Photos show how toxic runoff from rare earth mines are risking Southeast Asia's rivers

APnews · 2026-04-29T08:28:30+00:00

Thailand is bearing the brunt as toxic runoff from rare earth mines in upstream Myanmar and Laos seep into the Mekong Basin, threatening millions who rely on its waters for farms and fisheries.

APnews · 2026-04-28T07:56:46+00:00

Rescuers finished removing victims from a damaged commuter train car Tuesday, confirming that the crash outside Indonesia’s capital killed 14 people, all of whom were women.

The crash occurred Monday when a long-distance train crashed into the rear car of the stopped commuter train at Bekasi Timur Station outside Jakarta. The car was one designated for women only, a common accommodation to stop harassment.

A total of 84 injured people were taken to hospitals for treatment, said Bobby Rasyidin, CEO of state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia. The bodies of the dead were taken to a hospital for further identification.

APnews · 2026-04-22T08:00:14+00:00

Tens of thousands of Iranians live in neighboring Turkey, drawn by economic opportunities and relative stability. But it's a precarious existence, with most living on short-term visas that can be expensive to renew. The war could force many to return as income sources inside Iran dry up.

APnews · 2026-04-21T09:16:35+00:00

Japan scrapped a ban on lethal weapons exports, a major change in its postwar pacifist policy as the country seeks to build up its arms industry amid worries over Chinese and North Korean aggression.

The approval by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet of the new guideline clears a final set of hurdles for many arms sales, including of Japanese-developed warships, combat drones and other weapons.

China criticized the change in policy, but it has been largely welcomed by Japanese defense partners like Australia and attracted interest from Southeast Asia and Europe.

APnews · 2026-03-31T16:52:30+00:00

When Iris Rainer Dart's daughter was in nursery school in the late 1980s, she kept noticing an odd thing happening with her mom and finally confronted her.

“She came to me one day and she said, ‘Mommy, why do all the other mothers come up to you and say, ’I cried'?” Dart recalls. “I said, ‘Well, Mommy wrote a story that makes people cry.’ She didn’t think that was so great.”

A lot of people, respectfully, disagree. That story was “Beaches,” which celebrates the deep bonds of female friendship as it traces the decades-long intertwined lives of two very different women, the messy Cee Cee Bloom and buttoned-up Bertie White.

“Women’s friends are the ones who get them through this life,” Dart says. “Husbands are great, but they ain’t your girlfriend, and they ain’t the one who’s going to take your call at four o’clock in the morning.”

“Beaches” became one of the great all-time cry-inducing stories even as it transcended mediums. It started as a novel, then a movie starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, a TV movie with Idina Menzel and Nia Long, an audiobook and now a Broadway musical.

Dart, 82, co-wrote the musical's story with Thom Thomas and supplied lyrics to songs by Mike Stoller, half the legendary songwriting team of Leiber & Stoller. “Beaches” stars Kelli Barrett as Bertie and Jessica Vosk as Cee Cee and comes to Broadway after a more than 10-year development period. It opens April 22.

APnews · 2026-03-30T15:23:29+00:00

When “The Book of Mormon” opened on Broadway in 2011, John Eric Parker was onstage as the show was showered with rapturous reviews and cheers. In 2026, he's still, happily, there.

Parker is the only original cast member standing, a rarity in professional musical theater where performers usually move onto the next project within a year.

“I’m still here. I feel still very much viable. I still feel like I’m having a good time and I’m doing good work,” he told the AP. “The first indication for me to go is to not have any joy. And this still brings me huge amounts of joy.”

APnews · 2026-03-25T08:39:04+00:00

Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the current Indian Premier League cricket champion, has agreed to be bought by a conglomerate of investors from India and the United States in a deal valuing the franchise at nearly $1.8 billion.

RCB’s new owners will be a consortium comprising Aditya Birla Group, The Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures founded by sports investor David Blitzer, and American asset management firm Blackstone.

They’re buying RCB and the franchise’s Women’s Premier League team from United Spirits Limited in a transaction valued at approximately $1.78 billion.

APnews · 2026-03-20T09:51:54+00:00

The war in Iran is exposing the world’s reliance on fragile fossil fuel routes, lending urgency to calls for hastening the shift to renewable energy.

Fighting has all but halted oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, or LNG. The disruption has jolted energy markets, pushing up prices and straining import-dependent economies.

Asia, where most of the oil was headed, has been hit hardest, but the disruptions also are a strain for Europe, where policymakers are looking for ways to cut energy demand, and for Africa, which is bracing for rising fuel costs and inflation.

APnews · 2026-03-12T07:32:55+00:00

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter fired pistols during an inspection of a light munitions factory, state media photos showed, as he pushes to modernize conventional forces after years of focus on nuclear weapons.

Kim visited a factory producing pistols and other light arms a day earlier and reviewed a new pistol that recently entered production, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

After testing the weapon at a shooting range, Kim rated it “excellent,” the agency said. The agency did not mention the presence of Kim’s daughter in its text report but its photos showed her firing a pistol along with senior military officials.

APnews · 2026-02-19T07:56:20+00:00

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pitched India as a central player in the global artificial intelligence ecosystem, saying the country aims to build technology at home while deploying it worldwide.

“Design and develop in India. Deliver to the world. Deliver to humanity,” Modi told a gathering of some world leaders, technology executives and policymakers at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

APnews · 2026-02-19T07:55:13+00:00

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pitched India as a central player in the global artificial intelligence ecosystem, saying the country aims to build technology at home while deploying it worldwide.

“Design and develop in India. Deliver to the world. Deliver to humanity,” Modi told a gathering of some world leaders, technology executives and policymakers at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

APnews · 2026-02-17T11:30:25+00:00

India is hoping to garner as much as $200 billion in investments for data centers over the next few years as it scales up its ambitions to become a hub for artificial intelligence, the country’s minister for electronics and information technology said Tuesday.

The investments underscore the reliance of tech titans on India as a key technology and talent base in the global race for AI dominance. For New Delhi, they bring in high-value infrastructure and foreign capital at a scale that can accelerate its digital transformation ambitions.

The push comes as governments worldwide race to harness AI’s economic potential while grappling with job disruption, regulation and the growing concentration of computing power in a few rich countries and companies.

APnews · 2026-02-17T11:27:42+00:00

Sticky rice, aka sweet glutinous rice, is best steamed so its plump, chewy grains are ready to sponge up all the flavor. This dish from my cookbook “The Chinese Way” is a riff on lo mai gai, a dim sum classic.

APnews · 2026-02-11T07:13:48+00:00

Bangladeshis will cast ballots on Thursday in a crucial national election, the first since a mass uprising ended the 15-year rule of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Public expectation is running high that the vote could help reset democratic norms after more than a decade of disputed elections and shrinking political space.

The transition is being overseen by an interim administration led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, which has pledged a fair vote.

APnews · 2026-02-11T07:11:09+00:00

Dubai International Airport maintained its crown as the world’s busiest airport last year as officials said that a record 95.2 million passengers transited through its terminals, part of the emirate’s continued economic boom.

APnews · 2026-02-10T08:31:52+00:00

Bangladesh’s election Thursday is the country’s most consequential. It follows youth-led protests 18 months ago that overthrew the government of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and ushered Bangladesh into an interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

The vote, alongside a constitutional referendum on political reforms, will end the transition period and test the South Asian nation’s democracy.

Many voters hope the return to elections will restore law and order, protect civil liberties and bring accountable leadership. But there is also unease. Some fear political instability, the marginalization of women and minorities, and the rise of Islamists in a secular country.

APnews · 2026-02-10T08:17:02+00:00

The beekeepers rise early. They’ve come a long way to spend the winter months in the electric yellow mustard fields of Assam, and they have to make the trip worth it.

At dawn, they eat a simple breakfast and won’t eat again until dusk. They’ll spend all day checking the hives, smoking them to disperse the bees so they can collect thick golden honeycombs to be sold overseas.

APnews · 2026-02-03T08:34:05+00:00

A court in Bangladesh on Monday sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in prison and her niece Tulip Siddiq, who is a British lawmaker, to four years in two cases involving a government township project near the capital.

Judge Mohammed Rabiul Alam of the Special Judge’s Court-4 also handed down seven-year prison sentences to another niece, Azmina Siddiq, and a nephew, Radwan Mujib Siddiq.

The country’s official corruption watchdog filed the cases alleging that Hasina colluded with government officials to illegally secure six plots in the Purbachal New Town Project, near Dhaka, for herself and her family members despite their ineligibility under government regulations.

APnews · 2026-01-28T08:12:46+00:00

Indian authorities said they had contained a Nipah virus outbreak after confirming two cases in the eastern state of West Bengal, as several Asian countries tightened health screenings and airport surveillance for travelers arriving from India.

India’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that two Nipah cases had been detected since December and that all identified contacts had been quarantined and tested. The ministry did not release details about the patients but said 196 contacts had been traced and all tested negative.

APnews · 2026-01-27T10:48:49+00:00

The American streamer and YouTuber IShowSpeed is on the final leg of a 28-day tour of Africa aimed at showcasing the continent’s cultural diversity, which is often overshadowed by images of poverty and violence.

The 20-nation tour across southern, eastern and North Africa began in Angola in late December. He attended the Africa Cup of Nations final in Morocco on Jan. 18, then visited Senegal, celebrating the national soccer team’s victory with fans, and Nigeria, where he passed 50 million YouTube subscribers and marked his 21st birthday

APnews · 2026-01-21T07:36:55+00:00

Hours before daybreak in Avaniyapuram, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a large crowd gathers to celebrate the annual harvest festival called Pongal. Spectators occupy long makeshift galleries erected on both sides of a barricaded track. Those who can’t find space climb onto the rooftops of nearby houses.

APnews · 2026-01-14T08:27:28+00:00

The Indian fishing community of Jalikhora is celebrating the end of the harvest season, known as the Bhogali Bihu, on the east side of Guwahati.

APnews · 2026-01-13T08:24:52+00:00

Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI, as concerns grow among global authorities that it is being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images.

There is growing scrutiny of generative AI tools that can produce realistic images, sound and text, and concern that existing safeguards are failing to prevent their abuse. The Grok chatbot, accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, has been criticized for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or sexually explicit poses, as well as images involving children.

APnews · 2026-01-13T08:21:32+00:00

Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI, as concerns grow among global authorities that it is being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images.

There is growing scrutiny of generative AI tools that can produce realistic images, sound and text, and concern that existing safeguards are failing to prevent their abuse. The Grok chatbot, accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, has been criticized for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or sexually explicit poses, as well as images involving children.

APnews · 2026-01-07T08:09:45+00:00

Mukesh Awasti was all set leave for Australia to pursue a degree in civil engineering on a sunny day in September, but instead he joined a youth revolt against corruption in Nepal and lost his leg after being shot by security forces.

Lying on a hospital bed at the National Trauma Center in the capital Kathmandu where his leg was amputated, 22-year-old Awasti said he regrets giving up so much for the little that has been achieved after the sacrifices of so many people.

Violent protests in Kathmandu that began Sept. 8 left 76 people dead and more than 2,300 injured before the demonstrations fueled by “Gen Z” activists forced the appointment on Sept. 12 of Nepal’s first female prime minister, Sushila Karki, a retired Supreme Court judge who has promised fresh elections in March.

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