Most Asian stocks sank on Thursday as tech firms came under renewed pressure from worries over the AI boom, with Seoul again taking the brunt of the selling.Regional investors were unable to build on a second day of gains on Wall Street, where more data showing inflation easing pushed back bets on a Federal Reserve …

Asian stocks mostly sink as AI worries hammer tech Read More »

Approval ratings for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s conservative government dipped below 50 percent for the first time since coming to power in October in a poll published Thursday.The Jiji Press survey put backing for Takaichi’s cabinet at 49 percent, with the sharpest drop among voters in their 60s, whose support went from 63.7 percent last …

Japan PM approval rating below 50% for first time Read More »

In the high seas off west Africa, a fisherman on a Chinese longline tuna vessel cuts the fins off a live shark before throwing it back in the water to suffocate and drown.Its lucrative appendages will be landed at the port of Dakar before being shipped onward to Asia for use in shark fin soup, …

‘Cruel, wasteful’: Dakar port a hotspot for illegal shark fins Read More »

Decorated fly-half Beauden Barrett was once again omitted as New Zealand announced four starting changes on Thursday for the Nations Championship Test against Ireland in Auckland.Coach Dave Rennie said it was “tempting” to select 144-Test veteran Barrett for the first time this year but instead preferred the inexperienced Ruben Love in the number 10 jersey …

No room in All Blacks for Beauden Barrett against Ireland Read More »

Lured by promises of good money working aboard a foreign fishing vessel, Akhmad left Indonesia and headed out to sea, enduring months of abuse and exploitation while being cut off from the world.Indonesia is one of the top contributors of labour for the global fishing industry with several hundred thousand migrant workers, according to government …

‘No rest’: Indonesians overworked and abused on foreign fishing vessels Read More »