam Adani. He has just been charged in the US for allegedly bribing Indian authorities over contracts for solar plants in the south of the country. As one of the largest producers of greenhouse gases, India is at a critical juncture in its battle against climate change.

With around 40 percent of its territory covered by forests, Cambodia has become Asia’s champion of carbon credits. This system is supposed to finance the protection of the country’s forests, thanks to money injected by multinationals from around the world. For the past decade, big companies –  including French and American firms –  have spent millions of euros buying these credits to offset their carbon footprint. But our Cambodia correspondents’ investigation reveals mass deforestation within these protected areas. In 2023, the kingdom had lost 121,000 hectares of forest – an area the size of Los Angeles.

One day after commending Iran’s agreement to cap its uranium stockpiles, the UN’s nuclear watchdog passed a censure motion Thursday denouncing Iran’s lack of transparency on its nuclear activities. Early Friday, Tehran responded to the measure by announcing it was launching “new and advanced” centrifuges.

Iranian free speech activist Hossein Ronaghi has sewn his lips together in protest following the reported suicide of fellow activist Kianoosh Sanjari, according to posts on his social media account. 

The European Union announced on Saturday that it was, in tandem with other rich nations including the United States and Japan, increasing its offer to help poorer countries fight climate change to $300 billion a year. Its previous offer, of $250 billion a year, was seen by many developing countries as a slap in the face and risked scuppering the talks. 

US prosecutors on Wednesday charged Indian magnate and billionaire Gautam Adani over a bribery scheme that saw him allegedly pay hundreds of millions in bribes to Indian officials for solar energy supply contracts and hide payments from investors.

Iran has taken steps to halt the expansion of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium,  International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said, welcoming this “concrete step in the right direction” on Wednesday. Grossi’s comments came after Western powers submitted a resolution censuring Iran for its poor cooperation with the IAEA.  

In Pakistan, a blasphemy-related case turned tragic in September. A doctor accused of blaspheming the Prophet Mohammed was allegedly shot dead by police officers and his body set on fire by a mob of fundamentalists. In a historic first, members of civil society then mobilised to demand justice for him. Blasphemy is a very sensitive topic in Pakistan. Sometimes even mere rumours trigger riots and rampages. While mob killings of blasphemy suspects are common in Pakistan, such extrajudicial executions by police in blasphemy-related cases are rare. Our team went to meet the grieving family of the victim. FRANCE 24’s Shahzaib Wahlah reports, with the collaboration of Sameer Mandro.

A driver in an SUV ploughed into students and pedestrians outside a primary school in southern China on Tuesday, leaving several people injured, state media said, as worries spread over a spate of violent attacks in the country over the past week.

Booming Indigenous Maori “haka” chants rang out across New Zealand’s capital on Tuesday, as tens of thousands rallied against a conservative push to redefine the nation’s founding treaty. Story by Morgan Ayre.

A Hong Kong court on Tuesday jailed all 45 defendants convicted of subversion in the city’s largest national security trial, with “mastermind” Benny Tai receiving the longest term of 10 years. Story by Liza Kaminov and Bilal Tarabey.

45 ex-lawmakers and activists were sentenced to four to 10 years in prison Tuesday in Hong Kong’s biggest national security case under a Beijing-imposed law that crushed a once-thriving pro-democracy movement. Legal scholar Benny Tai, whom the judges called the mastermind, received the longest sentence of 10 years. FRANCE 24 correspondent Yena Lee brings us the latest from Beijing. 

Hong Kong sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists under its national security laws on Tuesday, with former law professor Benny Tai receiving 10 years, the longest term yet. The defendants were charged with subversion for holding an unauthorised primary election in 2020 aimed at selecting pro-democracy candidates. 

Toxic smog engulfed much of northern India on Monday and pollution readings in New Delhi hit their highest of this pre-winter season, after dense fog overnight. Details with Delano D’Souza.

A former student went on a stabbing rampage at a vocational college in eastern China, killing eight people and injuring 17, police said on Sunday, prompting further soul-searching just days after the deadliest attack in the country in a decade. More information with FRANCE 24 correspondent in Beijing, Yena Lee.

Schools in New Delhi were closed Monday as toxic smog enveloped the Indian capital and exceeded the daily limit set out by the World Health Organization by 60 times. The polluted air is thought to be the cause of thousands of premature deaths each year, and is particularly harmful for children and the elderly.

A judge in Bangladesh has given investigators a one-month deadline to wrap up their probe into ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina who, along with her aides, is accused of committing crimes against humanity in connection with the deadly crackdowns during the summer’s student uprisings. Hundreds of people died in the protests, and Hasina fled into exile to India.  

Thousands of people dressed as Santa Claus filled the streets of Tokyo this weekend for an event aimed at raising funds for children battling illnesses. The festive parade, now in its sixth year, brought smiles and cheers to both participants and beneficiaries. This report by Guillaume Gougeon.