By Laura Bicker BBC News, Seoul North Korea has recently introduced a sweeping new law which seeks to stamp out any kind of foreign influence – harshly punishing anyone caught with foreign films, clothing or even using slang. But why? Yoon Mi-so says she was 11 when she first saw a man executed for being […]
By Shruti Menon BBC Reality Check Coronavirus pandemic About 12,000 cases of a condition known as “black fungus” have been reported in India, mostly in patients recovering from Covid-19. This severe infection is normally very rare and has a mortality rate of about 50%. Some medical experts have suggested India has seen cases growing because […]
By Vineet Khare BBC Hindi, Delhi Coronavirus pandemic In Delhi in April, six people died alone on a hospital ward, left there by doctors in the midst of the country’s devastating second wave of Covid-19. Video of the bodies left on the ward went viral, but the headlines soon moved on, leaving a void of […]
Cardinal Pell sex abuse case A court has fined 12 Australian media groups a total of A$1.1m (£600,000; $840,000) for their coverage of Cardinal George Pell’s now-overturned conviction in a sexual abuse case. The outlets admitted to breaching a legal order in 2018, which banned them from reporting the verdict at the time. A judge […]
India’s Karnataka state says it plans to send a legal notice to Google after it showed the state’s official language as the “ugliest language in India”. A Google search with these keywords on Thursday showed Kannada as the top result. On Thursday, the tech giant released a statement apologising for “the misunderstanding and hurting any […]
IMAGE COPYRIGHT GETTY IMAGES India has ordered 300 million doses of an unapproved coronavirus vaccine amid a devastating second wave. The unnamed vaccine from Indian firm Biological E is in Phase 3 trials, and had showed “promising results” in the first two phases, the federal government said in a statement. The $206m order is the […]
China has accused several Western clothing brands of selling goods that could be harmful to children. A warning notice on the country’s customs administration website listed 81 items imported by companies including Nike, H&M and Zara. In March, China targeted foreign clothes retailers as an international backlash grows over claims of abuses in the cotton-growing […]
Coronavirus pandemic India’s Supreme Court has sharply criticised the federal government over its coronavirus vaccination programme. The judges asked the government to explain why it was mandatory to register on an app for getting a jab. The court said this would hamper vaccinations across rural India where internet access is difficult. The judges also questioned […]
By Secunder Kermani BBC News, Karachi Walking to the barber’s one evening, Shafiq Ahmed began to suspect he was being followed. The 37-year-old lawyer and social media activist in Pakistan worried he was about to be abducted. A few seconds later, a group of men grabbed him and forced him into the backseat of a […]
By Aparna Alluri and Vikas Pandey BBC News, Delhi Coronavirus pandemic When Jagriti Eadala found out she was pregnant in February, she and her husband celebrated by going on a holiday. It coincided with their anniversary and Covid appeared to be on the wane in India. But within a month, the 29-year-old found herself cloistered […]
